Book Review:
North Fork Redemption By Patrick McRae
Ok I just finished this book and on behalf of full disclosure I know and fish with the author and he is one of my fathers best friends. I don’t normally read fiction much anymore but after seeing Pat work on this book for 4 years I couldn’t wait to read it. This is a love story about a serious steelhead bum and his travels. If you have fished around the NW you will recognize a lot of the places mentioned and the fishing stories are great. Sam Summerfield is a true steelhead bum and the stories conveyed are a combination of real experiences that Pat has had throughout his long steelhead fly fishing life and with stories that have been told to him. We all could be so lucky to live the life that Sam does out of his trailer going to where ever the steelhead runs take him. Right up to the point where he finds the woman of his dreams and her nasty friend Jack that doesn’t care for him and his pursuit of her. I loved the fishing stories but was drawn into the love story and the tragic events that happened after this. I actually think this is a story that those of us that strive to steelhead bums and woman that have not a lot of interest in fishing would enjoy. I read it in about a week of evening, which is fast for me. I recommend it as a fun fiction book to keep us entertain.
A little about Pat. He and my father learned to fly fish for steelhead on the Deschutes in 1970 when they knew the 5 other guys doing it by name. He now is retired and lives on the banks of his river the North Umpqua of which he fishes around 200-250 days a year when the water is in. He is truly a steelheader’s steelheader. Very few know of him outside of the North Umpqua but he is one of, if not the best steelheader I know. Frank Moore calls him the best on the River. He is one of those guys I am lucky to know and fish with and he has taught me a lot.
His book is for sale through Ink water books(his publisher) and Amazon.
JJ
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