Land of Little Rivers: A Story in Photos of Catskill Fly Fishing

by Austin M. Francis

A stunning photographic portrait and rich, lucid narrative of the hallowed streams where American fly fishing had its beginnings. The Beaverkill, Willowemoc, Neversink, Esopus, Schoharie, and Delaware—the rivers of angling pioneers Thaddeus Norris, Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, Theodore Gordon, and many others—are celebrated in this gorgeous book of photographs and text. In three major sections, Land of Little Rivers presents historical and physical profiles of the rivers. Complementing its photographic beauty, Land of Little Rivers is a book of substance, filled with fascinating stories, anecdotes, and nuggety captions. Land of Little Rivers is the product of author Francis’s twenty-five years of research and writing about Catskill fly fishing, and of photographer Ferorelli’s more than thirteen thousand images, from which has been selected the most evocative portfolio of photos ever made of these historic rivers. Together they have produced an exquisite, museum-quality work, one that captures magnificently the beauty and passion so central to the sport Izaak Walton called “the gentle art.”

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 1999

Reviews

[Dennis Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title refers to a description of the land by a famous Catskill hiker. The region is at the meteorological confluence that supplies drinking water to New York City and creates its legendary trout streams. South east winds bring ocean air that drops water as it climbs the mountains. Cyclonic storms provide rain from the East. Western fronts bring rain water to the other side of the park. While there are more in-depth histories of fly fishing in the park, one by the author himself, there is no better photographic essay of this region. In full disclosure, the book has a picture of me catching a trout in the early morning on the Delaware East branch during a Trico hatch. It looks like I'm standing in a sea of stars. My spouse and I are pictured on the front cover. If you don't read the text of the book just look at the pictures. The power of the book is in the images of the Catskills.