The Salvelinus, The Sockeye, and the Egg-Sucking Leech:

Book excerpt: The Salvelinus, the Sockeye, and the Egg-Sucking Leech: Abundance and Diversity in the Bristol Bay Drainage (from the Eyes of an Angler) is the fourth book in Matthew Dickerson' s Heartstreams series, published by Wings Press. This exciting ramble among the remote and beautiful mountains, lakes, and rivers of around Alaska' s Bristol Bay is full of encounters with bears, caribou, and other wildlife. But the heart of the book is Dickerson' s exploration of native trout, river ecology, and the joys of experiencing wild places and fish by casting flies among them. This volume focuses on rivers and lakes in Alaska' s Bristol Bay drainage, and on the native fish that inhabit those waters, from the abundant sockeye salmon species to the Salvelinus genus, which includes the stunningly beautiful Dolly Varden char as well as its cousin the Arctic char, the northernmost freshwater fish species in the world. Although the book explores some of the environmental threats facing these waters, the stories are also full of hope, delight, and awe. Though not a science text, it is well-informed by science as well as by the author' s careful eye. The book also includes photographs from Alaskan bush pilot and lodge owner Glen Alsworth Jr., who has lived his whole life in a small village in the middle of a national park in the Bristol Bay drainage. This volume concludes the Wings Press Heartstreams series, in which Dickerson has used fly-fishing expeditions to study the ecological health of trout and their streams from the Northeast to Apalachia to the Desert Southwest to the northern Rockies to Alaska.