Fumbling with a Fly Rod. [Limited Edition with Three Streamer Flies Dressed by the Author Laid-in]. by Ian Colin James

Toronto, Ontario, Canada. HarperCollins Canada. 2000. Octavo (8 x 6). 206 pp. including fly index. Limited Edition. Book number 66 of 150 copies published. Signed by the author on the limitation page. The limited edition was published on February 8, 2000. Laid-in the book are three attractive streamer flies dressed by Ian James on size 4 hooks. The book is also inscribed and signed to the late Dave Brandt, a member inducted into the Catskill Fly Fishing and Center and Museum’s "Legends" Hall of Fame in 2017. Ian James was a good writer and he covers fly fishing for trout, salmon, and muskies plus a sundry of other fish species (he was a professional guide and fly dresser - fumbling doesn’t describes his skill level). There’s an especially enjoyable chapter titled "The Worlds on Irish Loughs," in which Ian fishes from a boat casting a three fly rig for difficult trout while representing Team Canada in the World Fly Fishing Championships on Lough Corrib and Lough Mask in County Mayo. It’s a method of "teasing" trout to strike at a dry fly again after missing it the first time around, as the technique requires a sharp eye and quick reflexes. The book is bound in gray cloth with silver titles on the spine. Decorated end papers. Pictorial dust jacket. A neat book. Fine in a fine dust jacket. The flies are all in fine condition. .