This book is a well known response from many a riverkeeper to an angler arriving at the river who tactfully enquires what the fishing has been like recently.

This is a story about a chalk stream river by a professional riverkeeper who has spent 30 years maintaining the self-sustaining wild brown trout beat of the Upper River Itchen at Martyr Worthy in Hampshire.

Ron Holloway describes the diverse flora and fauna, the people he has met, the work involved, fishery management problems, suggested philosophies and his hopes and fears - all told in an entertaining, anecdotal, philosophical and humerous way.