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Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World's Most Alluring Fish
Chris Dombrowski was playing a numbers game: two passions—poetry and fly-fishing; one child, with another on the way; and an income hovering perilously close to zero. Enter a miraculous email: Can’t go, it’s all paid for, just book a flight to Miami.
Thus began a journey that would lead to the Bahamas and to David Pinder, a legendary bonefishing guide. Bonefish are prized for their elusiveness and their tenacity. And no one was better at hunting them than Pinder, a Bahamian whose accuracy and intuition were virtuosic.
By the time Dombrowski meets Pinder, however, he has been abandoned by the industry he helped build, watching as the world of his beloved bonefish is degraded by tourists he himself did so much to attract. But as Pinder’s stories unfold, Dombrowski discovers a profound integrity and wisdom in his life.
Thus began a journey that would lead to the Bahamas and to David Pinder, a legendary bonefishing guide. Bonefish are prized for their elusiveness and their tenacity. And no one was better at hunting them than Pinder, a Bahamian whose accuracy and intuition were virtuosic.
By the time Dombrowski meets Pinder, however, he has been abandoned by the industry he helped build, watching as the world of his beloved bonefish is degraded by tourists he himself did so much to attract. But as Pinder’s stories unfold, Dombrowski discovers a profound integrity and wisdom in his life.
232 pages, Paperback
Published August 15, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
May 5, 2022
If you enjoy and understand poetry mixed with fishing, you might enjoy this book more than me. I found the writing to be inside the head of the author and difficult to follow. Even the quotes at the heads of the chapters were obscure.
July 4, 2020
A beautiful book. Its not really about fishing, but about living and happiness.
January 21, 2020
I'm not a fisherman, but I'm intrigued by sages and seekers. The author, predictably, is the seeker. The sage is the legendary David Pinder Sr., the Bahamian who knows more about catching the elusive bonefish than any other living person. For 40 years, Pinder guided for the Deep Water Cay fishing club, during which time he passed his knowledge on to his children and grandchildren. Chris Dombrowski seeks him out and returns numerous times to fish with Pinder, not only to observe his uncanny connection with the bonefish but to learn from Pinder's unfailingly gentle and accepting approach toward life.
Dombrowski is himself a fishing guide in central Montana. He's also a poet, with two published volumes and poems in numerous little magazines. Both competencies are front and center in Body of Water. As a guide who returns to the Bahamas many times to learn from Pinder and his extended family, Dombrowski becomes something of a family friend. He exchanges professional stories with his hosts, and is welcomed into their homes for meals and conversation. As a poet, Dombrowski employs his extensive vocabulary and poet's sensibility to chronicle his experiences with clarity and sensitivity. Occasionally, his language goes over the top - but reading through those passages is a small price to pay for an insightful, sensitive story.
The book is divided into three sections. The first section, "Beginner's Mind," integrates Dombrowski's backstory and motivation for going to the Bahamas with the backstory of the islands themselves. Some science, geography and history provide context for Dombrowski's quest.
The second section, "Limits of Pursuit," focuses largely on the pursuit of bonefish, a species which doesn't make very good eating but is prized quarry for serious sports because of its wiliness. Here, Pinder and the other guides shine. The section is not, however, a primer on fishing. It's a celebration of fishing at its finest - the connection between pursuer and pursued in a natural setting.
The final section, "Far Country," celebrates the simple way of the life led by the guides and their relatives, while acknowledging that modern pressures almost guarantee the extinction of this way of life. The club is purchased by a profit-driven eco-tourism company. The younger generations move to the larger city on the island, considering their home village of McLean's Town too much of a backwater. While Dombrowski doesn't become morose or maudlin about the future, he provides plenty of data for readers to draw their own conclusions. I was saddened while reading. The inevitability of loss here seems like a single, sad example of a world-wide loss of ecological integrity and wholeness.
