IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:

Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com

Keeper of the Stream and Nymphs & The Trout Omnibus Edition - Frank Sawyer

Reviewed by Terry Lawton

The pleasure and enjoyment of reading a good book is much enhanced when that book is a quality publication. And you cannot get much better quality than the collectable books published by the Fly Fisher's Classic Library. Keeper of the Stream and Nymphs and the Trout by Frank Sawyer have been published in a combined, limited edition of 450 copies. Although this omnibus edition was published in 1997, copies are still available. Priced at £59 this handsome volume may seem expensive but a look at second-hand book dealers' lists will show that to buy both books separately will cost more, without the benefit of the extra information in this omnibus edition or the quality of the binding with marbled endpapers and gilt top edge.

Keeper of the Stream was first published in 1952 and is the story of the life of a river - the Upper Avon - and its fishery - the Officers' Fishing Association in Wiltshire - of which Frank Sawyer was the river keeper. As I have read this book already, this review is going to concentrate more on the second book, Nymphs and the Trout which I had not read.
Keeper of the Stream covers every aspect of a river and its life. The book starts by looking at the life of the river valley and then moves onto the river itself and then the fish that benefit from the daily attentions of the river keeper, the trout. For anyone involved in looking after a river there is much sound knowledge to be gained.

Sawyer's introduction to Nymphs and the Trout is very interesting for his reminiscences on meetings with GEM Skues and how it was by reading Skues' books Minor Tactic of the Chalk Stream, and Nymph Fishing for Chalk Stream Trout, that he was encouraged to start writing about nymphs and nymph fishing. He first met Skues when he, Skues, was 90 in 1945 and although rather frail physically his mind was still needle-sharp.

The book starts well and very much to the point: "In all branches of angling, simplicity is an aim to be pursued, and simplicity can indeed be adopted in both dry-fly and nymph fishing, especially the latter.". Sawyer's dependence on just a handful of artificial nymphs is in dramatic contrast to Halford who, in his book Dry Fly Entomology, listed his 100 best (!) dry flies and even Skues, in Nymph Fishing for Chalk Stream Trout, listed no less than 15 different patterns of nymphs. Whether all those patterns would have passed muster with Frank Sawyer's test for an effective artificial: "Through the years the fish have been the judge of any artificials I have constructed and in reasoning things out I have come to the conclusion that the view of the fish must have primary consideration." is open to doubt.

For someone who looks somewhat austere in his photographs, it is amusing to know that he would have liked to have spent a couple of years as a trout. How many of today's anglers used to put and take fisheries would be prepared to accept the depth of exploration in which Frank Sawyer revelled so obviously? Has someone, perhaps, caught him re-incarnated as a trout? I bet he would be difficult to catch!

As the title of this book suggests, Sawyer expounds at length on his theories and practice of nymph fishing both at home and abroad. For him the joy and fascination of nymph fishing was to use artificials that can be cast accurately and delicately with a light rod and line.

He puts forward an interesting approach to dealing with difficult fish. He recommends trying a finer tippet or possibly one of a different colour rather than changing automatically to a different pattern or size of fly. It is only too easy to get set in one's ways and not think hard enough how to solve a problem. In fact, this book is a very good mix of the theoretical and the practical. There is much good advice on how to design your own flies as well as full instructions on how to tie his Pheasant Tail nymph although the thorax cover on nymphs he and his wife tied commercially finished at the back of the thorax rather than in front ie behind the eye of the hook, as described here.

It is also interesting to discover that he knew of the importance of the buzzer more than 40 years ago.

Some of the advice - particularly on certain aspects of tackle - is dated as are some of Sawyer's ethical values. However, any sensible reader will realise this when cane rods are recommended and line weights are quoted in the old values long since replaced by the AFTM system. Somewhat surprisingly, old hook sizes have not been converted into modern sizes.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who takes a serious interest in trout streams and fisheries, their health and well being, and who wants to master the subtle art of nymph fishing. The time spent reading the 450 pages will be well rewarded. This is definitely a book for any serious fishing library.

Keeper of the Stream and Nymphs and the Trout by Frank Sawyer. Published by the Fly Fisher's Classic Library in a limited edition of 450 copies at £59/$92. Hardback 274 pages with slipcase.

Copies of this and other Fly Fisher's Classic Library volumes can be ordered at direct - just click the logo for more details.

< Back to BOOK REVIEW content