The main chapter and narrator begin the story by talking about two important elements for his family: fishing and religion. Norman’s father treated fishing just like one would treat religion and Norman remembers the times he spent at church on Sundays. Then, they would spend a long time fishing and talking about grace and beauty in the world. Norman notes that while fly fishing may not be complicated, it does imply a level of grace and control.
Fly-fishing is associated here with rhythm and Norman points out that there is a certain rhythm someone has to follow to fly-fish correctly. Norman’s younger brother, Paul, is more gifted at fishing than Norman is and their father noticed the obsession Paul had for fishing from a young age. Paul was also more independent than Norman and never asked for help from no one.
Paul continues to fish even when he grows up and he remains close to home. When the boys are older, they each get a job, Norman working as a lumberjack and Paul working as a lifeguard at a pool. Paul dreams of one day working as a reporter and remains in Montana and continue to fish just like he did in his childhood. Paul is more stubborn that Norman and he asserts his desires and will better than Norman. The two boys were quite violent in their childhood and obsessed with the idea of fighting but they still cared a lot about one another and their parents.
The second part of the story takes place in 1937. Norman is already married and he moved with his wife while Paul found a job as a reporter and moved from his hometown to Helena. One day, Norman goes and visits his brother to tell him that his brother in law, Neal, will come into town and wants to go fishing. Paul is not happy to hear this since he considers that everyone who lives in a different area is not good at fishing. Paul works as a reporter and he took the habit of drinking too much and too early, something Norman disapproves of.
Norman tells Paul that he has been praised by Florence who hoped that Paul would take Neal fishing. After hearing this, Paul agrees to take Neal fishing on a small stream the next day and Norman buys them to drink. Paul and Norman decide to go fishing on their own before that on the Big Blackfoot. While fishing, Paul tells Norman that he crashed his car not too long ago after he went fishing and drank too much. The two start fishing and it becomes clear that Norman is not as skilled as Paul is but despite this he doesn’t lose hope. Norman ends up catching a big fish and even Paul is impressed by it and after that he goes upstream where he fishes using a technique invented by him.
Norman goes to Paul’s house but Paul leaves in the middle of the night, gets too drunk and is arrested. The police calls Norman to tell him about what happened and also to inform Norman that Paul will most likely be sued because he caused some damage in a bar. The reason why Paul got into a fight was because a man began shouting racial slurs at him when he entered the bar with an Indian woman.
Norman goes to the police station and the officer tells him to take Paul fishing to help him. Norman takes the girl and his brother home and the Indian girl seems happy that a fight broke out because of her. After Norman takes them home, he returns to his wife. The next day, Norman goes to the train station to pick up Neal and that night they go out drinking.
The next day, they all go fishing and Norman’s wife, Jessie, asks him to take care of Neal. Norman and Neal break away from the group but Neal remains behind claiming that he is not feeling too well after drinking too much. Norman continues to fish, getting further and further away from Neal until he reaches Paul. Norman tries to offer his help to Paul but he refuses and insists that the go looking for Neal since it will most likely start to rain.
When Paul and Norman reach the rest of the group, Neal was already there, heavily sunburnt.
A few days later, Norman and Paul plan a fishing trip to a small cabin they owned. The town prostitute comes along and brings Neal to them. Old Rawhide and Neal begin drinking almost as soon as they reach the river but Norman and Paul remain sober. Because of the warm weather, the brothers are unsuccessful at catching any good fish. Norman does catch about four fishes and Paul catches 11 and then they return to the car where they find Neal and Old Rawhide naked and drunk after drinking all the alcohol. The two were severely sunburnt after lying in the sun all day and so they have to be taken home.
After arriving home, the person to get in trouble in Norman but even then he refuses to tell his wife and his mother in law everything that happened. The only one who seemed to understand what happened was Jessie and she also insisted that Norman continues his fishing trip with Paul.
After the conversation with his wife, Norman goes drinking with Paul. At the bar, they plan to return to the river and go visit their parents. It is here where Norman notes sadly that he and his brother will never fish again together.
When the boys arrive at their parents’ house, they are excited and have dinner together. Paul asks their father to go fishing with them the next day and their father is more than happy to accept. The next day they all go fishing but Norman can clearly see that Paul slept little the night before.
The sons and the father have a good day fishing and both Norman and their father praise Paul for his talent. The three take pictures with their fishes and then return home. The next day, the family is announced that Paul was found dead in an alley, beaten to death. Paul’s death affects his family that will never be the same.
Norman ends his story by reflecting on his past and how fishing changed both his life and his brother’s.
