Flyfishing the High Country

by John Gierach

- Tactics for fishing high country lakes, the conflicting currents of high mountain streams, and the ever-changing waters of beaver ponds

- Cutthroats, brook trout, goldens, rainbows, grayling

- The best weather and seasons to fish and the tackle and flies to take into the high country

"The mountains-any mountains—can make you pay for your fishing with time, shoe leather, exertion, and even disappointment. But they usually give back more than they take in terms of solitude and a sense of adventure that you just won't find on more civilized waters." -John Gierach

Fly-fishing in scenic and remote mountain waters is a special kind of fishing, explored in depth by veteran fly fisher John Gierach. Along with Fly Fishing Small Streams, this guide, Gierach's first book, explains how to find the best waters and how to fish them to the best advantage.

Genres: Outdoors, Nonfiction

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

John Gierach was an American author and freelance writer who lived in Larimer County, Colorado.

Reviews

[ron swegman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flyfishing the High Country, released initially in 1984, is John Gierach's first published fishing book, which appeared a year or two before Trout Bum placed him in the front rank of literary fly fishing authors.

This first one remains my personal favorite; a minor masterpiece, barely exceeding one hundred pages in length, yet one of those titles I reread every spring to rev up my mind for rod and reeling.

This book is one of Gierach's practical titles (along with Flyfishing Small Streams, Fishing Bamboo, and Good Flies). Still, the story teller and creative writer in him cannot be contained. Here is a typical passage that conjures up an image as clearly as a color photograph:

"... it's amazing how careful you can get when working over good trout. I know people who can't even park a car but who can move through willow thickets like a wisp of smoke when there's a fourteen-inch cutthroat to cast to." (pg. 29)

The eighth and final chapter -- "The Frying Pan" -- is a wonderful meditation and summing up of high country trout fishing that is so vividly written one can hear the fire popping and taste the Dinty Moore stew cooking on the camp stove.

Meanwhile, most of Gierach's advice is simple and effective: high stream and pond dynamics, trout specie physiognomy, fly patterns, and fishing spot prospecting are all considered in a clear, thoughtful manner and always accompanied by an anecdote or pretty streamside still life rendered in words.

[Tim J Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is John Gierachs first book, and I found it very enjoyable. I discovered Gierach recently and I’m now going to read all of his books. He’s right up my alley. A sense of humor like Ed Abbey and a love of nature and fly fishing that isn’t pretentious. It’s like sitting at a fire and listening to a good story teller. You don’t want it to end. So I’ll keep reading through his catalogue and I might update some of these reviews once I have more ability to compare one book to the other. Off to a good start.

[Andrew Wayment · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not much of a where-to/how-to guy, but this book has some great information. Gierach wrote it in 1983 and its information is still relevant today. I now want to explore some blue lines and find some beaver ponds!

[Dj Wells]

This is a great book about fly fishing the high country in Colorado. From the rivers to the feeder streams and the beaver dams along them. John looks at the life of fly fishing in the mountains back away from the crowded big waters.

[Henry DeForest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! It was interesting to read Gierach in a mostly non-narrative context. I prefer when he has the latitude to tell a story, but this book certainly has the seeds of the great things to come.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of like listening to your favorite uncle give you advice about fishing. With fly tackle. In the mountains.