Itinéraire d’un pêcheur à la mouche John D. Voelker

Trout Madness was John D. Voelker’s (aka, Robert Traver) fifth book (to be followed by his equally popular, Trout Magic). Here, for the delight of his many fans and friends, are twenty-one stories gleaned from the lifetime of glorious fishing – as true as can be expected of a fisherman. They cover the whole range of the trout fishing season, from The First Day (“Entire expedition got half shot and retired in vast disorder”) to The Last Day (“Only eight more months to the magic first day”). There are hilarious stories that make one laugh out loud and stories that have an undercurrent of deep emotion. But each one carries that special kind of oblique humor and canniness that were John D. Voelker’s special mark. And though this is no “how to” book, the author cannot help divulge in his stories some of the tricks of a lifetime of wily fishing. Here are a few of the “The First Day,” “Fish Car,” “The Haunted Pond,” “Trout Heaven,” “The Old and the Proud,” “The Old Fox,” “Spots Before the Eyes,” and “The Last Day.” (71/4 X 101/4, 196 pages)