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NEW! - TRIBUTARIES LANDS ON THE 10 BEST BOOKS ABOUT FLY  FISHING

https://www.latitudesoutfitting.com/post/the-10-best-books-about-fly-fishing

Tributaries: Fly-fishing Sojourns to the Less Traveled Streams describes the author’s fishing odyssey from a boyhood coming-of-age experience with a hermit with indigenous roots to an encounter with a vegan goddess. Along the way, homages are paid to Richard Brautigan, John Burroughs, and Art Flick, accidental mentoring to an underprivileged Black kid in Easton, and explorations of the inner self at Woodward Cave where enlightenment is revealed in the darkest of places. A chapter is devoted to the trials and accomplishments of his local Trout Unlimited chapter when he embraces the conservation values necessary for the sport’s survival.  

4.8 Star rating on Amazon!

PRAISE FOR TRIBUTARIES

"This book is delightfully different than most fly fishing books. The author gives the reader pause for thought on a broad range of relevant fishing experiences and the importance of protecting wild trout habitat. It is a book that will make you feel good about the life of a fly fisherman. I recommend it highly."

- Lee Hartman, Author of The Delaware River Story and Trails in a Wild Frontier.

“Fun short stories that pulls in fly fishing adventures and experiences in Pennsylvania that we all can relate to, a must read”.

 - Rick Nyles Owner and Operator of Sky Blue Outfitters.

 This fine collection of heartfelt essays reflect author Lou Wentz’s lifelong devotion to the streams of eastern Pennsylvania and New York’s Catskill region. As a mantra for living a meaningful life, fly-fishing has inspired Wentz’s insightful words as well as motivated a dedicated effort through Trout Unlimited to give back to the small streams that have significantly touched his life. Tributaries: Fly-fishing Sojourns to the Less Traveled Streams is a splendid book destined to take the reader on a serpentine fly-fishing journey with a passionate veteran angler.

 - Jerry Kustich, author of Holy Water, Around the Next Bend, and three additional fly-fishing volumes.

"I was expecting a traditional kiss and tell book covering some new locations and even secret personal technics for some lesser known waters of the region. It was none of those things, it was better." 

 - Dave Kile, Publisher of paflyfish.com 

MEDIA REVIEWS

Book Review Trout magazine, page 21 Summer 2023 edition.

“We’re recommending it because we think it’s the coolest concentration of Pennsylvania- (and a bit Catskill-) centric short essays we’ve read.”

        

      Book Review American Fly Fishing magazine, page 68 March/April 2023 edition 

      "Lou Wentz's first book is a captivating personal journey to the fringes of the fly-fishing experience along both obscure and well-known streams in Pennsylvania and the Catskills."

            

 Book Review Fly Fisherman magazine

     "Just as tributaries serve as feeder streams for larger bodies of water, the author’s own tributaries of life, although isolated moments in time, ultimately combine and masterfully embody the core of this instantly relatable book that all fly fishermen will be able to appreciate."

Fly Fisherman

            

      

Book Review PA FlyFish website:

"I was expecting a traditional kiss and tell book covering some new locations and even secret personal technics for some lesser known waters of the region. It was none of those things, it was better." 

PAFlyfish.com

     Book Review: PA Council TU Newsletter (follow link to page 14)

      "Lou Wentz, who was awarded Member Conservationist of the Year (2004) by the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited, recently released a book covering his personal journey to the fringes of the fly fishing experience along obscure and well-known streams in Pennsylvania and the Catskills."

PA Council of Trout Unlimited

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INTRODUCTION TO "TRIBUTARIES: FLY-FISHING SOJOURNS TO THE LESS TRAVELED STREAMS"

INTRODUCTION 

    In June of 2019, while sitting in my room at the Oasis Café and Motel in Juntura, Oregon, I’m contemplating a decades long fly-fishing journey that led me to this place in that moment of time. The quarters contain four motel units, a restaurant, a few RV slips, and a couple of “permanent” trailers. I doubt that more than 36 residents inhabit this unincorporated village in Malheur County. The stream I visit on this trip, the Malheur River, flows east through this arid, hauntingly beautiful landscape, eventually reaching the Snake River at Oregon’s eastern border. It is surely a less traveled stream by all measures. I encountered nary another angler—nor any trout for that matter—in the three days I’ve encamped here. My guidebook may have been dated, but there are supposed to be trout in this river, mostly hatchery plants that survive harsh conditions. It is a place that few call a fishing destination, hence its appeal. I tend to choose fishing locations or times of year that will afford me a more solitary experience, but occasionally I incidentally appreciate encounters with strangers, some of whom fish, and others who might not have any connection to the sport. Aside from those encounters, I tend toward introspection when I fish. That’s not to say I am not serious about catching fish on every outing, but my success is not necessarily measured in pounds or inches. Though I am formulating this introduction in a far western corner of the United States, the streams from which this eclectic gathering of writings cover might be quite familiar to anglers of Pennsylvania or the Catskills. Here is the list, in no particular order: Neshaminy Creek, Octoraro Creek, Penns Creek, Schoharie Creek, Beaverkill, East Branch of the Delaware, West Branch of the Delaware, Manatawny Creek, Frankford Creek, Lackawanna River, Wissahickon Creek, Valley Creek, Bushkill Creek (Easton), Hosensack Creek, Perkiomen Creek, and Tulpehocken Creek. All are tributaries to larger systems, and most have wild trout in them, though in some of those creeks trout may have arrived via the nearest two-lane county road. 

