John Gierach is, in my opinion, the best fishing writer alive today. Perhaps the best I have ever read. His stories and prose eloquently describe almost every aspect of fly fishing. His book The View From Rat Lake is formatted somewhat different than most of his work, but just as, if not more, enjoyable.
This book touches a special place in my heart for many reasons, but the most obvious one is the title: The View From Rat Lake. You see, Rat Lake is about 30-40 miles from my front door, up the Gallatin Canyon and the Squaw Creek drainage. Ashamedly, I have never fished it. Driven up there and hiked around many times, yes, but never fished it. As have many people, I have heard and been fascinated by the stories of large and hungry trout in the lake. At some point this summer, myself and other members of the Chi Wulff team are going to test the validity of those stories.
The View From Rat Lake covers many components of fly fishing from tying flies to fishing lakes to fishing the transitions in hatches and much more beyond that. Perhaps my personal favorite part of the book was his tale of fishing cars. In this short piece, he mentions fishing cars from his past and the stories they all had, particularly the car belonging to his Uncle Leonard. The proper fishing car must be old, able to handle traveling down bumpy dirt roads, and be reliable enough to get you to your destination. Getting back home isn’t as important as getting there. It brings to mind my current fishing car, a 1983 Jeep CJ-7. She may have a leaky gas tank, non-working gauges on the dash, and be help together partly by red duct tape, but she gets you to the river.
Part of what makes Gierach’s work so enjoyable is the fact that it is very relateable. Sure, not many of us fish with bamboo rods and have the exact same ideals as Geirach, but much of what he writes about we have either experienced, thought about or dealt with at some point in our fishing careers. Take the concept of home water for instance. In this book, Gierach tells of his own home water: the St. Vrain in Colorado. Everyone, no matter where they live, has some river, stream or lake that is their water. The fishing may not be wonderful, the fish may not be big, but it is close to home and heart.
Gierach captures the essence of the sport by not focusing entirely on just the fishing. The events and happenings on the periphery recieve attention as well. Camping, fishing cars, tying flies all find a home in Gierach’s work. For the fly fisherman or any outdoor enthusiast, The View From Rat Lake is a must have.
