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Calling After Water: Dispatches from a Fishing Life

Dave Karczynski fishes—and writes—with both eyes wide open to the magic of water. With the trademark blend of adventure, humor, and insight that has made him one fly fishing’s most widely published authors, this collection of nineteen essays charts Dave’s journey as he casts his way from the quiet streams of the Upper Midwest to the far corners of the earth—and back again. Readers will tramp across Patagonia with a shamanic brook trout whisperer, raft through the Himalayas in search of golden mahseer, hunt native brown trout in the Bohemian highlands, and revel in the promise of a Northern Michigan spinner fall. 

But Calling After Water is more than just a travelogue or memoir. It’s also a book-long effort to plumb fishing’s deepest experiences, and in doing so to probe its many questions. What is the line that separates sanity from madness when it comes to winter steelheading? How does time behave differently for an angler tied tight to a raging muskie? And how would one go about quantifying, with the utmost philosophical rigor, the joy of catching smallmouth in the springtime? With prose that alternately flashes like the sides of a leaping salmon and glitters like riffle water on a summer morning, Calling After Water is one of those rare books that delights its readers as much as it invites them to reflect on their own love of fly fishing.

Hardcover
9 x 6 inches
224 pages


Editorial Reviews

"Karczynski has caught more fish, traveled to more places and undoubtedly knows how to tie more knots than most of us. Yet, across these nineteen stories, he comes across as modest, funny and easy to root for. And because he’s such a skilled writer, these stories whiz by with palpable energy, and every single one ends too quickly. Very highly recommended.”

—Steve Duda, author of River Songs

“Few writers can evoke the true emotional acuity attendant to angling. Dave Karczynski is one.”

—Sam Lungren, editor at MidCurrent

“The Irish say there are thin spaces—locales wherein the distance between heaven and earth collapses, offering narrow glimpses of the divine. Karczynski's writing reveals thin spaces, hidden in pockets of inspiring descriptions and cunning word usage that stretch beyond imagination.”

—Joe Shields, editor-in-chief, The Virginia Sportsman

"Calling After Water invigorates the natural affinity I have had for lakes, rivers and streams since I was a young boy growing up amongst the Great Lakes. Karczynski has always been one of my favorite writers, and this book takes the game to another level. His prose is very much like my favorite little trout stream—cool, crystal clear, flowing with purpose, and most of all... pure."

—Kirk Deeter, editor-in-chief, TROUT 

“I’m not a big fan of fly-fishing essays because I’m often disappointed that they just don’t capture what a river at sunrise is like. But I’ll read anything Dave Karczynski writes, about any subject. He always tells a great story that never falls flat, and is possibly the best young voice in fly-fishing today.”

—Tom Rosenbauer, Orvis

“I also love flyfishing, but the real beauty of Calling After Water comes down to exceptional storytelling. This is the result not just of good writing, but of ruthless, relentless re-writing—reviewing and revising each sentence until it has a rhythm and flow that can’t even be adequately described.”

—Tom Bie, editor-in-chief, The Drake

“What springs off the page is a sense of boundless joy, a feeling as if you are catching each fish yourself. I want to grab my gear, run out the door and experience each chapter for myself. Dave’s love of the sport bursts from each sentence, but his sense of overwhelming joy is what sets him apart.”

—Jason Tucker, Gink and Gasoline

“I know I’ll return to these stories over and over again. Partly because they capture the fishing life so well, and partly for the sheer joy of Karczynski’s pitch-perfect observations. And Karczynski shows his cards enough that a reader is always laughing out loud at some piece of wry humor or nodding along with legitimately lovely considerations of how family, pals and nature fit into his journeys.”

—Gregory Fitz, The FlyFish Journal 

“Dave is a talented writer and his stories are full of detail, humor, expertise, humility, and adventure near and far. You feel as though Dave is riding shotgun on a long road trip while sharing his experiences. A highly recommended read.”

—Rick Kustich, author of Modern Spey Fishing and Hunting Musky on the Fly

“Great writers effortlessly transport their readers to places near and far flung, real and imagined, familiar and foreign. But great fly fishing writers go further, embracing and entrancing two often times disparate audiences — those who don’t fly fish and those who do.

Dave Karczynski is one of those great fly fishing writers, and Calling After Water is a testament to that fact, a beautifully written and genuine look into a fly fishing life that leaves those who chase fish with streamers, dries, and nymphs in a daydream — and everyone else asking Google, “What do I need to start fly fishing?”

—Matt Smythe, author of Revision of a Man

“Calling After Water means it’s time to spark that Fuente, take words to the porch, and enjoy a fly fishing stoke reel for the soul.”

—Greg Thomas, former editor-in-chief, American Angler and Fly Rod & Reel

About the Author

Dave Karczynski has cast to fish on four continents and written for just about every fly fishing publication under the sun. His first book, From Lure to Fly, introduced spinning and baitcast anglers to the joy of chasing fish on the fly rod, while his second book, Smallmouth, explored modern techniques and tactics for hunting the bronze bass. 

In Calling After Water, his third book and first essay collection, Dave brings together the very best narratives from his time as a contributor to such iconic magazines as Outdoor Life, The Drake, American Angler, The Flyfish Journal, and many others. Dave is the recipient of the Robert Traver Award in fly fishing writing as well as a Zell Fellowship in creative writing. He lives with his wife and daughter on a farm in southern Michigan and teaches writing at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.