Each of the three sections is divided into short chapters which proceed non-sequentially. Each chapter is a coherent unit, but doesn't necessarily follow from or lead into any other chapters. This loose structure provides plenty of space for Dombrowski to include personal information about himself (his precarious financial state, his love for his wife and small son back in Montana, some of his own guiding experiences in comparison with the experiences of the Bahamian guides, his own sometime struggle with depression, etc.) Some of the sections will satisfy ardent sport fishers with their somewhat technical descriptions of what's going on - descriptions that made my eyes glaze over. Many of the sections provide space for Dombrowski to ruminate poetically about the soul-calming effect of fishing. Readers seeking concrete descriptions, narration, and local color may bog down a bit through these poetic sections, but will only have to wait a page or two for the action, character description, and man-vs-nature conflict to pick up again.
The cover blurb from Jim Harrison says "A brilliant book. Destined to be a classic." If Body of Water reaches enough readers, Harrison's outsize praise may turn out to be true. I'd read it again.
N.B. - in September 2019, the Bahamas were devastated by Hurricane Dorian. I did a web search on the Deep Water Cay fishing lodge and learned that they've ceased operations because of the hurricane. Clean up is estimated to cost over $1 million. All employees (including fishing guides) have been made redundant. A Go Fund Me account will have raised over $500,000 for distribution amongst the employees.
Dombrowski is himself a fishing guide in central Montana. He's also a poet, with two published volumes and poems in numerous little magazines. Both competencies are front and center in Body of Water. As a guide who returns to the Bahamas many times to learn from Pinder and his extended family, Dombrowski becomes something of a family friend. He exchanges professional stories with his hosts, and is welcomed into their homes for meals and conversation. As a poet, Dombrowski employs his extensive vocabulary and poet's sensibility to chronicle his experiences with clarity and sensitivity. Occasionally, his language goes over the top - but reading through those passages is a small price to pay for an insightful, sensitive story.
The book is divided into three sections. The first section, "Beginner's Mind," integrates Dombrowski's backstory and motivation for going to the Bahamas with the backstory of the islands themselves. Some science, geography and history provide context for Dombrowski's quest.
The second section, "Limits of Pursuit," focuses largely on the pursuit of bonefish, a species which doesn't make very good eating but is prized quarry for serious sports because of its wiliness. Here, Pinder and the other guides shine. The section is not, however, a primer on fishing. It's a celebration of fishing at its finest - the connection between pursuer and pursued in a natural setting.
The final section, "Far Country," celebrates the simple way of the life led by the guides and their relatives, while acknowledging that modern pressures almost guarantee the extinction of this way of life. The club is purchased by a profit-driven eco-tourism company. The younger generations move to the larger city on the island, considering their home village of McLean's Town too much of a backwater. While Dombrowski doesn't become morose or maudlin about the future, he provides plenty of data for readers to draw their own conclusions. I was saddened while reading. The inevitability of loss here seems like a single, sad example of a world-wide loss of ecological integrity and wholeness.
Each of the three sections is divided into short chapters which proceed non-sequentially. Each chapter is a coherent unit, but doesn't necessarily follow from or lead into any other chapters. This loose structure provides plenty of space for Dombrowski to include personal information about himself (his precarious financial state, his love for his wife and small son back in Montana, some of his own guiding experiences in comparison with the experiences of the Bahamian guides, his own sometime struggle with depression, etc.) Some of the sections will satisfy ardent sport fishers with their somewhat technical descriptions of what's going on - descriptions that made my eyes glaze over. Many of the sections provide space for Dombrowski to ruminate poetically about the soul-calming effect of fishing. Readers seeking concrete descriptions, narration, and local color may bog down a bit through these poetic sections, but will only have to wait a page or two for the action, character description, and man-vs-nature conflict to pick up again.
The cover blurb from Jim Harrison says "A brilliant book. Destined to be a classic." If Body of Water reaches enough readers, Harrison's outsize praise may turn out to be true. I'd read it again.
N.B. - in September 2019, the Bahamas were devastated by Hurricane Dorian. I did a web search on the Deep Water Cay fishing lodge and learned that they've ceased operations because of the hurricane. Clean up is estimated to cost over $1 million. All employees (including fishing guides) have been made redundant. A Go Fund Me account will have raised over $500,000 for distribution amongst the employees.
