Fishing 1 by 1

posted by admin on Feb 25

Editorial Reviews

On the second of his three great voyages, James Cook (1728-1779) took on the most frightening of all his challenges - to travel as far south as possible, to regions never before explored, in the hope of finding a new great continent which could be settled by the British. He found the continent - but it was horrifically different from what had been hoped for. “Great Journeys” allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries - but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: Great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.

About the Author
James Cook (1728-1779) was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer. He made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, accurately charting many areas and recording several islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time.

Order Hunt for the Southern Continent (Great Journeys): James Cook form Amazon.

posted by admin on Feb 19

Editorial Reviews

A great, innovative and restless thinker, the young Humboldt (1769-1859) went on his epochal journey to the New World during a time of revolutionary ferment across Europe. This part of his matchless narrative of adventure and scientific research focuses on his time in Venezuela - in the Llanos and on the Orinoco River - riding and paddling, restlessly and happily noting the extraordinary things on every hand. “Great Journeys” allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries — but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.

About the Author
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was a Prussian naturalist and explorer. Between 1799 and 1804, von Humboldt travelled South and Central America, exploring and describing it from a scientific point of view for the first time.

Order Jaguars and Electric Eels (Penguin Great Journeys): Alexander von Humboldt form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 10

Editorial Reviews

Review
…captures the rewards of the guiding life, as well as the rugged, beautiful landscapes in which these men work. — Men’s Journal, March 2002

The Colorado, the Snake, the Missouri, the Bighorn — each of these great western rivers conjures images of catching beautiful trout under big open skies. This book is a thoughtful and candid portrait of 13 of the best fly-fishing guides in the West, offering a unique view of river life through the eyes of those who live there. From the South Platte to Henry’s Fork, the rivers and fish these guides know are all depicted through stunning black and white photography and the guides’ unique perspecitves, capturing the essence of their adventurous lifestyles and illustrating how men and women can be shaped by the landscapes around them. The 13 guides featured are Dan Stein (Bighorn River), Terry Gunn (Colorado River), Patty Reilly (Snake River), John Flick (San Juan River), Pete Cardinal (Missouri River), Dave Faltings (Silver Creek), Tony Fotopulos (Roaring Fork River), Rusty Vorous (Yellowstone River), Pat Dorsey (S. Platte River), Denny Breer (Green River), Tim Mosolf (Beaverhead River), Bob Lamm (Henry’s Fork of the Snake River), and Kim Leighton (Yellowstone River).

Order Castworks: Reflections of Fly Fishing Guides and the American West (Game & Fish Mastery Library): Kirk D. Deeter, Andrew W. Steketee, Liz Steketee form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 8

Editorial Reviews

Review
“Johnson has composed a wonderful, at times lyrical, exploration of an out-of-the-way niche on our crowded planet.” (California Literary Review )

Readers who believe as Herman Melville’s Ishmael, that “meditation and water are wedded for ever,” will be entranced by Rex Johnson, Jr.’s, account of his travels to the upper Bavispe River in Mexico’s northern Sierra Madre. Combining travel observations, natural history, ethnography, ecology, and ichthyology, Johnson’s narrative plunges the reader into a world that is so far from the twenty-first-century United States that it is difficult to believe how physically close the two countries actually are.

Johnson goes in search of an ancient species of trout, the Bavispe, at least 3 million years old. It has been easier for the Bavispe to remain unchanged for millennia than for the human inhabitants of the Sierra Madre to endure for mere centuries. Johnson notes the area’s Indian descendants are in the process of becoming modern, and the needs of the ancient trout, dependent on pure, unpolluted water, collide at times with the choices of people scratching out an existence in a challenging environment.

The parallel stories from natural and human history are a central theme in Johnson’s account of environmental change and its consequences, layered with the personal, contemplative meaning he finds in the quest for the seldom-seen fish.

Order The Quiet Mountains: A Ten-Year Search for the Last Wild Trout of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental: Rex Johnson Jr., David Burckhalter, Joseph C. Wilder form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 8

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Despite its popular macho image, the sport of fly fishing, according to editor Morris, today attracts women in unprecedented numbers. She further points out that women have been fly fishing for centuries; the first essay on the subject was penned by a nun in the ealry 1400s. To redress the lack of more recent literature, Morris has collected here the meditations of 17 women-from writers to full-time sportswomen-on their experiences with this enthralling pastime. For those who don’t know a nymph from a Royal Humpy, or a sparkle dun from a black woolly bugger, this collection may not prove the best introduction. But those already initiated in fly fishing practice and lore are bound to find something interesting in this varied assortment. Ranging from the naturalistic to the turgidly symbolic and philosophical, the most successful tales capture something of the fishing experience while many of the contributors address personal issues such as menopause, bereavement and sexual identity, efforts that produce widely mixed results. Illustrations.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The number of books on fly fishing written by women has been practically nil, for it has been historically considered a male preserve–until now. This book offers new voices, fresh perspectives and excellent writing from some of the country’s finest contemporary writers.

Order A Different Angle: Fly Fishing Stories by Women: Holly Morris form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 8

Editorial Reviews

Review
If you love fly fishing and desire to explore, you can’t go wrong taking Fly-Fishing Odyssey along. — Jean Kelly, Redbone Journal, Spring 2002

This book has a lot of solid, useful information — not to mention considerable entertainment value. — Steve Raymond, Fly Fishing in Salt Waters, Jan/Feb 2002

This book is a unique combination of exciting fishing tales and priceless information. The appendixes alone are worth the price. — Lefty Kreh, 2001

In Fly-Fishing Odyssey, Jon B. Cave has transformed his lifes work into a collection that will inspire, enlighten and educate any fly-fisherman. With tales that take us from Patagonia to Yellowstone National Park, from Africa to Argentina, from home to abroad, Fly-Fishing Odyssey stirs the wanderlust in any fisherman and provides the information necessary for those willing to put wings to their dreams.

Order Fly-Fishing Odyssey: The Pursuit of Great Game Fish: Jon B. Cave form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 7

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Longtime fly fishing essayist Tapply shares reflections on fly fishing that range from anecdotes illustrating the sport’s appeal to detailed tips for pros. While the book doesn’t dazzle with flowery prose, its even tone of understated reverence neatly conveys the author’s feelings without much embellishment, recalling the work of beloved nature writer Sigurd F. Olson. Fans of nature writing in general will find plenty to enjoy, but they should know the book also contains its fair share of the sport’s technical side, including passages like this: “We used ten-weight fly rods, minimum stick to throw three-hundred-grain sinktip lines and to wrestle those mighty fish. Sturdy disc-drag reels with two hundred yards of backing.” Casting those concerns aside, however, readers can focus on Tapply’s smart pacing and succinct descriptions. While renowned as a fly fishing writer, Tapply is also the author of the Brady Coyne mystery series, and his deft way with a story line comes across particularly in the collection’s delicate title story. The title itself may be trite, but it’s a good indicator of the unpretentious nature of the writing within, which makes for a pleasant read—even if readers haven’t the slightest idea what a “bushy bivisible” is.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* The 28 essays collected here ruminate on fly fishing in a variety of beguiling ways, from advice on technique to anecdotes about big fish to more inspirational reflections on the sport and its pleasures. Tapply, also author of the popular Brady Coyne mysteries, once lived near Walden Pond, and he weaves Thoreau into his essays in an unforced and thoroughly appealing manner. Literary allusions notwithstanding, however, the subject here is fly fishing, and the quarry–pursued not only across New England but throughout the U.S and Canada–include trout, Atlantic and landlocked salmon, steelhead, pickerel, bass, and yellow perch. Fans of Tapply’s mysteries often comment on his comfortable narrative voice–effortlessly charming–and he brings that same quality to his fishing essays. His love of family and friends and his dry humor (toothy pickerel meets bare toes) emerge forcefully here, but so does his always-useful advice on technique and his ever-insightful takes on a variety of fly-fishing topics, from overlooked places where big trout hold in rivers and streams to his selection of the 10 best flies. This is the best Tapply essay collection yet, and it belongs on the shelf with fish lit’s other master stylists, Thomas McGuane and John Gierach. One of the best sports books of the year. John Rowen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Order Gone Fishin’: Ruminations on Fly Fishing: William G. Tapply form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 7

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover
Oregon’s North Umpqua River contains miles of the best steelhead and trout water in North America; its pool and riffles draw anglers the world over. Michael Baughman has fished these waters most of his life, and A River Seen Right is his testament to what he has learned there.The North Umpqua flows past thousands of years of history, with three-thousand-year-old bird points still able to be found at the water’s edge. In the twentieth century, renowned sportsmen such as Zane Grey have come to the river, tramping up the steps of the famed Steamboat Inn, whose history is detailed here. There are some candid words on the danger of increased fishing pressure on the viability of the fishery. The book speaks of fly patterns, productive pools, and the best seasons to fish (mostly the uncrowded ones), but its bent is not practical. Rather, Baughman brings us along on an extended tour of the river to talk about fishing, the river’s rich history, and some pleasant memories - like an afternoon’s walk at streamside with an old friend.The book is graced with photographs by Dan Callaghan, who is also lucky enough to call the North Umpqua his home water.Any fly fisherman, from any place, will want this special book. (71/4 X 81/4, 156 pages, color photos, b&w photos, map)

Order A River Seen Right: Michael Baughman form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 7

Editorial Reviews

Review
“I enjoyed the book immensely. I loved the personal insights into some of fishing’s legendary guides and personalities. I can thoroughly identify with the commitment to ‘catch and release’ . . . a fine book on fishing and on life, too.”–President George H. W. Bush

“If you love fishing adventures with a fly rod, and want to understand the characters who do, this book will give you hours of pleasant reading.”–Lefty Kreh

“Fish Fights really touched a chord with me. I have fished and loved the Florida Keys for over fifty years. Bob Rich brought me back to the memories of the waters, the guides, the relaxing life, but most of all, the champion gamefish.”–Curt Gowdy

“In the reading of Fish Fights I was reintroduced to some of my favorite places, folks, and memories…But more importantly, in Bob Rich’s Met Hall of Fame quest I was able to see the angling spark that was ignited in all of us so many years ago. Read Fish Fights for yourself and see the spark become a bonfire.”–Flip Pallot

“Fish Fights is extremely well written…a truly outstanding book that is easy to read, filled with meaningful facts, and tells a fascinating story.”–Mark Sosin

“Fish Fights is a fish story told well. It has all the necessary ingredients to separate it from the norm. Humor, crusty characters and most importantly the ‘Quest,’ are what fishermen like myself can relate to. Entertainment and helping to find the cure?…Count me in!”–Jose Wejebe

“Don’t be fooled by the title…this book is about a lot more than just fish. Bob Rich has captured the essence of the characters that I’ve known for over 30 years.”–Rick Ruoff

“The hardest type of fish writing is storytelling. Yet Bob has written a wonderful and adventurous journey through the different neighborhoods that each species required and through some of the most famous land sights. Filled with well-drawn characters and with great love and respect for the fish he is looking for and its environment.”–Chico Fernandez
–This text refers to the

Paperback
edition.

One man’s quest to catch ten record big-game fish.

Order Fish Fights: A Hall of Fame Quest: Bob Rich, Sandy Moret form Amazon.

posted by admin on Jan 5

Editorial Reviews

Review
“To this book goes our award for the best title of the year.” –Fly-Fishing in Salt Waters

Zane Grey, John Gierach, and others share encounters with great gamefish.

order Into the Backing: Incredible True Stories About the Big Ones that Got Away–and the Ones that Didn’t: Lamar Underwood form Amazon.