So You Want to Be an Outfitter

R. Gordon Moyles is professor emeritus of English at the University of
Alberta. He is co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities:
British Views of Canada, 1880–1914, author of The Salvation Army and
the Public, and editor of “Improved by Cult

Move over, Izaak Walton. This is the complete angler’s dream. The
contemplative man’s guide to ideal recreation. Imagine an unspoiled
portion of the vanishing wilderness, in remote Labrador, before roads
began to grant access to the spoilers. A place where, when you landed
the Cessna 185, assembled your fly rod, attached your hair mouse, and
gracefully rolled out that length of filament, there was an immediate
splash, the line tightened, and a very strong fish sped out toward the
lake. It was awesome. So Len Rich named the lake Awesome Lake, a
virtually unknown, un-fished paradise, and it was there in the early
1990s that he built his fishing lodge. In this book, Rich tells of how
he came to do so, the red tape involved in the process, the official
bureaucracy (idiocy, more often), the restrictions imposed by
regulations, and so forth. But finally, what remains in the reader’s
mind are his wonderful fishing adventures, the rewards of it all, and
the many friends made through his outfitting business. He tells it well,
and his vivid descriptions of the scenery (not to mention the six-pound
trout and 20-pound northern pike), are enough to make one start
rummaging through the fly-box and booking passage to paradise. Izaak
Walton would indeed be envious.