Upstream on the Mataura

In Upstream on the Mataura, Dougal has captured the essence of his lifelong connection with the Mataura River.

While fly-fishing anchors his attachment, the book is as much a meditation on landscape and moving water as it is about angling. It is also about the communities the river runs through, the friendships sustained by fly-fishing and a love of the river and its tributaries. The first part of the book offers a clear-eyed view of the beauty, challenges and hardship involved in his 240km walk upstream from the coast at Fortrose to the source of the river, in the Eyre Mountains. Following this are 12 stories that traverse his connection with the river, from his earliest recollections through to the present time.