Fishing and Thinking by A.A Luce

Born in 1882, Dr Luce became Professor of Moral Philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, where he retired in 1949. He was Berkeley Professor of Metaphysics, being an expert on the philosophy of Bergson and of George Berkeley and in particular on the influence of the monk Malebranche. He was member of the Royal Irish Academy. He died in 1977.

Here is a book that made me re-consider the why of fly-fishing. When I first read it I had an overwhelming feeling that the book had been written for me.

Firstly and oddly, Dr Luce's sequence of topics mapped out very closely my own history in fly-fishing: the mountain tarn (evoking my own beginnings on a mountain tarn in Galloway); the Gillie (the influence of  a great gillie in my early quest for knowledge); the Western Lakes (the hours I have spent on Corrib); Dapping and Trolling ( my initial arrogance to these methods) ; Spate rivers and finally the Ethics of fly-fishing (a subject over which I have pondered much in recent years).

Secondly, after reading each chapter, I came away with the impression that all of the questions that I had asked myself countless times, Dr Luce had already asked. Why does the north wind put the fish down? Should one like trolling? Is dapping a "lower form" of fishing? Why and when  does a trout come short? And so on! Finding answers to these gave me the encouragement that I was on the "right road" at a time when fly-fishing was shrouded in mystery and secretiveness.

Lastly and most importantly, as the preface to the book emphasises, the book is about Fishing and Thinking, and the Thinking ranges from angling problems to the wider concerns of Living. "Fish and find out"! is Dr Luce's mantra, not only with regards to angling but as an attitude to life, reflecting his interest in empiricism.

It is the final chapter of the book - the Ethics of Fly-fishing - that brings out Dr Luce's best qualities: an honesty and commitment to ask difficult questions. "We need not be sentimental about animal suffering, but we dare not be callous or cruel....Angling need not be cruel". This is not the place to enter this debate, but Dr Luce will be remembered for his courage not to duck the issues.