Dynamic Nymphing, a book review.

I had read some articles concerning the upcoming release of this book by George Daniel and was intrigued. I pre-ordered a copy from Amazon a few weeks ago, not expecting the book until January, and I was surprised by its arrival at my door yesterday.

Sometimes I have purchased and read books only to be sorely disappointed by the content or lack thereof. Happily, this was not the case with this book. I was introduced to Czech nymphing this past April and quickly became fascinated by the technique. I have read several books on the topic and this book is the most comprehensive and best written of the group. Some of the books I have read almost require an advanced degree to complete however, Mr. Daniel has written a book that anglers of all levels can pick up, read and find a wealth of information to bring to the river.

I finished this book today and will begin the re-read over the weekend to digest the content in greater detail. This book reinforces a need for patience on the water and the need to really focus on your surroundings. Certain sections of the book have made me realize that I may have been skunked on various occasions not for lack of fish in the water rather, for lack of staying in a section of water and trying to determine why I was not hooking fish. Sometimes I am so convinced that I have the proper rig that I cannot see that I might not be getting the flies deep enough, casting accurately or even reading the water correctly. Mr. Daniel suggests taking the time to solve your problems on the water rather than give up and find another place to fish. Although I have only been fly fishing for about 5 years, I still consider myself a relative novice. Given the shear amount of gear available for anglers, one could easily think that the best gear would help you land more fish. I was pleased to see that Mr. Daniel addressed this topic and, similar to what I have said about golfing, it doesn't matter what clubs you use...you can either play or you can't.

I plan to re-evaluate my gear and focus on a few rods that I am most comfortable with on the water. The same holds true for flies. I am amazed at the volume of choices that are available for use in attempting to fool a fish into taking a bite. In my opinion, Mr. Daniel is also saying that you can focus your flies to a more narrow assortment and learn to fish them consistently well anywhere in the world.

I would certainly suggest  anyone interested in learning more about this technique to pick up a copy of the book...it's well worth it.