September 18, 2021
Excerpt from my review in "Los Angeles Review of Books":
"It is precisely this sense of communion that fly-fishing guide and poet Chris Dombrowski investigates in "Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World’s Most Alluring Fish." The book is essentially a biography of the “sage” of the title, a bonefishing guide in the Bahamas named David Pinder, and much less about the “seeker,” Dombrowski himself, who has previously published two collections of poetry. “Perhaps the heart of bonefishing is ecstatic,” [Dombrowski] muses, “more like prayer, which makes the elusive fish a grace we intuit or perhaps even glimpse at the verge of sight, then probe toward via the faith we place in the cast.”
Read the full review here:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/t...
"It is precisely this sense of communion that fly-fishing guide and poet Chris Dombrowski investigates in "Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World’s Most Alluring Fish." The book is essentially a biography of the “sage” of the title, a bonefishing guide in the Bahamas named David Pinder, and much less about the “seeker,” Dombrowski himself, who has previously published two collections of poetry. “Perhaps the heart of bonefishing is ecstatic,” [Dombrowski] muses, “more like prayer, which makes the elusive fish a grace we intuit or perhaps even glimpse at the verge of sight, then probe toward via the faith we place in the cast.”
Read the full review here:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/t...
February 9, 2017
Four stars if you fly fish...beautifully written.
April 28, 2025
I learned plenty. At times, the language was labored, but easily improved as the story continued. I wish there were photos.
March 21, 2019
Deals with a fly fishing guide and his delicate balance with nature and having to take care of a family.
October 20, 2017
Chris Dombrowski's honesty in sharing intimate details about his life struggles with me as a reader captured my interest from the beginning. The synchronicity of his struggles and how he landed his first trip to the Bahamas made it all the more compelling.
Dombrowski shared details of the delicate balance between native Bahamians with the wealthy landowners who converted the area into a sport fishing destination for the bone fish in his warm prose style.
The most fascinating character, to whom much of the book is attributed, is the Bahamanian fishing sage with a gift for spotting and landing the elusive bone fish.
Dombrowski shared details of the delicate balance between native Bahamians with the wealthy landowners who converted the area into a sport fishing destination for the bone fish in his warm prose style.
The most fascinating character, to whom much of the book is attributed, is the Bahamanian fishing sage with a gift for spotting and landing the elusive bone fish.
December 29, 2018
2016 was a bountiful year for angling books of every stripe and hue, not just in terms of quantity but in quality too. I read a school’s worth of the year’s bumper crop, among which there were many standouts, by virtue of interesting subject matter, by virtue of quirky, one-off take on angling, or––best of all–– by virtue of engaging prose. The year saw Marcelo Gleiser’s The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected: A Natural Philosopher’s Quest for Trout and the Meaning of Everything, Henry Hughes’ Back Seat with Fish: A Man’s Adventures in Angling and Romance, James Babb’s Fish Won’t Let Me Sleep: The Obsessions of a Lifetime Flyfisherman and Greg French’s The Imperiled Cutthroat: Tracing the Fate of Yellowstone’s Native Trout–just to name a few exemplars of the literature of power category––plus the superb scholarly anthology Backcasts: A Global History of Fly Fishing and Conservation, ably edited by Samuel Snyder, Bryon Borgelt, and Elizabeth Tobbey, and Tom Rosenbauer’s literate, tech savvy instructional guide Fly Fishing for Trout: The Next Level.
The appearance of any two of those might have marked 2016 as an excellent year by most standards. But that wasn’t all. There were riches on top of riches to be had. Every so often something truly special comes along that deserves more than the usual attention. Fly fishing guide, acclaimed poet, and teacher Chris Dombrowski’s Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World’s Most Alluring Fish is that special book. Dombrowski’s prose is splendid, effortless, precise. It ranks with the best of Roderick Haig-Brown, Harry Middleton, David James Duncan, Thomas McGuane, John Gierach, and Ted Leeson. That is, in a category with our most acclaimed poets of fly fishing.
