Lines On the Water: A Fly Fisherman's Life On the Miramichi

by David Adams Richards

Celebrating the joys of fishing, the author provides a memorable tour of the legendary Miramichi River while recollecting his first fishing trip at the age of four to his never-ending quest for the next great fishing pond, providing valuable insight on nature, determination, respect, friendship, history, and change. Reprint.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Canada, Sports, Autobiography

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

David Adams Richards (born 17 October 1950) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, screenwriter and poet.

Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Richards left St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, one course shy of completing a B.A. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at various universities and colleges across Canada, including the University of New Brunswick.

Richards has received numerous awards including 2 Gemini Awards for scriptwriting for Small Gifts and "For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down", the Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Canadian Authors Association Award for his novel Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace. Richards is one of only three writers to have won in both the fiction and non-fiction categories of the Governor General's Award. He won the 1988 fiction award for Nights Below Station Street and the 1998 non-fiction award for Lines on the Water: A Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi. He was also a co-winner of the 2000 Giller Prize for Mercy Among the Children.

In 1971, he married the former Peggy MacIntyre. They have two sons, John Thomas and Anton Richards, and currently reside in Toronto.

John Thomas was born in 1989 in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick administers an annual David Adams Richards Award for Fiction.

Richards' papers are currently housed at the University of New Brunswick.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about fly fishing but also about the river and the people who live near it. The David Adams Richards I have followed writes excellent books, but they are very dark in most cases. This book is quite different. While it is still moving it is also humorous. As a young boy, David sought out people who could show him how to fish because his father did not know how. It wasn't until he was married and his wife introduced him to her cousin that David started to perfect his technique. Today he fishes as much as he can.

This book is a collection of stories about the frustration, the joy and the beauty of fishing on the Marimichi River and its tributaries. Many of the characters he describes are part of what makes this sport what it is and Richards does a masterful job of relating their stories to us. We meet sportsman, wise old woodsman and even poachers. In the end we feel that the river wouldn't be the same without all these people.

I fish the Marimichi when I can and I must admit that I cannot present my fly properly nor can I see the fish when I want to but I still love it. With this book David Adams Richards has helped me develop some insight into why this is the case. If you fish read this. If you don't fish read it anyway.

[Chrissie]

Recommended to me.

[John Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about our relationship with nature, about hunters and fishermen, friendship and family, history and memory. Lines on the Water teems with lore and wisdom, humour, and most of all, passion. As with all Isaak Walton’s brethren of the angle, some great and memorable characters have informed Richards’ fishing passion, and he brings them briefly to the surface of this book. Spinning fishy tale after glorious fishy tale we join him and his companions on the endless search for the next great fishing pool and along the way remember why we love to read, and why we have to fish.

I loved this book; I read Richards’ descriptions of great salmon and lovely trout, and know why his breath comes sharply at the sight of them; I nod in recognition at his evocation of the splendid loneliness of a remote and unpeopled stretch of river in the late afternoon; I stand in his shadow as he casts and shares his joy. Every fisherman is in this book – though it is one man’s story – that is its strength.

I should add here that I live in New Brunswick and share this passion with fly-fishing for salmon and trout. I have fished the rivers mentioned in the book, walked those paths in the woods in search for those pools. I tie on the same flies and swatted away the back flies so I closely related to the stories mentioned "Lines On The Water."

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

To take one's time is what the river has to teach.

[Kevin Gallan · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful book ...even if you don't fish you will love the way he tells of his many adventures fishing the mighty salmon on the miramichi.richards has a way of telling a story that just takes my breath away..i didn't want it to end

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really intend to read this book when I bought it from Book Bub. I wanted to see whether it was good enough to give to Roger as a gift. But the beautiful prose and the stories drew me in, and I found myself enjoying it very much. Definitely has gift potential!

[Pat Loughery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, languid prose, and yet far from stereotypical fartsy crap one too often finds in this subject. I will read more from this author.

[François Dumaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainement un des plus beaux récits sur la pêche à la mouche. D'un grand humanisme. Une lecture incontournable pour tous les adeptes de pêche.