Book: Days of Rivers Past

In Robert Hooton’s book “Days of Rivers Past” he writes of the systemic destruction of steelhead runs in British Columbia through his intimate knowledge of a handful of watersheds such as the Skeena, Gold and many other streams throughout the Province. His background both in his working life, as a provincial biologist as well as an avid angler, gives him a unique perspective about these fish and the river systems they inhabit. Throughout his working life he amassed a vast amount of historical data, both anecdotal and imperative, that provides the reader with a detailed history of the management of steelhead in the province, and of the former abundance of these fish. No other publication has compiled this amount of complete data on British Columbia’s steelhead fishery, this fact alone makes this a book of importance. A child of the Baby Boom generation, the author worked and fished with anglers of “the older generation” who experienced the heyday of steelhead fishing, with large numbers on the coast. Leading us through some of the wonderful watersheds he has known from the beginning of his career and up to the present day, where many are now facing a conservation crisis, is a powerful and critically salient record. Co published with the British Columbia Federation of Fly Fishers the Author has chosen generously to donate all funds from the publication to the organization to help set up a fund to go towards steelhead related projects.