Body of Water is a hybrid, part way between meditative memoir, inquisitive biography, and documentary history. (It even sports a bibliography and list of sources and stimulants.) Like so much current “creative non fiction,” a porous, ambiguous genre, which relies on a deft melding of reportorial impulses and fiction-style techniques, Body of Water redefines Van Dyke’s old category of literature of power, updates it for our times. On the flats, the horizon is “so persistent,” Dombrowski writes, “you take one step toward it and it takes one step back.” He continues: “precisely where does the water stop and the sky begin? I reference this uncharitable point because the lines between biography, story, and myth seem even less definable, more arbitrary.” After this book it will be difficult to go back. It is the sort of shape-changing book that larger commercial presses might shun, but has found a perfect, fitting home at the respected Minneapolis-based independent publisher, Milkweed Editions.
Body of Water is mainly the story of David Pinder, Senior, the “sage” of the book’s title, who, until his somewhat too-hurried retirement in 1995 after 40 years, was head fishing guide at Deep Water Cay in the Bahamas (celebrating its 60th year in 2018), one of the premier saltwater angling destinations in the world (first built by Gil Drake and since then maintained under different owners). It is also the personal story of how Chris Dombrowski, the “seeker” of the book’s title, a Michigan-born Montana trout guide, became obsessed with angling for bonefish, the titular “world’s most alluring fish,” and in the process came to know and admire Pinder (and his talented kin). One of Dombrowski’s friends tells him, “’you ought to come meet David. He’s the guy that started all of this.’”
In coming to know the elder Pinder and his impact on Bahamian bonefishing, Dombrowski creates a brilliant portrait of the whole surround of island culture, history, society, race, economics, labor, and environment. This is genuinely intelligent, penetrating work and the book is freighted with gritty details and numerous dives into a welter of back ground presences, occurrences, tides, and cross currents. It is about fishing, but so much more, too. Dombrowski is the real deal, both as a guide and a writer, who reads water and other texts deftly. He pulls no punches and in doing so he creates a resonant angling ecology, in which––viewed properly and mindfully––nearly everything is related to everything else.
Luminous is the word that comes to mind in gauging this book. It is infused with the restless, ever-changing light of the flats, now radiant, now opaque: “…the water looks like a window filled with cerulean light but laid down horizontally, a seemingly infinite pane.” Or this quick portrait of a bonefish: “Now its sides are star white, chalky, its location perpetually vague and mirroring whatever surrounds it until it tilts, nose down, to root a bellicose crab from a burrow. Then its sloped back and dorsal fin cut through the surface, light shellacked, announcing its location to the airy world.” Those are a few of many similarly evocative descriptions of land, sea, and fish, and I am betting there isn’t a YouTube video around that can surpass them for visual acuity. Sometimes it takes language to embody what is most prized.
The appearance of any two of those might have marked 2016 as an excellent year by most standards. But that wasn’t all. There were riches on top of riches to be had. Every so often something truly special comes along that deserves more than the usual attention. Fly fishing guide, acclaimed poet, and teacher Chris Dombrowski’s Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World’s Most Alluring Fish is that special book. Dombrowski’s prose is splendid, effortless, precise. It ranks with the best of Roderick Haig-Brown, Harry Middleton, David James Duncan, Thomas McGuane, John Gierach, and Ted Leeson. That is, in a category with our most acclaimed poets of fly fishing.
Body of Water is a hybrid, part way between meditative memoir, inquisitive biography, and documentary history. (It even sports a bibliography and list of sources and stimulants.) Like so much current “creative non fiction,” a porous, ambiguous genre, which relies on a deft melding of reportorial impulses and fiction-style techniques, Body of Water redefines Van Dyke’s old category of literature of power, updates it for our times. On the flats, the horizon is “so persistent,” Dombrowski writes, “you take one step toward it and it takes one step back.” He continues: “precisely where does the water stop and the sky begin? I reference this uncharitable point because the lines between biography, story, and myth seem even less definable, more arbitrary.” After this book it will be difficult to go back. It is the sort of shape-changing book that larger commercial presses might shun, but has found a perfect, fitting home at the respected Minneapolis-based independent publisher, Milkweed Editions.
