Despite its encyclopedic title this is primarily a fishing book for browsing through and dipping into, rather than be used merely as a work of reference. It is intended to be an entertainment. Never before has such a wide range of all aspects of trout and salmon in New Zealand been contained in a single book.

Here there is a wealth of fact, fly fishing lore and history, fisheries science, streamside entomology, artificial flies,
sections on personalities, authors, fishing books, as well as comment on the New Zealand angling scene from the first introductions of trout and salmon to the present day.

The historical and generally accepted facts are often enlivened and highlighted by the author's own personal views
and theories, not always in keeping with establishment ideas. This book is not aimed to make anyone a better or more successful fly fisherman. Its main aim is to enlarge the horizons of the reader's fishing awareness.

The entire book is really a highly personal celebration of fly fishing in New Zealand as an event and as a way of life, rather than merely a means of catching trout and salmon.