Flip Pallot's Memories, Mangroves & Magic

During a recent stay in London, I (of course) had to visit Farlow's in Pall Mall - a large and very well assorted outdoors, hunting and fishing shop. The shop is worth a visit for anyone that's in the area.

They had a sale going on, and had a few tables piled up with different offers.

One item immediately struck my retina. All I could see was that it was a large format book - very large, actually - and the name Flip Pallot was visible on the top of the dust cover. Upon closer inspection it had a sign on it that said "Martin, buy me". Or rather: "Was: £40.95, now: £20.50".

Now Flip Pallot is a name worth knowing if you're into tropical fishing, fly tying, and fly-fishing videos. I haven't seen any of his videos myself, but GFF partner Steve Schweitzer has mentioned them and praised them highly on several occasions. And if they are anywhere close to the quality of this book, they are must-sees.

As already mentioned: this is a large book. It measures 14.5x11.5 inches or 37x30 centimeters. Combined with a page count of 138 on a good quality paper, that provides a hefty piece of literature when viewed from the outside.

The inside will not disappoint. It utilizes the large format very well, and will stun most readers with its beautiful pictures and illustrations and its simple and functional layout. I am pleased to see that this type of layout has become a trend in many modern large format coffee table fly-fishing books. It leaves a lot more space to the pictures and lets the eye find rest on its large, calm surfaces.

"Well", you might ask, "how about the content then?"

Well, I might say, it does say memories, mangrove and magic on the cover, and all three ingredients are well represented inside. The book is structured around Pallot's long fishing life and all the places he fished, the people he fished with and the species he targeted. It is neither a where-to nor a how-to book, but rather an account of some of the many experiences that Pallot has had.

Quite a lot of the pages are just photos, maybe spiced with a short quote. A real dream igniter and a very calmly flowing book.

After having savored on the great photography and been impressed with the many well known characters from the fly-fishing community that Pallot has been around over the years, you can dive into the text for some great goodnight reading - if you dare bring this large volume to bed, that is.

Under all circumstances a book well worth its original price (40 GBP is about 75 USD) and of course a real bargain at the half. Coch-y-Bonddu Books has it for 30 GBP, which is still a very good price for this impressing book.