River Songs: Moments of Wild Wonder in Fly Fishing - Steve Duda

Written by Steve Duda
Read by Steve Duda
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
Release date: 11-12-24

River Songs is rich with bracing, authentic, generous stories—writing that revels in language and spirit. Avoiding most of fly fishing’s cliches—the romantic elegies, the Moby-Dick-like conquests, the play-by-play detailing a “victory” over a fish—Steve Duda instead offers pieces that breathe lived experience, reveal vulnerabilities, and convey a broad perspective of what it means to have “a long run with a tight crew.” Duda is interested in what has been learned out there on the river: what is it about this “ridiculous activity” that connects us to this planet, makes us human, gives us hope?

River Songs focuses on the in-between moments and the unexpected revelations—awe, fear, frustration, doubt, joy—that are as much a part of fishing as tying knots and chucking flies. Listeners ride along with Duda in battered pickup trucks, fish “between jobs,” look longingly at unfished famous rivers while touring with a country-punk band, and wonder how a fishing trip led to getting a tooth pulled while being surrounded by trash-talking friends. They will find beauty, discovery, heartbreak, good dogs, and the wonder of nature within the expanse of Northwest landscapes and beyond.