    Outside of a few selections, it seems most books on fly-fishing these days drill into technique, fly selection, and location in order to demonstrate how to catch more and bigger fish. I make no grandiose claims, but like any fly-fishing volume, the reader may infer a technique or hint that will enable better fishing. But that is not the purpose of this book. Rather, I would like to suggest that the book will allow the reader to catch more of what fishing offers outside the quest for handsome fish. It is the chance to immerse in the wider encounter that gives depth, texture, and emotion to the fishing experience. As to some of the topics and themes covered, many reach outside of the fishing culture and I would suggest that the non-angler can get just as much enjoyment out of this book as their angling counterparts. In full disclosure, the less traveled streams are a metaphor for events and circumstances that mark the experience as being memorable, unique, and in some cases self-reflective. For many this feature of fishing generally finds itself around campfires and long drives with companions to far-flung destinations. And as with many stories from a more distant past, memory and the facts often diverge but there are numerous strands of truth braided together in this book to make a plausible case for an honest telling. In self-defense, I do reserve the right to feign ignorance if confronted with a differing version of the same event. 

    As you may guess by thumbing through some of these pages, the chapters herein contain a memoir of forty years of fly-fishing, some while I was a novitiate, a few while I was proficient, and a scattering from the in-between stages during the many years I lived in Pennsylvania. I pay a few homages along the way, to Art Flick and John Burroughs in “Catskill Remembrances” and Richard Brautigan in “The Amish Boy.” The topical subject of vegan philosophy versus catch-and-release can be sifted from “Siren of Shangri-La,” while “Demons” offers a peek into inner psychology. “Natal Streams” explores the roots of a passion for fishing, wondering what role genes and culture each play. “Redeeming Currents” touches upon urban fishing along Bushkill Creek and my encounter with an underprivileged young boy from a disadvantaged neighborhood in Easton, Pennsylvania. “The New World” entails a coming-of-age fishing chronicle. In full confession, the opening dialogue (May 1969) is speculative as the only facts I could ascertain were that Indian Joe’s part-time job was lost when a rope mill in Hulmeville, Pennsylvania closed, leading some to believe he could no longer pay taxes on his holding. I did hear that he moved on to the Pocono region of Pennsylvania. The rest of the events and dialogue are as true as I could remember them. I would be remiss if I did not disclose that in some of these tracts, the names have been changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty). “Tulpehocken Dreams” preserves some of my best days on the water as I graduated from neophyte to accomplished angler. Though most of my fishing is done alone, “Drought Fishing” celebrates fishing with friends as we commiserate over the bad luck of seasonal drought in less-than-elegant fashion. “Last Cast” evokes how meaningful the end of an outing, a trip, a season or even a lifetime of fishing might be experienced. “Woodward Cave” attempts to uncover personal enlightenment in literally the darkest of places. Of course, what fly-fishing volume could be considered complete without addressing the Zen of fly-fishing as I venture in “Wild Black Raspberries.” The birthing of this book began more than thirty years ago when I became deeply involved with my local Trout Unlimited Chapter, Perkiomen Valley (#332). After having acquired sufficient skill as an angler, it is not hard to make the obvious connection between fly-fishing and the habitat where trout live. Unfortunately, even though Trout Unlimited has roughly 350,000 members today and has been in existence since 1954, not much in the angling literature appears to affirm the blood, sweat, and tears that members of local chapters produce in their efforts to make watersheds more sustainable for the fish that most fly anglers purport to love. “Perkiomen Nightmares” aims to correct that deficiency in hopes that writers more gifted than I can pay forward the work of a great organization and the loyal, hard-working volunteers. There are very few among us who are not beneficiaries of TU stream and watershed enhancements that have taken place in our local and distant destinations in search of trout. To show my appreciation, a portion of the proceeds of each book sold online will be dedicated to the national organization. 

Tight Lines, 

Lou Wentz 

Eugene, OR

An excerpt from Tributaries: Fly-fishing Sojourns to the Less Traveled Streams. Copyright © 2022 All rights reserved.

TRIBUTARIES: Author Interview- Lou Wentz

Author Interview

 

Coast Fork Press’ Daisy Steiner, Director of Marketing, interviews Lou Wentz, author of Tributaries: Fly-fishing Sojourns to the Less Traveled Streams.

