“Fishing Bamboo”

John Gierach

I don’t think I’ve cast a fly since I was 14 (a half century ago!), but I remember how I used to pour over the Orvis catalog — before Orvis was a fashion brand — yearning for a bamboo fly rod, all of which were far beyond my limited budget. “Fishing Bamboo” is a pleasant book about bamboo rods, their use, and the people who build them, enhanced by Gierach’s anecdotes and slightly curmudgeonly personality.