IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:

Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com

Reflections on the River by Andrew Levy

Reflections on the River is an interesting and varied collection of fishing adventures and tales that gives a very interesting foreign perspective on areas that one knows, in this case the UK and Ireland, as well as unknown venues. The author, Andrew Levy, is a successful South African businessman and fly fisherman and so can afford to fish in exciting and exotic places, often in the company of his fellow Woolly Worms. The book is divided into five main sections covering Travels with a Fly Rod, Friends and Companions, Techniques and Tools of the Trade, Fishy Tales, and Reflections and Reminiscences.

Travels with a Fly Rod starts under canvas, moves on to salmon in Ireland, the Test and Patagonia. Quite an exciting mixture! In Friends and Companions Levy writes about his fishing mentors, South African fishermen and fishing and the afore-mentioned Wolly Worms, his gang of hell-raising (but polite) fishermen and their quest for the Pancora Crab. The final piece in this section is all about what makes a good fishing tackle shop. I am sure that we all have our favourites. Techniques and Tools of the Trade looks at the perfect fishing knife, the top 10 flies, musings on fly rods. landing nets and droppers for a better class of wind knot which will strike a chord with many.

"If trout are polite drawing room conversation, then salmon represent a knock-down bar room brawl and the odds are stacked against you." That is one of Andrew Levy's comments on the salmon, for him the king of game fish.

Some years ago Arthur Ransome wrote about dry cow fishing but Andrew Levy introduces us to the much more entertaining cat fishing! That is the four-leg variety not the fish. When teaching his yonger brother to fly fish, Andrew tied a small piece of meat to the end of the leader and his brother cast it to the cat on the front lawn. "The cat would pounce on the bait if the placement was right and a proper fight would follow as each struggled for possession."

Aspects of this book reminded me of Robert Hughes' book A Jerk on One End, in that both authors were expounding their one personal philosophy. In the final chapter, The Last Cast, Levy writes: "Fly fishing, in short, can make us better human beings. . . . . . The first thing that we learn, to my mind, is an honesty with oneself and self discipline. To a large extent fly fishing in self-regulatory. When you fish you are usually on your own and responsible for your own behaviour. . . . . Under these circumstances you will set your own standards and will meet and maintain them because they are important to you.".

I think that fellow non-South Africans would benefit from a glossary of South African words and terms, many of which are quite incomprehensible but not being able to understand them does not detract from the enjoyment of this book.

If anyone wants any current information on fly fishing in South Africa, Andrew Levy will be glad to help. You can contact him at alevy@iafrica.com

Reflections on the River by Andrew Levy. Published by TCFF Publishing & Marketing (Pty) Ltd in paperback, 183pp, at SA Rand 129.96 (about £8, depending on exchange rate). Available via mail order from The Complete Fly Fisherman Magazine (Pty) Ltd., P.O. Box 3083 Pretoria 0001, South Africa, or the order may be faxed to 00 27 12 371 9579. Alternatively, a telephone orders can be made on 00 27 12 371 9594. Payment can be made by Visa, Masters or Diners cards.



< Back to BOOK REVIEW content