The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing

A large number of fly fishers fall into one of two groups: first, those who read about fly fishing when not in the rivers fishing and second, those who write about fly fishing. Admittedly, I fall in the first group, while Mark Kurlansky, award-winning and bestselling journalist, author, and fly fisher falls into the second. The New York Times bestselling tackles the subject of fly fishing in his latest release The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing. This is not your typical fly-fishing book, because it’s not a “how-to” nor does it document the author’s fishing adventures. It truly is a book of virtues, a refreshing blend of autobiographical, scientific, and historical angles to a sport that continues to gain popularity. We learn what led to Kurlansky’s enviable fly fishing exploits, who has had the chance to fish all over the globe, including Japan and Russia. He covers the science of fish of the Salmonidae family: trout and salmon. Most of the book is dedicated to the history of fly fishing across the world and in the United States. He explores the history of the flies themselves, as well as rods and reels. He also writes of the writers who fish and write of fishing. We learn of Rudyard Kipling and Zane Grey fished for Steelhead in Oregon and William Butler Yeats fly fished and wrote poems about it. If you are looking to read and learn about “the what and whys” of fly fishing and less about “the how” this is a great book.