The World Of Fresh Water. By Sydney Cannings, Richard Cannings and Robert Cannings. Greystone Books, Douglas & McIntyre. $19.95 Cdn.

We wade in it, float on it, swim in it and drink it. But for most of us, the most important thing about fresh water is that we fish in it. Despite spending countless hours immersed in fresh water, however, many of us come to understand very little about the aquatic environment. We know when the hatch comes on, and the main food sources of the trout we pursue - but that frog that slips by our float tube, that plant that brushes the surface of the water as we pass....that spider that scurries across the surface, and then dives under! What was that?

Many of use can’t identify the birds that sing to us, let alone correctly identify the sound of distant tapping woodpecker for what it really is - a Spotted Frog, croaking quietly in the weed bed.
For anyone who has ever fished in British Columbia, or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, this small book, put together by three remarkable brothers, is a treasure of knowledge that can greatly broaden our appreciation of the natural world.

It is not written for fishermen, but is meant for anyone who is interested in the aquatic world. It may be better for all that, for a book written by fly fishermen would likely focus on the elements of nature that are of the greatest interest to anglers, while ignoring things such as the Greater Bladderwort, an unusual carnivorous plant, which I have paddled through in my float tube, unaware that it was snapping up insects stirred up by my feet.

This book casts a wide net, and introduces us to a richer world than we might otherwise be aware of.
It has sections of moving and still water, and is jammed with interesting facts about aquatic insects, plants, birds and reptiles.

Although the Cannings are all scientists - Sydney is a zoologist, Richard a consulting biologist and Robert a curator of entomology - they have not fallen into the trap of using technical language. Their book is written simply, clearly and it reflects the obvious love they have for nature.
“Let’s get into a canoe and paddle around a lake - imagine one of the popular fishing lakes in the Interior - and have a look at the life within it,” the write in introducing one section. The authors then go on to give you a tour of the aquatic world, from the shallow, warm shoreline to the depths beyond.

They explain how to quickly tell the difference between Bulrushes and Cattails, and then explain the life that revolves around this shoreline vegetation.
You learn that Red-winged Blackbirds like to nest in Cattail colonies, while Yellow-headed Blackbirds favor bulrushes. Muskrats, you are told, are giant voles that play a vital role in keeping the marsh beds open, so that other plants and animals can move in.
Some of the most interesting sections, at least for a fly fisher, involve the descriptions of insect life.
“Swimming in short bursts along the bottom with the bugs and beetles are a host of what most of us would call freshwater shrimp. Although these are crustaceans, they are not true shrimp - they are the amphipods Gammarus and Hyalella. They breed prolifically in productive lakes like this one that are rich in calcium. The Gammarus that have orange brood pouches on their undersides are pregnant females, which are especially favoured by trout.

“Offshore, in deeper water than the bulrushes and Cattails, are other rooted aquatic plants - gorgeous Yellow Waterlilies and pink-headed Water Smartweeds, to name two of the common, obvious ones...Along the bottom are masses of shrubby-looking water plants - but on close examination we find that they are a type of green algae called Chara. This alga is brittle and crunchy, with a skeleton of calcium carbonate, and its presence tells us that the lake is rich in calcium.”
Almost every page holds revelations, even for someone who, like me, likes to spend a lot of time observing nature while on the water. The Cannings look upon the aquatic world with eyes of highly trained scientists and they explain this fascinating world that helps us see things to which we would otherwise be blind.
The World Of Fresh Water should be required reading for anyone who fishes in the West.

-Mark Hume