A significant part of what has made fly-fishing such a widely read-about sporting activity is that it is populated with a world of colorful individuals. Merritt, who has written for numerous sporting magazines, assembles a collection of profiles of many of the "big names" in the fly-fishing world of our day. There is also a personal touch because Merritt structures each profile around his opportunity to fish with these individuals. Some of the individuals he fished with include Joe Humphreys, former fly-fishing instructor for Penn State University, and Seattle area filmmakers Jim and Kelly Watt who are also the hosts of ESPN's "Fly-Fishing Video Magazine" TV series. Practical knowledge and philosophical wisdom flow from the experiences collected in
Trout Dreams
.