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I picked this book up from a second hand sale, and unfortunately my copy is in a very poor condition.
Quite a large proportion of this book is taken up with chapters on the physical environment of the sea trout, its population distribution and the physical biology of the fish. This is not just an angling guide. Whether this approach appeals I suppose is up to the individual reader. Personally I enjoy reading about the fish, but not at the expense of limiting the angling section of the book!
There are sections on fly fishing, spinning and worming. The fly fishing section is limited with the author suggesting a traditional (pre Falkus) approach with the floating line and small flies. The modern sea trout angler will probably be dissapointed there is no discussion of sunk line fishing or the surface lure! In fact the author suggests that tube flies are hardly worth the bother, but does concede they might have their uses on larger rivers. Pretty dated stuff compared with the approach taken by a lot of modern sea trout anglers. The sections on spinning and worming are basic guides, that do not really offer a huge amount.
In summary I would suggest that this book falls between two stalls. It ends up being neither a satisfactory survey of the biology of the sea trout or a comprehensive angling guide. That is not to say it is not worth reading, but it will definitely leave the reader wanting more detail! For me it fails the test, as it sits too long on my bookshelf without being re-read every winter!
Phil
Quite a large proportion of this book is taken up with chapters on the physical environment of the sea trout, its population distribution and the physical biology of the fish. This is not just an angling guide. Whether this approach appeals I suppose is up to the individual reader. Personally I enjoy reading about the fish, but not at the expense of limiting the angling section of the book!
There are sections on fly fishing, spinning and worming. The fly fishing section is limited with the author suggesting a traditional (pre Falkus) approach with the floating line and small flies. The modern sea trout angler will probably be dissapointed there is no discussion of sunk line fishing or the surface lure! In fact the author suggests that tube flies are hardly worth the bother, but does concede they might have their uses on larger rivers. Pretty dated stuff compared with the approach taken by a lot of modern sea trout anglers. The sections on spinning and worming are basic guides, that do not really offer a huge amount.
In summary I would suggest that this book falls between two stalls. It ends up being neither a satisfactory survey of the biology of the sea trout or a comprehensive angling guide. That is not to say it is not worth reading, but it will definitely leave the reader wanting more detail! For me it fails the test, as it sits too long on my bookshelf without being re-read every winter!
Phil