Where the Trout Are All as Long as Your Leg [Paperback]

John Gierach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 1993

Fly-fishing's finest scribe, John Gierach, takes us from a nameless stream on a nameless ranch in Montana to a secret pool off a secret creek where he caught a catfish as a five-year-old, to a brook full of rattlesnakes and a private pond where the trout are all as long as your leg. As Gierach says, "The secret places are the soul of fishing." Hearing about a new one never fails to entice us.

And so Where the Trout Are All as Long as Your Leg transports the reader to the best of these places, where the fish are always bigger and the hatches last forever. After all, it's these magical places that Gierach so vividly evokes that remind us how precious -- and precarious -- are the unspoiled havens of the natural world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Flyfisher Magazine Gierach writes about the common experiences in a way that makes ours more meaningful.

From the Back Cover

"The secret places are the soul of fishing.... It may be a private spring creek with armed guards where there are huge browns and lots of them, or it may just be an unknown beaver pond where a handful of book trout have grown to a whopping eleven inches. In either case, it's a spot that, by the simple virtue of being left more or less alone, has reached is full potential."So begins this brilliant short book, in which half a dozen such places are featured. There is a pool made memorable because it is part of a risky childhood adventure; hidden local streams; sections of a wealthy ranch; secret stretches - full of rattlesnakes - and private ponds with trout as long as your leg. All are made magically vivid by Gierach's special prose - and all stand starkly against a more public natural world increasingly threatened with ecological disaster. (53/4 X 81/2, 100 pages, illustrations)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 6, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671754556
• ISBN-13: 978-0671754556
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Gierach is the author of several previous books, including At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman, Standing in a River Waving a Stick, and Dances with Trout. His work has appeared in Gray's Sporting Journal, Field & Stream, where he is a contributing writer, and Fly Rod & Reel, where he is a columnist. He also writes columns for the Longmont (CO) Daily Times-Call and the monthly Redstone Review. He lives in Lyons, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the book that hooked me on John Gierach, October 2, 1998

By 

Former Rater (Nowhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where the Trout Are All as Long as Your Leg (Paperback)

It all started with this book as a gift -- John's stories are addictive and now I own all of John's works (save, "Signs of Life"). If you enjoy well-crafted short stories, you will not be disapointed with this work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The secret places to fish., February 19, 2007

By 

Erlend Nilssen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where the Trout Are All as Long as Your Leg (Paperback)

We who fish have all heard of these places. The Secrets, the holes where civilisation didn't spoil the fish, and the fish are wild. Or, if originally stocked, been living the free life long enough to be close to wild. Yet again Gierach proves that his writing, although deeply personal, never becomes private and that his choice of subject - matter touches everybody with just a passing knowledge of fishing. His books are about life first and the fish second or are these to inseperable to him?

5.0 out of 5 stars Trout Fishing, December 29, 2011

By 

timjim - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Where the Trout are All as Long as Your Leg (Hardcover)

i recently received this book and it is an easy and enjoyable read. Gierach has a way with words and when put in the context of fly fishing makes for a fun read. Makes one think too!