Fishing for Dreams: Notes from the Water's Edge

A.J. Pell is editor of the Canadian Evangelical Review and an instructor
of Liturgy, Anglican Studies Program, Regent College, Vancouver.

Almost as much as they love catching fish, anglers love to read fishing
stories. In Fishing for Dreams, Reid spins 22 stories of fishing on salt
and fresh water, and of journeying to fishing spots in automobiles,
boats, and planes. Each story is a relaxed read, with scenery and fish
mingling with reflections on the author’s 50 years of living and 45
years of fishing. Few anglers would be anything less than delighted to
find it under a Christmas tree or attached to a birthday card. It may
even inspire a non-fisher to give angling a try.

As would be expected of a Vancouver Island writer, pursuing salmon on
the salt chuck is the most frequent form of fishing described. Long
years of experience, and two books, have given him an eye for the
nuances of the water, and his poet’s gift of words enables him to
convey the picture. Yet for all Reid’s literary skill, it can at times
feel as though he were writing for a fishing magazine.

First, fishing lodges of the sort that most anglers cannot afford—but
that sport journalists get invited to—are frequently the locales for
the stories. Second, the very way particular products (e.g., a Tomic 622
plug) or lodge operators (e.g., West Coast Resorts—where all the
lodges it operates are listed even though only one is the setting for
the story) are mentioned feels like the product placements found in most
periodicals for anglers. But these are minor flaws in an otherwise
entertaining book.