Blue Upright: The Flies of a Lifetime [Hardcover]

Steve Raymond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

An essential book of flies for people who tie them and fish with them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Taking its name from one of the author's favorite fly patterns, this book takes a look at the top dozen fly fishing lures in Raymond's vast tackle collection. Focusing on one fly at a time, Raymond breaks down each fly's origins, how it is made and how and for what fish he employs it. Most importantly, Raymond uses these rather technical fishing narratives as an impetus to explore cherished personal memories as well as a host of fishing and related nonfishing topics close to his heart. Some of Raymond's tangents are strictly for diehard fishermen, as when he discusses the many fly boxes, in various shapes and sizes, that he keeps his precious flies in or when he looks at various controversies over who first tied a fly pattern. Other memories are more universal, as when he muses about the last time he fished with his father or when he wonders what his favorite river might have looked like 200 years ago. Raymond's storytelling and writing skills enable him to seamlessly work these varied topics into cohesive chapters that both inform and amuse. And no matter where Raymond's thoughts take him, he's always able to convey how each of these tiny fishing flies has affected his life in a big way. Illus.
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Review

Few angler-authors can match the skill and insight of Steve Raymond...Through the seasons of the angler's year, Raymond leads his reader to a refined and refreshed understanding of what the natural world is really all about. --Nelson Bryant, The New York Times

With Blue Upright, Steve Raymond proves once again why he is the Raymond Carver of fly-fish lit. With elegant, unadorned precision, Steve offers the biographies of his favorite flies, which blossom into an autobiography of Steve Raymond and a history of fly-fishing for salmon, trout and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest, with side trips after bonefish and Atlantic salmon. It is complex wisdom simply presented, and belongs on any literate fly-fisher¹s bookshelf. ­ James R. Babb, Editor, Gray¹s Sporting Journal

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592282423
• ISBN-13: 978-1592282425
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fly fishing read, December 5, 2007

By 

So. Cal. Tyer "Dennis" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Upright: The Flies of a Lifetime (Hardcover)

Not a tying instruction book, but does provide pattern recipes for the flies he references in his stories. Intermediate or advanced tyers should have no problem constructing the patterns. This guy knows how to write an interesting & entertaining story. If you are a flytyer/flyfisher I believe you will enjoy this book as much as I did. Blue Upright: The Flies of a Lifetime was so good I purchased several of his earlier titles Angler Gift Box: The Year of the Angler and the Year of the Troutbecause I enjoy his writing style. Highly recommended addition to your sporting library.