Body of Water is mainly the story of David Pinder, Senior, the “sage” of the book’s title, who, until his somewhat too-hurried retirement in 1995 after 40 years, was head fishing guide at Deep Water Cay in the Bahamas (celebrating its 60th year in 2018), one of the premier saltwater angling destinations in the world (first built by Gil Drake and since then maintained under different owners). It is also the personal story of how Chris Dombrowski, the “seeker” of the book’s title, a Michigan-born Montana trout guide, became obsessed with angling for bonefish, the titular “world’s most alluring fish,” and in the process came to know and admire Pinder (and his talented kin). One of Dombrowski’s friends tells him, “’you ought to come meet David. He’s the guy that started all of this.’”
In coming to know the elder Pinder and his impact on Bahamian bonefishing, Dombrowski creates a brilliant portrait of the whole surround of island culture, history, society, race, economics, labor, and environment. This is genuinely intelligent, penetrating work and the book is freighted with gritty details and numerous dives into a welter of back ground presences, occurrences, tides, and cross currents. It is about fishing, but so much more, too. Dombrowski is the real deal, both as a guide and a writer, who reads water and other texts deftly. He pulls no punches and in doing so he creates a resonant angling ecology, in which––viewed properly and mindfully––nearly everything is related to everything else.
Luminous is the word that comes to mind in gauging this book. It is infused with the restless, ever-changing light of the flats, now radiant, now opaque: “…the water looks like a window filled with cerulean light but laid down horizontally, a seemingly infinite pane.” Or this quick portrait of a bonefish: “Now its sides are star white, chalky, its location perpetually vague and mirroring whatever surrounds it until it tilts, nose down, to root a bellicose crab from a burrow. Then its sloped back and dorsal fin cut through the surface, light shellacked, announcing its location to the airy world.” Those are a few of many similarly evocative descriptions of land, sea, and fish, and I am betting there isn’t a YouTube video around that can surpass them for visual acuity. Sometimes it takes language to embody what is most prized.
May 30, 2017
This book was a mixed bag. What I liked a lot was the biography of David Pinder, a bonefishing guide in the Bahamas, and tales of the extended Pinder family. I also enjoyed the actual descriptions of sighting and casting to bonefish and other targets (though the author's fish of comparable size seem to run quite a lot farther than mine do). The history of Deep Water Cay Club, its ownership and management changes and relation to the local community started out OK with the Gil Drake Sr. and Jr. stories, and goes downhill thereafter l. Uncharitably, the author's personal story seemed to fit even less well into the flow. Then there's a geological history of the Bahamas and a historical overview. On top of these varied and not-necessarily-integrated plot threads is a prose style that reaches toward poetry (as the author is a poet-fishing guide) at its best. Often, I found it overblown.
Mr. Dombrowski wanted to write something different in the fishing spectrum, and he has done so. Several reviewers were captivated by "Body of Water" and my friend (a keen fisherman) bought the book for me as a gift on the back of his friends' recommendations. There's no doubt that this book resonates more deeply with some (perhaps the more spiritually-inclined: each chapter opens with a Taoist-type statement, one of which (opened at random just now) reads "The fashioner of things has no original intentions." Whatever.)
Despite all my complaining, it's a book by an author with ample talent. He's going to write other, better books on fishing and I'll be happy to read them when he does.
Mr. Dombrowski wanted to write something different in the fishing spectrum, and he has done so. Several reviewers were captivated by "Body of Water" and my friend (a keen fisherman) bought the book for me as a gift on the back of his friends' recommendations. There's no doubt that this book resonates more deeply with some (perhaps the more spiritually-inclined: each chapter opens with a Taoist-type statement, one of which (opened at random just now) reads "The fashioner of things has no original intentions." Whatever.)
