HOOKS FOR BOOKS

Overview of Hooks for Books

Twenty-eight lucky anglers will fly fish for two days on the Bitterroot, Clarks Fork, and Blackfoot Rivers—widely ranked among the world’s blue ribbon trout streams—to catch rainbow, brown, brook, and cutthroat trout. Because this is a small event, we have been able to staff with some of the region’s top guides.

Hooks for Books is not a competition, and anglers of every skillset will have a great time. But for those who want to challenge their skills, we offer the world’s first “4 FLY”. Attendees will receive four flies specially chosen and custom tied for the event to best match the fishing conditions: two dry flies, a streamer, and one nymph.

2023 Outfitters & Supporters

We are proud to have assembled the best crew of outfitters and guides in Western Montana. Our outfitters — Missoulian Angler, Renegade Fly Fishing Outfitters, and Missoula Fly Fishing Outfitters — and guides have accrued over 200 years of guiding experience on this watershed. 

We’ve also partnered with some terrific companies and organizations that support Hooks for Books, including:

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About Hooks for Books

Hooks for Books is a charitable fly-fishing event that benefits the University of Montana Creative Writing Program. All net proceeds support the program. It was founded in 2021 by UofM Alumni Tim O’Leary and Chris Dombrowski, to combine their love of literature, fly fishing, and the UofM. O’Leary is an entrepreneur and writer, and Dombroski is a renowned poet and fly-fishing guide, the founder of the Beargrass Writing Retreat, and Director of the MFA program.

Like many universities, the UofM has experienced severe budget cuts that severely impacted the Creative Writing Department, and Hooks for Books supports those shortfalls to build a new generation of writers, while giving visitors the opportunity to experience some of the world’s finest trout fishing and the beautiful community of Missoula—a place where “the river literally runs through it.”

UofM’s Creative Writing Program is one of our nation’s oldest and most prestigious, with an international reputation. Founded in 1920, it began offering one of the first M.F.A. degrees in 1966, and has boasted such iconic Western writers as Richard Hugo, Madeline DeFrees, Judy Blunt, James Lee Burke, Rick DiMarinis, and William Kittredge, while hosting Pulitzer Prize winners Richard Ford and Jorie Graham, and literary luminaries David James Duncan, Jess Walter, Susan Cheever, Barry Lopez, Hunter S. Thompson, Ken Kesey, and dozens of others.

Graduates have become essential voices in literature and the arts. Most recently, Stephanie Land’s best-selling book Maid was adapted into a hit Netflix television series. James Sean Greer’s book Less was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Emily Danforth’s novel Plain Bad Heroines was named the Book of the Year by The Washington Post. Kim Barnes’ memoir was shortlisted for the Pulitzer. Robert Wrigley’s ten books of poetry have been awarded Pushcart Awards and a Guggenheim Fellowship. James Welch, who both attended and taught in the M.F.A. program, was the preeminent Native American author of seven books. His first novel, Winter in the Blood was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize. Fools Crow won the American Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. 

We appreciate the support offered by Hooks for Books contestants to continue this important legacy of literature.

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Overview of 2022

We are pleased to report that our first annual event was a sell-out, with twenty-eight lucky anglers from eleven states in attendance. Revenue from the event blew through all expectations, exceeding $110,000, which will provide tremendous support to budding writers.

Our 2022 Winners!

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Thanks to our 2022 Supporters

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Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.

Salman Rushdie

Donate

Can’t make it to the event, but want to support a new generation of writers? We welcome your donation. All donations are fully tax deductible.