1989: Nelson Bryant on Rosenbauer's Reading Trout Streams

As further proof that even a backwards-looking Web has a place in current culture, this 1989 NYT review by Nelson Bryant of Tom Rosenbauer’s Reading Trout Streams reminds us that half-life of good fishing writing is very long indeed. (Then again, in Bryant’s second review, Poul Jorgensen’s tip that ”the best half-hitch tool you can use is a ball point pen with the ink cartridge removed” might leave us wandering the aisle of Staples for hours. But Poul Jorgensen’s Book Of Fly Tying became an instant favorite in its own right.)
“Rosenbauer covers everything from brawling rivers to brooks, including beaver impoundments on the latter, and reminds one to pay attention to pocket water that at first glance seems uninviting. He notes the importance of observing bubble lines in small streams: ”Watch the bubbles. Watch the debris. The fish will be right under their cafeteria line. . . . If the bubbles are skewed toward the right side of the tail of the pool, don’t bother with the left — until you’re satisfied that the trout on the right are either spooked or not eating.”’
Check out Rosenbauer’s later writing on the subject in “Reading the Water” and “Rich and Poor Trout Streams” on MidCurrent.