 

CFP: Welcome and thank you for taking the time today.

LW: The pleasure is mine.

CFP: So let’s start by you telling us a little about yourself and your writing.

LW: I started writing about thirty years ago, soon after my fly-fishing transformed from a fascination to a passion. I have to say I was most influenced by Nick Lyons, who held the Seasonable Angler column on the back pages of Fly Fisherman magazine for many years. I squired away most of the stories while I sought publication in periodicals. I became a regular contributor to Rural Roads, a rural weekly out of Minnesota until it folded in the mid-2000s. I was also published in the Susquehanna River Journal but it folded as well. Are you seeing a pattern here (laughs)? After having several haiku published in Permafrost, a literary journal out of the University of Alaska, and then writing a regular back page column “The Incompleat Angler” under the pen name of Iwaak Zalton for the Pennsylvania Council of TU’s quarterly newsletter, I put writing aside to focus on my career.  It wasn’t until I retired that I excavated many of the writings to compile this book.

CFP: Within the fly-fishing genre, how would you describe this book:

LW: A psychological thriller.

CFP: (laughs)

LW: No, seriously I guess you could label the book as creative non-fiction/memoir. Within the fly-fishing genre, there are many styles and content categories. Most dwell on technique, locating fish (usually of the large variety) within a body of water, or exotic locations. A few, like this one, enter the inner realm where the fly angler self reflects on terms that can be personal or existential.

CFP: You open the book with a quote from Cathy Newman. “Rivers are mirrors. We pursue trout and find an elusive something in ourselves.” What do you want your readers to take away from that message?

LW: Yeah, I love that quote. I found it in an old National Geographic magazine that was laying around in the rustic motel room I was staying in while in Juntura, Oregon on one of my ‘less traveled stream’ ventures. It was an article on fly-fishing for trout and I thought the sentence just captured the essence of what my writing was about.

 

CFP: Is your audience strictly the fly-fishing community?

LW: The events all stem from events on the stream, so of course, anybody who fishes may be able to relate. My journey through life bends through the lens of fly-fishing but I think there are broader themes addressed in some of the stories that could have wider appeal.

CFP: How do you think your stories might appeal to that broader audience?

LW: Well, I touch on creativity in my story “The Amish Boy,” a campground discussion of catch and release fishing with a vegan ensues in “Siren of Shangri-La,” a potential encounter with a menacing, gun-toting visitor to Valley Forge National Park in “Demons” and finding enlightenment in Woodward Cave are just some of the chapters with broader theme appeal than the angling community. I feel like “The New World” stands in as a coming-of-age story in the same mold as Stand By Me, not as well developed or defined, but snippets of a young boy’s growing into teen and young adulthood. I had fun recalling those scenes in my life.

CFP: You mention starting your book more than 30 years ago. What inspired you to write this book?

LW: As I mentioned earlier, these short stories and essays I had laying around began incubating when I thought I had enough of them to comprise a book. And truthfully, I wrote this book for myself. If others enjoy it and take something away from it, all the better.

CFP: Your first chapter pays homage to Richard Brautigan. When did that come about and did he have any influence on your writing?

LW: Right after his untimely death in 1984, I was inspired to write about him when I encountered this Amish boy in Lancaster County. I saw the link between Brautigan’s character in Trout Fishing in America Shorty and the Amish boy on that particular day. Brautigan was quirky in ways that I will never be, but yeah, Trout Fishing in America inspired that chapter.

CFP: You dedicate a portion of your proceeds to Trout Unlimited. Tell us about that organization and your role in it.

LW: About the time I was submitting my writing to regional publications, I was also heavily involved with my local Trout Unlimited chapter, Perkiomen Valley TU. For those who are unfamiliar, it is a national coldwater conservation organization with local chapters in states where trout, char, and salmon are present. Our chapter put forth a great effort to restore the upper Perkiomen watershed, including two key tributaries. For my part in that effort, I was awarded 2004 Member Conservationist of the Year by the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited. It was a team effort, but somebody submitted my name to the state council so I got stuck with the hardware. I’m very fond of the organization as a whole and wanted to give back to the national organization, hence the per-copy donation.

CFP: Well, thank you for your time today. I’m sure there will be great interest in your book.

LW You are welcome.

Coming soon!!! "Tributaries: Fly-fishing Sojourns to the Less Traveled Streams"

 

Tributaries: Flt-fishing Sojourns to the Less Traveled Streams

    The long-awaited creative non-fiction work of fly angler, conservationist, and author Lou Wentz is about to be published with an expected release date of October 14, 2022. A narrative following the journey from novice to experienced angler who embraces the conservation values of the sport while relating impressions and adventures from Pennsylvania and Catskill streams. This must-read for anglers and non-anglers alike will give a glimpse into the fascinating world of fly-fishing's remote borders.