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Rivers of Sand: Fly Fishing Michigan and the Great Lakes Region
Rivers of Sand is an exploration of the unique techniques needed to fish the waters of Michigan and the Great Lakes region, and a discussion of (and paean to) the region itself.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 24, 2019
A fascinating and well written book on trout fishing on Michigan's Au Sable River. A blend of story telling, fishing advice and commentary on the wonders of nature on Michigan's premier trout river. The author spins tales and yarns of his adventures as a river guide from the Gates Lodge. He covers Winter spring and summer fishing for trout. He also touches on other species such as smallmouth bass, pike, salmon, steelhead and the common carp.
March 22, 2015
Books about fishing, hunting, or the outdoors in general, seem to always fall into technique books. Even if they aren't specifically a technique book, they are clouded in the idea that by the end you will be better at the subject by the end of reading it.
These books are often written either because the author, or whomever prompted the author, thought that money could be made by dispensing wisdom that was often free of charge in a way that a small fee could be charged. In other words: why give away the milk, when you could bottle it and sell it?
This is not one of those books. In fact, while this book has technique in it, it was probably done accidentally in an effort to further the true purpose of this book: to lay out one man's brief history of fishing in Michigan, mostly in the Rivers of Sand, that flow to the Great Lakes.
What makes this book great is that it is both written stylistically and structurally as a series of vignettes that are painted in text in such a vivid way, that you feel like you are sitting on the banks of the Au Sable on a hot July day waiting for the evening hatch while Josh Greenberg talks you through the memories. It is reminiscent of a friend regaling of tales of past days fishing, in a cottage somewhere in Crawford County on the first night you get up north, waiting to awake the next day to fish on rivers, streams, and creeks.
I would argue that this isn't a book about fishing, but a book about how to appreciate fishing more. Josh writes as if he is the most average of fishers who just happens to have gone fishing on a lifetime of various adventures.
I could write more, but it is a book that should be experienced as is. I don't often give 5 stars to books because I think a 5 star book is the kind of book that comes to mind when you think of the best books you have ever read. This book... it will be a book that I recommend, that I re-read, and that I will take notes from. Again, it is not a technique book, so the notes will be about things to remind myself of when I encounter them too.
Ultimately though, this book is about the rivers. They flow, they carry the fish, the men and women, and the memories of all the days spent fishing. They say you can never step into the same river twice, but there is a part of me that wonders if maybe rivers hold everything that has ever been in them... and they flow just to hide those memories in various backwater pools around the next bend.
These books are often written either because the author, or whomever prompted the author, thought that money could be made by dispensing wisdom that was often free of charge in a way that a small fee could be charged. In other words: why give away the milk, when you could bottle it and sell it?
This is not one of those books. In fact, while this book has technique in it, it was probably done accidentally in an effort to further the true purpose of this book: to lay out one man's brief history of fishing in Michigan, mostly in the Rivers of Sand, that flow to the Great Lakes.
What makes this book great is that it is both written stylistically and structurally as a series of vignettes that are painted in text in such a vivid way, that you feel like you are sitting on the banks of the Au Sable on a hot July day waiting for the evening hatch while Josh Greenberg talks you through the memories. It is reminiscent of a friend regaling of tales of past days fishing, in a cottage somewhere in Crawford County on the first night you get up north, waiting to awake the next day to fish on rivers, streams, and creeks.
I would argue that this isn't a book about fishing, but a book about how to appreciate fishing more. Josh writes as if he is the most average of fishers who just happens to have gone fishing on a lifetime of various adventures.
I could write more, but it is a book that should be experienced as is. I don't often give 5 stars to books because I think a 5 star book is the kind of book that comes to mind when you think of the best books you have ever read. This book... it will be a book that I recommend, that I re-read, and that I will take notes from. Again, it is not a technique book, so the notes will be about things to remind myself of when I encounter them too.
Ultimately though, this book is about the rivers. They flow, they carry the fish, the men and women, and the memories of all the days spent fishing. They say you can never step into the same river twice, but there is a part of me that wonders if maybe rivers hold everything that has ever been in them... and they flow just to hide those memories in various backwater pools around the next bend.
April 30, 2014
This is not only a great fishing book, but a great book.
It might be too technical for general readers, but Greenberg's technical expertise and attention to specific details is the base for this adventure in Michigan's wild places.
Fishing for steelhead, Greenberg writes:
"And there it was. Again. That sudden jolt. The yank of the river. And already the fish was trying to run. I lifted the rod with the motion of a man throwing a log over his shoulder. Too hard. Far too hard. My overwrought strike an uncool reaction to the fierceness of the action. The leader broke at some weak point, where it had frayed against the countless logs both above the water I'd touched on the small river."
And later, describing the condition you can reach when evening comes before you're ready to go.
"The call it the pull of the river.
I know what they mean."
Oh, yeah.
It might be too technical for general readers, but Greenberg's technical expertise and attention to specific details is the base for this adventure in Michigan's wild places.
Fishing for steelhead, Greenberg writes:
"And there it was. Again. That sudden jolt. The yank of the river. And already the fish was trying to run. I lifted the rod with the motion of a man throwing a log over his shoulder. Too hard. Far too hard. My overwrought strike an uncool reaction to the fierceness of the action. The leader broke at some weak point, where it had frayed against the countless logs both above the water I'd touched on the small river."
And later, describing the condition you can reach when evening comes before you're ready to go.
"The call it the pull of the river.
I know what they mean."
Oh, yeah.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews