Who is Augustine from The River Why and what is their importance?

Son of the famous writer Henning Hale-Orviston and Carolina "Ma" Carper and brother to Bill Bob Orviston, Gus is a fishing prodigy. He grows up in a family whose main focus is fishing and not intellectual pursuits.

After completing high school, Gus moves to his own cabin in the woods next to a year-round stream. He moves here in the hopes of achieving his Ideal Schedule, which is fishing fourteen and one half hours each day. He gives himself only six hours to sleep and minimal time to eat, transportation to the river, etc. in order to achieve this goal. He is inspired to the Ideal Schedule in part by reading The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton, whose book is one piece of literature that the Orviston family lives by.