Despite all my complaining, it's a book by an author with ample talent. He's going to write other, better books on fishing and I'll be happy to read them when he does.
July 13, 2017
If you like fishing you will love this book. If you are not an angler you will find a well written account about a fish you didn't know existed.
The Bonefish is a small bony barely edible fish of Carribean waters that attracts sports fisherman because they are very hard to catch and when hooked they run like crazy.
Essential to finding and hooking one of these elusive denizens of shallow clear tropical waters is a good guide. Local guides not only know where the fish feed but can distinguish the subtle movements on the surface of the water that betray their location where normal people would only perceive ripples that look like wind on the water.
This book is as much about the guides as it is the fish. Particularly David Pinder the aging patriarch of bonefish guides. It is his story that winds throughout the book inseparable from the fish themselves.
I had read rave reviews that this book was up there with other giants of sports fishing writing like Hemingway. It's a good book but not in that rarefied air, yet. Perhaps on a second read I might reconsider. But then again I am not an angling fanatic (yet). ..
The Bonefish is a small bony barely edible fish of Carribean waters that attracts sports fisherman because they are very hard to catch and when hooked they run like crazy.
Essential to finding and hooking one of these elusive denizens of shallow clear tropical waters is a good guide. Local guides not only know where the fish feed but can distinguish the subtle movements on the surface of the water that betray their location where normal people would only perceive ripples that look like wind on the water.
This book is as much about the guides as it is the fish. Particularly David Pinder the aging patriarch of bonefish guides. It is his story that winds throughout the book inseparable from the fish themselves.
I had read rave reviews that this book was up there with other giants of sports fishing writing like Hemingway. It's a good book but not in that rarefied air, yet. Perhaps on a second read I might reconsider. But then again I am not an angling fanatic (yet). ..
January 1, 2023
I was surprised by Body of Water. By hook, line, fly and sinker I was drawn in. (When you read the book, or the description, you'll understand the reference.) I will read Dombrowski's next book, to see where this writer goes and how his prose style evolves.
The adventurous writing in Body of Water is an uneven experience: parts flow and are clear in their intent, while - in general, there are exceptions - the more creative uses of language, simile and metaphor get jangy and slow the reader down, using words, for example, like abjure or parries for carries (unless that's a typo?). Sometimes I didn't understand the lingo or what whole passages were trying to say, but that didn't deter me - there was enough variety and good stuff to keep me going, along with some yummy factoids and thought provoking analysis about our treatment of people and natural resources. Did you know Columbus never actually discovered anything; every place he landed was already inhabited? And that every place he landed, Europeans exploited the inhabitants and their natural resources.
The less creative Dombroski is the less distracting, in this case - less is more. The potential is evident, though, for more consistently succeeding at the creative.
Dombrowski's main topic is fishing guide David Pinder, bonefish and Deep Water Cay on the east end of the Grand Bahamas, This book was published in 2016. Deep Water Cay was hit hard by a hurricane in 2019, clearing the small island of many homes and most of its trees. And leaving me wondering what has happened there since to the people and place. (In Joelb's review, he says the hurricane destroyed Deep Water Cay and there is a Go Fund Me to help restore the island and reopen the fishing resort.)
The adventurous writing in Body of Water is an uneven experience: parts flow and are clear in their intent, while - in general, there are exceptions - the more creative uses of language, simile and metaphor get jangy and slow the reader down, using words, for example, like abjure or parries for carries (unless that's a typo?). Sometimes I didn't understand the lingo or what whole passages were trying to say, but that didn't deter me - there was enough variety and good stuff to keep me going, along with some yummy factoids and thought provoking analysis about our treatment of people and natural resources. Did you know Columbus never actually discovered anything; every place he landed was already inhabited? And that every place he landed, Europeans exploited the inhabitants and their natural resources.
The less creative Dombroski is the less distracting, in this case - less is more. The potential is evident, though, for more consistently succeeding at the creative.
