Calling After Water: Dispatches from a Fishing Life

by Dave Karczynski, Tom Bie (Foreword by)

Overview

Dave Karczynski fishes—and writes—with both eyes wide open to the magic of water. With the trademark blend of adventure, humor, and insight that has made him one fly fishing’s most widely published authors, this collection of nineteen essays charts Dave’s journey as he casts his way from the quiet streams of the Upper Midwest to the far corners of the earth—and back again. Readers will tramp across Patagonia with a shamanic brook trout whisperer, raft through the Himalayas in search of golden mahseer, hunt native brown trout in the Bohemian highlands, and revel in the promise of a Northern Michigan spinner fall. With prose that alternately flashes like the sides of a leaping salmon and glitters like riffle water on a summer morning, Calling After Water is one of those rare books that delights its readers as much as it invites them to reflect on their own love of fly fishing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493086467
Publisher:	Globe Pequot Publishing
Publication date:	10/15/2024
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dave Karczynski has cast to fish on four continents and written for just about every fly fishing publication under the sun. His first book, From Lure to Fly, introduced conventional anglers to the joy of chasing fish on the fly rod, while his second book, Smallmouth, explored modern tactics and techniques for hunting the bronze bass. In Calling After Water, his third book and first essay collection, Dave brings together the very best narratives from his time as a contributor to such iconic magazines as Outdoor Life, The Drake, American Angler, The Flyfish Journal, and many others. Dave is the recipient of the Robert Traver Award in fly fishing writing as well as a Zell Fellowship in creative writing. He currently lives with his wife and daughter on a farm in southern Michigan and teaches writing at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

What People are Saying About This

Sam Lungren

“Few writers can evoke the true emotional acuity attendant to angling. Dave Karczynski is one.”

Matt Smythe

“Great writers effortlessly transport their readers to places near and far flung, real and imagined, familiar and foreign. But great fly-fishing writers go further, embracing and entrancing two often times disparate audiences— those who don’t fly fish and those who do.

Dave Karczynski is one of those great fly-fishing writers and Calling After Water is a testament to that fact, a beautifully written and genuine look into a fly-fishing life that leaves those who chase fish with streamers, dries, and nymphs in a daydream— and everyone else asking Google, “What do I need to start fly fishing?”

Kirk Deeter

"Calling After Water invigorates the natural affinity I have had for lakes, rivers, and streams since I was a young boy growing up amongst the Great Lakes. Karczynski has always been one of my favorite writers, and this book takes the game to another level. His prose is very much like my favorite little trout stream—cool, crystal clear, flowing with purpose, and most of all... pure."

Jason Tucker

“What springs off the page is a sense of boundless joy, a feeling as if you are catching each fish yourself. I want to grab my gear, run out the door, and experience each chapter for myself. Dave’s love of the sport bursts from each sentence, but his sense of overwhelming joy is what sets him apart.”

Tom Bie

“I also love flyfishing, but the real beauty of Calling After Water comes down to exceptional storytelling. This is the result not just of good writing, but of ruthless, relentless re-writing—reviewing and revising each sentence until it has a rhythm and flow that can’t even be adequately described. Dave just knows it when he sees it. He doesn’t just fix “bad” sentences, he takes already great sentences and intuitively knows they can be better. And he makes them better. Enjoy this book and enjoy your fishing.”

Steve Duda

“One of the finest compliments you can pay a writer is that they make the hard parts of the job look easy. Dave Karczynski is that guy. Karczynski finds perfect words and turns those words into electric phrases that light up the mind’s eye. And in Calling After Water, he delivers these lightning bolts with regularity. When he writes, ‘A steelhead that leapt as if it wanted to shatter the sky,’ or ‘Waxwings swung from bank to bank as if hanging invisible garlands,’ it seems effortless, graceful and fluid, but leaves an indelible mark. Simply put, Karczynski has the rare and remarkable ability to make words do what he wants them to do. 

Unapologetically, ecstatically fishy, Karczynski also takes the time to revel in the sport’s digressions, curlicues, and absurdities. His writing is sophisticated without losing its sense of mischief, and charming without being cheesy. Karczynski has caught more fish, traveled to more places, and undoubtedly knows how to tie more knots than most of us. Yet, across these nineteen stories, he comes across as modest, funny, and easy to root for. And because he’s such a skilled writer, these stories whiz by with palpable energy, and every single one ends too quickly. Very highly recommended.”

Tom Rosenbauer

“I’m not a big fan of fly-fishing essays because I’m often disappointed that they just don’t capture what a river at sunrise is like. But I’ll read anything Dave Karczynski writes about any subject. He always tells a great story that never falls flat and is possibly the best young voice in fly-fishing today.”

Greg Thomas

“Calling After Water means it’s time to spark that Fuente, take words to the porch, and enjoy a fly fishing stoke reel for the soul.”