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The onset of winter in the Colorado high country holds promise of powder skiing, hot chocolate with marshmallows and feet wrapped in wool socks propped up by a crackling fire. Some anglers have chosen to store their gear for the winter season. For anglers still yearning to remain connected to fly fishing, attention turns to planning for warm weather trips, restocking fly boxes or immersing oneself in reading about the sport.

Two examples of new prose for the reading angler on your Christmas list would be “For Everything There is a Season,” by Allen Crater and “A Cast Away in Montana,” by Tim Schulz.

While neither are unknown, the new works from both established writers deliver a familiar yet refreshing voice into the recent outdoor literary offerings. Both books are welcomed prose to keep anglers connected as a “dark-season diversion.”

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Allen Crater takes us through the seasons of the year as an outdoorsman. The pages contain stories of seasons spent grouse hunting as well as snapshots of angling in Rocky Mountain National Park. From tales backpacking and traveling by water to foraging, Crater’s book is filled with familiar stories outdoorsmen hold dearly. Food and drink are brought to life in his fireside recollections and from the recipes found in the book that honor the fruits of time spent outdoors. My English professor father really appreciated the recipes as a highlight of the book.

Crater’s stories provide easy reading, supported by quotes from masters. He weaves strong connections that revel in the fondness of like-minded friends when he writes: “Having the right people alongside can turn a ho-hum location into an adventure you will talk about the rest of your life…”

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So many of us have friends that can do the same thing.

The fondness for all seasons is the mark of a true outdoorsman/woman. In the midst of a frigid Michigan winter float, fishing was the enticement and premise for the adventure, but the camping, camaraderie and cocktails bore the truth of the trip.

The recipes elevate the book beyond mere literature into a resource for use beyond the couch. A recent Wyoming pheasant hunt provided the opportunity for me to create a delicious upland pot pie using the recipe on page 226. This book rests well in the hands of avid anglers and hunters or anyone who revels in the flavor of each season.

Tim Schulz has a way of securing a reader’s attention. The reader feels invested in his three-week journey to fish throughout Montana and ultimately visit with Bob DeMott. Each chapter leaves the reader ready to embrace the next day and prevents him from laying the book down.

The angling adventure provides the substance for Schulz’s competent prose. His words fall easily off the pages, garnering accolades from readers far beyond the stubby bearded clan. Even in the hands of my mother, a retired university professor, the book holds its worth. She’s not an angler or hunter but a fan of the written word — and now a fan of Schulz.

Schulz’s stories feel genuine. His reverence for icons like Gallop, Dennis and Kustich is obvious. But his words about Bob and Kate draw elevated attention. They have been my personal friends for years. I met Bob through my father. Both were professors at Ohio University for over four decades. They hunted birds with English setters together for years. Reading about Bob and Kate through Tim’s words was special.

We walk down the dirt trail to the river behind Tim. As readers, we, too, endure the loss of his companion, Sunny. And I see Gunner’s eyes, my labrador of fourteen years who passed this summer, in the words on the pages Schulz has written.

With most enjoyable reading there is always a plan to revisit and re-read both books again soon. What will I discover on the second pass? What I do know is that Tim’s words paint pictures in my mind that hold visions of sparkling river water, grassy cut banks and caddis dancing in the sunlight.

A fly-fishing trip was the premise for “A Cast Away in Montana” and the setting for a few of the tales in “For Everything There is a Season.” Reading the words of both writers can lay the foundation for planning your own angling adventure. As far as the holidays, both books fit well in a stocking or as a welcomed gift wrapped under the tree.

Michael Salomone moved to the Eagle River valley in 1992. He began guiding fly-fishing professionally in 2002. His freelance writing has been published in magazines and websites including, Southwest Fly Fishing, Fly Rod & Reel, Eastern Fly Fishing, On the Fly, FlyLords, the Pointing Dog Journal, Upland Almanac, the Echo website, Vail Valley Anglers and more. He lives on the bank of the Eagle River with his wife, Lori; two daughters, Emily and Ella; and a brace of yellow Labrador retrievers.