Look, I have kinda given up on reviewing books (although if someone wants to send me one then I am not saying no) however now that “Trout in Dirty Places” by Theo Pike is out I really want you to buy it.
I received my copy on Friday..
As I flicked through it I realised what I held in my hand – it is a manual of all the rivers that you see on City breaks and wonder whether they have fish in them – now you will know and also where to buy a permit – sweet! Already I have spotted a few rivers I should have fished in the past and will do so in the future when I pass that way again.
I looked at the Kelvin page and wondered just who that hunk of sheer raw manliness was in the photograph, I mean look at the sexy pose, the steely glint behind the shades …
Goodness gracious – IT’S ME!!
Just in case you did not know (I have been bleating on about it for a year) here is the original post when I took Theo to the Kelvin.
Anyway, obviously if you fish the Kelvin you will not buy it for that as you will buy it for the other 49 rivers – obviously useful for long distance lorry drivers and other times folk who are near urban rivers and fancy a spot of action.
There are two ways you can grab a copy, one of which is free for someone – the publishers “Merlin Unwin” are having a competition on their site to win a free copy – the question is:
Question: Under which major British airport runway does a fishing river flow, in which beautiful 17-inch wild brown trout can be caught free of charge?
Just in case you are unable to use google – you might find this link kinda interesting: River Bollin
You have until the 30th April so hurry up.
The second way and if you are unlucky enough not to win a free copy is to actually buy the book – you can buy it from many bookshops however if you buy it from Amazon and through my link I get a bung – so here is a picture that takes you straight to the Amazon page where you can buy it..
In other news I happen to have a shit load of flies that need tied up – a kind reader got in touch to say he was going to send me some (the absolute gent) and they will get used over the coming coming season however I happen to have a free 2 hour window tomorrow morning – on the cards are simple pheasant tail nymphs (with no thread used), some Wooly Buggers (a few colors) and some stupidly sparse dries.
I also have some red wine to drink – I think I am going to enjoy it!
Alistiar, You will have to add this to your CV photograph male model. Bet if your wife reads this she will have a good laugh.
As you say Alistiar I could have done with Theos book when I was doing my long distance driving. North of Scotland right down to south of England and all places inbetween. Used to take a vice and some fly tying matrials with me if I could not get any fishing done.
Weirdly Jim my wife laughs at me a lot ! I wonder how many folk/lorry drivers have visited Glasgow and wondered about the Kelvin ?
Ought to get a copy,even though it would be a looooonnngggg drive for me to get to any of these rivers(and on the wrong side of the road too!) Maybe Singlebarbed can do a ‘brownlining’ holiday with Theo….
I wonder if he will let me carry his bags !
Alistair, many thanks for the namecheck, and I’m really delighted that the book has lived up to expectations. Let’s do it again sometime soon!
Jim, better late than never, I guess… could you still find a use for it?
JP2, I’ve wondered for a while if our urban rivers are actually even dirty enough to count as brownlines, but no doubt Singlebarbed will have his own view… if he gives the wrong answer I’ve got one or two Sarf Lunnon hoodie trout who’ll have ‘im singin’ like a canary 😉
Well, in Singlebarbed’s part of California darn near every stream is a ‘brownline’ due to the color of the soil,not to mention the farm run-off(that’s EVERYTHING from a farm….)
Out here in the far NW part of the States,our best urban river is the Duwamish(Scottish names are funny,too, so don’t laugh)with over 100 years of industrial,logging and general abuse. It’s getting cleaner now and sports a growing run of salmon every year…
I guess Google has pretty much killed the triva question.
As for Singlebarbed going on any foreign holidays, his last trip through airport security left pretty much every metal detector and bomb-sniffing device out of order (I’m not going to suggest he needs to bathe more frequently or anything).