Book Review - An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World

Last May, I was fishing in a local river after work when a pretty big fish hit my fly (prince nymph). It fought like mad, and I suspected I had a big brookie on the line. Just as I was readying my net, I saw the telltale red stripe down the side and knew I had a rainbow, my first one ever (keep in mind this past year is my "breakout" year).

The adrenaline quickly morphed into excitement once the 14" trout was in my net. So much so that I decided to stop fishing and come home. I wanted to end on a good note. My hands, shaking with excitement, unhooked the rainbow and gently released it back into the water.

I had known enough then that rainbows weren't native to the area. Same with browns. But how'd they get here? What impact has it had? I got all of those answers and more in Anders Halverson's well researched book "An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World".

Halverson covers the bases by connecting the dots through history from the rise of fly fishing popularity in America to how it led to stocking programs. But at what impact did fish stocking have, both financially and on the environment? Is it even necessary? The facts are presented in this book and invite the reader to decide.

The book is well written, with stories told in entertaining fashion and scientific data presented in layman's terms. It has a nice flow, though if I were being hypercritical I'd say it was just a tad slow for the first few chapters. However, certain turns of events, namely the extremely controversial decision involving the "rehabilitation" of the Green River in Utah and Wyoming, kicked the book into high gear and the momentum continued until the end.

This is one of those books that sticks. As other reviewers noted, I will never look at stocked or even non-native wild fish in the same way again. I now know what those reviewers were talking about. That being said, it hasn't ruined catching these fish by any means. It's just given me a better understanding on how they've come to swim in my favorite holes. Great read for any fly fisherman, and it's available on Kindle to boot.