There are many books about fly fishing out there, and quite a few about the wild waters in Alaska. However, An Alaska Flyfisher’s Odyssey: Seeking a Life of Drag-Free Drift in the Land of the Midnight Sun by Daniel Hoffman creates a remarkable book that fires all of your senses while turning the pages. The times and places he captures in the book engulf the reader and transport them to the wilderness of Alaska. When you dive into the book, you can practically hear the sounds, feel the cold air on your cheeks, and smell the crisp air of Alaska. This book has a great amount of humor, wit, and appreciation for what Alaska represents to so many.
The author, Dan Hoffman, has lived, worked, and guided anglers in Alaska. Having both fishing knowledge and knowledge about Alaska, he creates a lifetime of stories in this memoir style book. Hoffman captures stories from time spent in Katmai National Park in Bristol Bay to the Kenai Peninsula and north to the interior of Alaska.
The foreword is written by Kelly Bostian, known for his writing of hunting, fishing, nature, and conservation news with KJBOutdoors. In the foreword, Bostian speaks of the knowledge that Hoffman has throughout Alaska. Bostian and Hoffman first met while Bostian was an editor for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and Hoffman was an experienced police officer, and then Chief of Police. Bostian boasts Hoffman’s storytelling abilities, tying his past guiding positions with the real world, moving the reader to feel, taste, and see the words come to life on the pages.
An Alaska Flyfisher’s Oddyssey is a 161 page soft cover book, comprising a total of 16 chapters. The book is broken into four parts: In Search of Flowing Waters, Childhood and the Family Sales Job, Life, and Comfortable Waders. Throughout these four parts, Hoffman covers everything from his Alaskan Evolution, Friendships and the “Go-To” flies in his box, special places, and ultimately, seeking a Life of Drag Free Drift.
“When he writes about achieving a drag-free drift, whether with a fly or in everyday routines, he doesn’t mean just going with the flow. The latter can send you into a snag and lead to a tangled mess in short order. A drag-free drift requires knowing your surroundings, anticipating problems before they arise, being alert to the unexpected, making constant adjustments to minimize interference even while taking calculated risks, and keeping the drift where you want it. This is as applicable to daily life as to fishing, he explains. There’s a Taoist element to this.”
David James, Anchorage Daily News
Dan Hoffman is generously donating 50 percent of all proceeds from book sales to Trout Unlimited’s conservation efforts in Alaska. Readers can find An Alaska Flyfisher’s Odyssey at fly shops around the United States, and from FarCountryPress, Sweetgrass Books and Amazon.
