John Gierach is an outdoors junkie, but he’s not the powder-crazed, schussing sort associated with Colorado’s slopes. Instead, his obsessions are the Centennial State’s snow-fed streams, creeks, and rivers. As a result, the Lyons-based author has earned a reputation as one of the foremost fly-fishing writers in America. Despite his talent, it’s a career of convenience that allows him to live simply and fish whenever he wants.

And that happens often. In All Fishermen Are Liars, his latest collection of essays, he recounts his childhood inspiration, his career as an author, and the fish he has caught (or not) along the way. Each essay is stocked with fly-fishing jargon: the rods, reels, and the flies (there are so many flies, which don’t seem to matter all that much). The stories are like a knowing nod between experienced anglers. The fish might bite, but not always, even if you know what you’re doing. Success is not measured in more or bigger fish and it isn’t not an immediate outcome or a product. It’s a lifestyle, a pastime. The tackle, the toys of the trade, the trips, the fish, and the rivers, ultimately, are stories. And the stories, true or not, are what matter.

Meet the author: Gierach will be sharing more stories and signing copies at Tattered Cover this week. Thu 7:30 p.m.; 2526 E. Colfax Ave.