This paperback is one of those hidden gems you come across from time to time, which make you wonder why no-one has thought of something similar before; and then you realise that if it hadn’t been for the combination of that particular author and that particular publisher, the chemistry wouldn’t have happened and the result would have been quite different.

First of all, ignore the title. There isn’t anything in this book which makes it more useful to one type of fisherman than another – a subtitle of ‘How Rivers Work’ would explain the contents much better. If you have ever wondered why rivers are the way they are, as any imaginative fisherman will, from time to time, the Stream Dynamics is 132 pages of treasure. Robert A. Miller is the sort of geologist who makes you wish you had been born in Tennessee so you could attend his lectures and Stream Dynamics is the sort of book that makes terms like ‘dissolved load’ and ‘corrasion’ meaningful and fun. Yes, you have to order it from America, but the Whitefish Press despatches orders faster than speeding bullet, so order it for Christmas.