West Country Fly Fishing

Virtually all of the West Country's fine fishing rivers rise on one of the three great moors of the region, Dartmoor, Exmoor and Bodmin and, with differing character, flow through some of Britain's most beautiful countryside. In so doing, they provide the best of fly fishing in the finest settings. Anne Voss Bark, this book's editor, owns the Arundell Arms Hotel in Lifton on the Devon-Cornwall borders, renowned for its fishing and having twenty miles of beats providing salmon, sea trout and brown trout sport on the Tamar and its tributaries. Under her expert guidance, contributors to this book, many famous in other fields but all true anglers, have written a text which is informative, instructional and evocative. Brian Clarke, angling correspondent of "The Times", relates his fly fishing memories in the West Country; Roy Buckingham, fishing instructor, river keeper, former fly casting champion and fisherman since the age of seven, imparts the secrets of successful sea trout fishing; Ted Hughes, author and Poet Laureate, lives by the River Taw and from his experiences and those he has collected from others, reveals much about fishing methods on the Taw and Torridge; the late Dermot Wilson, probably the most respected dry fly fisherman in England of his day, writes of the charms of the wild moor land-fed streams and Robin Lemon describes the successful ways of fishing West Country lakes and reservoirs. These are but a few of the book's distinguished contributors who, collectively, have produced a marvellously readable text, complemented by quality photographs of the locations. Here, then, is a book which will appeal to fisherman of all levels of skill and all ages and, by hearing the views of experts, there is much to be gained from reading it.