Swimming with Trout

Chad Hanson is a scientist by training, a sociologist by degree, a pragmatist, and a bit of a skeptic. But when he gets within a mile of a trout stream his thoughts become cloudy, he loses manual dexterity, and tends to babble and shuffle around without regard for logic or reason. Chad Hanson is a fly fisherman.

From the banks of the Tomorrow River in north central Wisconsin to the North Platte in Wyoming, and anywhere in between, Hanson presents eleven literary sketches that offer the world through the fly fisher's eye. Swimming with Trout uses the sport of angling as a vehicle to address broader issues such as the plight of Native Americans, the state of the environment, consumerism, property rights, species extinction, and the depth of human friendship.

Whether he is reflecting on the multimillion dollar industry fly fishing has become, contemplating the ethics of the sport, or wondering what musical instrument a brook trout would play if it could, Hanson's vignettes drive at the heart of the force that turns an ordinary person into a passionate angler.

"Whether you fly fish or not, you'll love this romp across the West with Chad Hanson who takes you from the Bighorns to Bozeman and Arizona to Wisconsin in search of elusive trout and wild places. And when you have closed the last page, you'll hold out hope that there still are Apaches in Arizona, and I'm not talking about Indians."--Candy Moulton, author of Roadside History of Wyoming, Roadside History of Colorado, and Chief Joseph: Guardian of the People

"Picking up a fiberglass pole in a sporting goods store, Chad Hanson gives it 'the old retail waggle.' This book deserves better--actual purchase--and just because of its accuracy and good cheer. Hanson is the first writer ever to confess to fooling Coloradans into thinking Wyoming carp are German browns, and to donning a wetsuit to count coup on rainbows. What more could a reader ask for?"--Tom Rea, author of Bone Wars and Devil's Gate