Dombrowski's main topic is fishing guide David Pinder, bonefish and Deep Water Cay on the east end of the Grand Bahamas, This book was published in 2016. Deep Water Cay was hit hard by a hurricane in 2019, clearing the small island of many homes and most of its trees. And leaving me wondering what has happened there since to the people and place. (In Joelb's review, he says the hurricane destroyed Deep Water Cay and there is a Go Fund Me to help restore the island and reopen the fishing resort.)
September 14, 2025
Enjoyable read! You don't need to be into fishing to be able to get through this book without falling asleep. If anything, I found it convincing as a whole to pick up fishing as a hobby to escape from the worries of the day. The book focuses a lot on the story and background of the Bahaman fishing lodge, Deep Water Cay, and its legendary guide, David Pinder. In the mix of that, the author hints at how he was in troubled waters both in life and mentally, and the experience of being a guide alleviated it for him to an extent. I understand the author is a poet of sorts, or at least is experienced in that wheelhouse, and it definitely shows. Some have commented that the quotes at the beginning of each chapter are vague in relation to the story. I appreciated them; subtly is an art. Something I wish was less subtly discussed was the development of the author's mental health and getting used to life back home, being a father, husband. Cool book though, going to remind myself to check his poetry.
November 30, 2019
I don't fly fish, I don't like fish, but it seems there's almost a cult-like following for those two, so after reading a couple of passages for a college class, I figured I would try this book to educate myself. The book is fine, the author tried his best I feel like.
I do have one pretty harsh criticism of the book though: the author spares himself from any original thought and let's a smattering of quotes to explain his thoughts, over his own. At times, it feels like a crutch. At times, it feels like a student who thinks they are going to impress their teacher by using as big as words as possible, except here it's references and quotes. Pages 184-185, for example, has eight different pithy quotes and 5 different references, all separated from the book. Maybe I can ironically get the point across through a quote: "You do not need to quote great men to show you are one." - Abigail Adams
I do have one pretty harsh criticism of the book though: the author spares himself from any original thought and let's a smattering of quotes to explain his thoughts, over his own. At times, it feels like a crutch. At times, it feels like a student who thinks they are going to impress their teacher by using as big as words as possible, except here it's references and quotes. Pages 184-185, for example, has eight different pithy quotes and 5 different references, all separated from the book. Maybe I can ironically get the point across through a quote: "You do not need to quote great men to show you are one." - Abigail Adams
May 16, 2023
As an avid fly fisher and one who has chased Caribbean, Gulf, and Indo-Pacific Bonefish, I really enjoyed this book. Having fished with guides from Belize and Cuba, I could easily picture David Pinder, as they also don’t wear sunglasses often, an occurrence I find mind-boggling. The description of the Mangroves, changes Deep Water Cay is experiencing, and some of the counter-conservation measures enacted are so saddeningly accurate, as these same ideals have occurred elsewhere, like Alphonse Island, Seychelles. What a wonderful history of one of the world’s most prolific Bonefish fisheries the planet has seen. Most poignant for me was the results of the tagged Bonefish who were properly handled vs. those who weren’t. I participated in a tagging, and the data generated by them is vital.
January 30, 2018
Non-fiction written by a poet passionate about the place, people, and action. Dombrowski digs into the history of bonefish angling in the Bahamas, the growing trend of upscale sporting reservations for the wealthy, and the social hardships of life in the islands. Far from his homewaters in Montana and Michigan, Dombrowski describes the islands in the stream as only an outsider with a lifetime of fishing experience can. This makes the enchanting visuals of this book accessible to just about anyone.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
March 27, 2018
I. Really. Liked. This. Book.
Some chapters were like poems, some chapters were like chapters. One or two I didn't connect with, but man, oh, man, it is a good thing poets write prose once in a while.
"Body of Water" is thoughtful, introspective, and alive with the magic of place. Some hybrid cross between Craig Child's "Soul of Nowhere" and Ted Leeson's "Habit of Rivers."
