THE TALIBAN’S TROUT

Chances are high that you’ll never fish for trout in the lawless regions of Afghanistan. After reading Tom Gregg’s hair-raising travelogue, you won’t want to. Gregg, an Aussie aid worker posted to an unstable region of the war-torn region, dodges bullets, land mines, and laser-sighted riflescopes all in search of a few dinky, eight-inch trout. Yeah, it was worth it.

Words: Tom Gregg


The day would be typically warm, but morning sunlight on the peaks towering above Ghazni Province, in southeastern Afghanistan, did little to remove the previous night’s chill from the valley floor. The frigid air was visible with each breath. I waded into the cool, clear stream that snaked through the valley, my fly rod tucked under my right arm. The water quickly penetrated my leather boots and socks and sent goosebumps up my legs. A light mist hung over the stream. Smoke rose from mud chimneys in a distant village across the water before meeting the crisp air and sinking back down to the ground. A rooster called and a dog barked an answer.

It was just as Izaak Walton described in the Complete Angler—this was the “study of being quiet.”


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