Hooked For Life – A Celebration of Fly Fishing by Les Hill

Hooked For Life – A Celebration of Fly Fishing by Less Hill with contributing chapters by Dr Graham Macdonald

Hooked for Life is a book to encourage everyone to head out to experience the wonderful world of fly fishing.

Based on Les Hill’s 63 years of fly fishing in New Zealand, HOOKED FOR LIFE resonates with the sheer joy of hunting and catching trout while imparting a lifetime’s worth of invaluable lessons on how to go about it. You will not only benefit from the author’s years of experience with nymph and dry fly, but will also enjoy soaking up the special atmosphere Les evokes and relive vicariously the primal contest between angler and fish.

Along the way you’ll learn to think like a trout and understand the nature of the world it lives in; get some tips on streamside photography; and come to realise that it is often more satisfying to catch one special fish than a large number on a particular day. And as every true angler knows, the trout that gets away can provide as much fun as several brought to a net.

In the final part of the book, Dr Graham Macdonald’s two thoughtful chapters on fishing and wellness and on fishing and relationships give an insight into the therapeutic benefits of fly fishing.

Packed with interesting, amusing and informative anecdotes, HOOKED FOR LIFE is lavishly illustrated with more than 170 of Les Hill’s superb colour photographs and charts that invite you into the book and also reveal the beauty of our rivers, streams, lakes and countryside.

Les Hill (left) is a retired school teacher. He lives on a two-acre block close to Hokitika with panoramic views of the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea. He enjoys life in the outdoors – trout fishing, white-baiting, sea fishing and hunting. He always carries a camera. He is the author or co-author of seven previous, highly acclaimed books on trout fishing, including Stalking and Catching Trout. Les was a regular contributor to Fish and Game magazine and has had numerous articles and photographs published in books and magazines both in New Zealand and abroad.

Dr Graham Macdonald works in a busy general practice in Christchurch, New Zealand. Graham has 39 years of experience in dealing with patients who have become either depressed or anxious; those who are grieving, and those who are overburdened with the busyness of today’s society. He is passionate about mental health and fly fishing.

“A marvel of a book, illustrated with superb photography and written with quiet wisdom, story-telling art, information and love. A treasure trove gathered from more than 60 years of perfect pleasure.” Kevin Ireland, author of How To Catch Fish

First published in 2020 by Quentin Wilson Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9951053-5-5. Size: Hardcover, 260 x 215mm.

Other great fishing books by Les Hill include Stalking Still Waters, The Artful Science of Trout Fishing by John Hayes and Les Hill, Stalking and Catching Trout by Les Hill and Graeme Marshall, A Stroll Through Brown Trout Country by Les Hill and Graeme Marshall.