I don't read fly-fishing books much anymore, but this one was well worth the read. Especially in winter. Especially wishing I were on the flats. Thank you Chris. Conch fritters at Alma's your way.
Some chapters were like poems, some chapters were like chapters. One or two I didn't connect with, but man, oh, man, it is a good thing poets write prose once in a while.
"Body of Water" is thoughtful, introspective, and alive with the magic of place. Some hybrid cross between Craig Child's "Soul of Nowhere" and Ted Leeson's "Habit of Rivers."
I don't read fly-fishing books much anymore, but this one was well worth the read. Especially in winter. Especially wishing I were on the flats. Thank you Chris. Conch fritters at Alma's your way.
May 29, 2017
A little natural history of the Bahamas, a little biography of one of the original legendary bonefishing guides, a little history of Deep Water Cay, some ecology of saltwater mangrove flats, a lot about the best of all sport fishing- bonefishing on the fly, a plea for smart sustainable resource management and against senseless development, and, at heart, "Zen and the art of bonefishing". Like the cover quote asserts, it should become a classic in fishing literature.
November 26, 2018
I approached this book with too many expectations, I think, and it was doomed to fall short. I found the writing style and book structure to be very awkward. I'm curious to read his poetry, because the clarity and precision that typically comes with poets writing prose was not evident here. If anything, it was the switch between "poetic" phrasing and informal, direct voice that confused things. Anyway. I wish this book was for me, and I hope it reads better in other hands.
February 14, 2022
A good fishing story, but mostly a strong work that seeks to unpack what it means to be in relationship to each other, this time, and the places where we find ourselves.
“When we attend thoroughly to our surroundings, we enter the prayerful closet of the senses and close the door.”
While certainly both great works in their own right, the book reminded me of Harry Middleton’s “The Earth Is Enough.”
“When we attend thoroughly to our surroundings, we enter the prayerful closet of the senses and close the door.”
While certainly both great works in their own right, the book reminded me of Harry Middleton’s “The Earth Is Enough.”
November 26, 2022
What a lovely book. I did my first bone fishing in Belize just a year ago. It was a bucket lister for me and now, after reading Dombrowski’s lovingly crafted memoir and quasi-biography of David Pinder—the sage of the guiding world, I understand things better. Life, bonefish, family, and water. I can’t wait to visit the Bahamas for my chance at some of those big bones and maybe for some transcendental blues and greens…
January 27, 2020
Good effort. This is a thorough examination of bone fishing in the Bahamas, the life of bone-fishing guide David Pinder, and the connection of fishermen to fishing, but I'm not sure the foundation is strong enough to support the sometimes eloquent, poetic imagery and language or the metaphysical superstructure.
August 6, 2017
Excellent recommend by John VL - a memoir by a Montana flyfishing guide, struggling with family and economic reality, who lucks into a bone-fishing trip in the Bahamas with the guru of bonefishers, and discovers again the magic of fish and water and flyfishing zen. The guru's approach to the fish, the sea, the land and the people, reflecting a lifetime spent on this water, is a beautiful reminder of why serious hunters and fishers are often the best and most dedicated stewards of the natural world.
March 11, 2019
Dombrowski is on his way to be the next potent author. Giving his readers the sense that they are wading in the ocean casting their fly to lay eyes on an incredible creature that has changed the lives of scores of Bahamians.
September 20, 2022
I made it a quarter in. Just couldn’t engage with it. A guide from Montana interaction with guides in the Bahamas. Had hoped for some Thoreau/zen like meditation on fly fishing but that didn’t materialize for me.
January 19, 2017
Only for those who've tried (and failed, typically) their hand at fly fishing the Bahamas for bonefish. For those who have, this is a lovely small read with many paragraphs that are deeply written.
January 27, 2019
One of the most brilliant and beautifully written books that I’ve ever read.
February 19, 2019
I have no interest in fishing but this was a delightful read.
July 2, 2020
Quality explanation of bonefishermen, especially in Bahamas
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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July 18, 2022If you’re not an avid fisherman it’s not for you!
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