FROM CANE TO CARBON
Warwick Powell casts his eye over a new book by Peter Wilson.
Peter Wilson’s first book, The Cast: from cane to carbon, is part instructional and part techno-historical in nature. It can best be described as an accessible introduction to fly casting technique with the added bonus of a concise history of fly-fishing rod technologies. It also doubles as a primer on some of the more technical aspects of gear and gadgets, namely fly rod manufacturing and materials, reel design and of course fly lines.
As a long-time Australian tournament fly-caster, Wilson was inspired to put pen to paper to offer a local perspective and alternative to the plethora of American literature on the topic. It does so by introducing readers to the evolution of fly rod and associated technologies for both fresh and salt-water fly fishing.
I particularly liked the brief introductory chapter on the evolution of the fly rod from split cane in the early days to the present dominance of modulus graphite and am sure that many newcomers to the sport will find it of interest.
Both newcomers and more experienced anglers will also find something of personal value from Wilson’s 3 chapters on effective and efficient fly-casting. Often one finds that those most proficient at something are not necessarily the best equipped to communicate that skill or knowledge. In Wilson’s case, a career as a teacher no doubt assisted him in writing instructional details on casting technique that are reasonably accessible and comprehensible.
While the brief historical overview of fly rod technologies was reasonably well constructed, the book could have benefited from a similar treatment of fly line technologies. Unfortunately there’s little in the chapter on lines concerning earlier materials, how they evolved and how they were maintained and used. The information on split cane rods would have been nicely complemented by a similarly informative introduction to the role of silk lines and their care.
The publication could also have benefited from tighter proof-reading and sub-editing. Unfortunately, when one sees Tongeriro (sic) mis-spelt on both the inside and outside fly covers to what is otherwise a solidly manufactured hard-back edition, one can only lament at the lack of attention to detail.
If I have a quibble about proofing, I was also frustrated by the design of the book and the quality of the photographic reproductions. The colours and contrast in the images just did not seem right for many of the photos; they just didn’t ‘zing’. Perhaps worse, some images were accompanied by captions (which, incidentally, were not always easy to find) while others did not have captions at all leaving one a little confused as to why that particular image was placed where it was in the first place.
Lastly, the final chapter on guides and guiding seemed somewhat out of place and a tad of an after thought. It lent little to the overall cohesion of the book.
On balance, the content should be well-received by a broad cross-section of readers but the ‘finish’ was a little disappointing.
The Cast: from cane to carbon by Peter Wilson (Prowess Publishing; 2006) can be ordered from FlyLife Publishing: price $49.95. www.flylife.com.au