For Paul Phillips, not every day on the stream is an idyllic, spiritual experience. Small Streams and Daydreams is a compilation of entertaining essays on the 30 years he’s spent fly-fishing throughout the United States and Canada. Unlike most writers in this genre, Phillips’ back casts are not always flawless, his accuracy is not always unerring, and his footing not always assured. He gets lost, he falls, he loses equipment, his line gets entangled, and he’s admittedly caught more stick-fish than most people have trout. With sharp wit and humor, Phillips’ essays combine an abiding love for nature and for fly-fishing with the insight to see the pastime for what it is (an avocation) as well as what it is not (an emblem of distinction). While he waxes philosophical at times, at others he pokes great fun at his favorite target-himself. Phillips is a self-taught, self-described fly-fishing contrarian who eschews instructors, guides, lodges, sanctimonious peers, and matching the hatch. While his aim on stream is all too frequently awry, he can and does draw a steady bead on the grim-faced, the scolds, and the snobs whom he views as too prevalent, and too influential, in the contemporary literature on this wild, beautiful, and relaxing hobby.