Customer Reviews (2)

Refelctive of a life well spent-angling for truth
Mike,outdoor writer, naturalist & conservation activist, passed awayat 49. He epitomizes,in this his 2nd last book, the adage: "God doesNOT! deduct from out Time here,on Earth,...days spent...fishing."

Days on the Water reflect days of the past
Days on the Water isn't a fishing book, per se. It's about the history, folklore, and traditions of fishing, as much well-written literature as it is a compendium of fishing lore and information. This isn't a "how tofish" book, or a "let me tell you how I bagged the big one"book. Days on the Water appeals to anglers, anglers' relatives, historybuffs, nature enthusiasts, and those who appreciate good,straight-from-the-hip prose in the Hemingway style. ... Read more

Product Description
This is not your usual fishing book!It explores and shares the deep love that anglers have for fishing, including the folklore, philosophy and nobility of angling, motivations, secrets, tips, techniques, and the mystique of waters. Are anglers nuts? Or is their quest a noble one? Or both? And is there a danger of evolving technology transforming fishing into a NASCAR kind of sport?This book contains six centuries of wisdom from the 15 Master Anglers of Lake Winnipesaukee. This is the first and only definitive book on angling in Lake Winnipesaukee, the sixth largest natural lake in the US not contiguous with Canada. A labor of love that took almost a decade to write, the book also gives readers a glimpse into diversity and skills of this revered group. You may know some of them like retired teacher, Chuck French and forester, Carl Gebhardt,he says.Or 95-year-young Barbara Cotton, the oldest living proprietor of an Orvis Fly shop in America the Opechee Trading Post. Rick Davis , who also heads up the Winni Salmon Derby; Bill Martel, of Martel s Bait and Tackle; Jim Warner from Wolfeboro, a famous fly creator; Al Stewart who recently passed on and lived on tiny two-mile island with no electricity and a white picket fence around it; Mario DeCarolis, one of the most colorful, successful, and humorous of the anglers; Ted St. Onge, the Master Angler who stalks trophy salmon relying mainly on water temperature as his guide; the late Paul Philippe, an accountant namedBean Counteron the marine radio, who did empirical studies of various lures, depth and techniques; Steve Perry, head of the Inland Fisheries Division of N.H. Fish &Game; Alan Nute, owner of AJs Bait & Tackle in Meredith; and two young upstart Master Anglers, both of whom are excellent fishing guides, Travis Williams and Jay Parent."The first half of the book contains chapters on each of the major fish in the lake from my perspective as well as some scientific information on each,"explains Hal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best book on angling in the North East I have ever read!
Dr. Lyon who has apparently been fishing in the premier lake in New England -- Lake Winnipesaukee -- for over 65 years brings together the wisdom from 14 other "Master Anglers" in this excellent guide to fishing glacial lakes, who together have over 600 years of experience fishing this lake. "Winnipesaukee" is the Abanaki translation for "The smile of the great spirit." The book is well organized into chapters on each of the major game fish in northern glacial lakes with wonderful stories, photos, and tips -- some quite unconventional but proven -- followed by a chapter presenting the tips and stories of each of the other 14 "Master Anglers" who were selected for both their experience and prowess as anglers as well as their willingness to give away their secrets.

The book, which contains over 300 photos, even contains a "Chart of Secrets" which has the average from all 15 Master Anglers of their favorite trolling depths, speeds, best lures, etc for Landlocked Salmon, Lake Trout, and rainbow trout. This information alone willsave the novice angler a decade of learning curve in mastering how to fish a big northern lake.

There is a special chapter on ice fishing as well as one discussing the various tournaments and fishinf derbies.

There is a spiritual component which runs through the pages making this book more than a "How To Book." Lyon, author of several other books is an excellent writer and this book, as proclaimed by one of New Hampshire's chief big lake fish biologists, is "...a must have book for anyone who wants to ... any northern glacial lake." An great read and wonderful gift suggestion for any angler in your family! ... Read more

Book Description
Before airplanes, and with few roads, getting to Maine and the isolated fishing spots that made the state a world famous fisherman’s paradise was no small task. Huge resorts and hotels peppered the fishing regions, accommodating hundreds, perhaps thousands of sportsmen at any one time. From these lodgings, sports with their guides branched out, taking expeditions and canoe journeys that lasted for days, even weeks, into Maine’s wilderness. Only recently have vacationers been transient and as such, have changed the concepts of fishing in wilderness areas forever. Today, the hotels are mostly gone, and people now fish for a few hours to a day or more and then move on. Glimpses of Maine’s Angling Past returns to the days when vacationers settled into their camps for whole summers, before the endless acres of timber were dissected by logging roads, and secret, little-known lakes and ponds took days or weeks to reach. This

long-anticipated volume includes countless images from the entire state, broken down into eight distinct areas: the Sebago Lakes, the Belgrade Lakes, the Rangeley Lakes, Down East, the Penobscot River Valley, the Kennebec River Valley, the Moosehead Lake Region, and northern Maine and “the County.” Included are rare photographs from lodges no longer in existence and antique sports magazines such as In the Maine Woods and Field and Stream. All of this is complemented by the author’s painstaking research and his intimate memories of Maine’s sporting history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great maps!! Very Informative!!
I have had this book for 10 years and continue to cherish it on every return trip to Jackson, WY and Yellowstone. The fold out maps (half of the book!!) are excellent with good information on access points. It covers Yellowstone water very well. I am ordering the Montana version of this book today and cannot wait to study it!! ... Read more

Product Description
This beautiful 216 page volume contains over 100 angling images by ten of America's finest sporting artists: Shirley Cleary, Rod Crossman, Thomas Aquinas Daly, Luke Frazier, Eldridge Hardie, Chet Reneson, Arthur Shilstone, Brett Smith, Mike Stidham and John Swan. The book should be available in late November. A slideshow preview is available at: http://campanadesign.com/AnglingDKI/. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Marshall Cutchin Review
In Midcurrent latest news, M. Cutchin writes: There's almost nothing more enjoyable on a cold winter's day than paging through coffee-table fly fishing books, especially if they combine art and biography.We received Diane Inman's new The Fine Art of Angling earlier this week and I took a couple of hours perusing its wide-format pages, taking in the perspective of ten notable fly fishing artists. . .This is a very nicely done book. Great fishing art is about being humble in the midst of majesty, about the fly fisher disappearing into the landscape.In some of our favorite pieces here, the angler is almost unnoticeable.. . . ... Read more

Product Description
Norris on Trout Fishing samples both the expertise and the generous warmth that made Thaddeus Norris (1811-1877) such a beloved figure in American angling. From his wise portrayal of the many types of anglers, to the biology and behavior of native American brook trout, to his touching portrait of the now-extinct Michigan grayling, Norris set a standard for American angling thought that educated and inspired succeeding generations and still offers us both provocation and wisdom today. His concluding essay on the joys of fly fishing alone is regarded as a primary milestone of angling philosophy that set the tone for the philosophical explorations of many later writers from Arnold Gingrich to Ernest Schwiebert to John Gierach. ... Read more

Book Description
In The Fish's Eye: Essays About Angling and the Outdoors, Ian Frazier explores his lifelong passion for fishing, fish, and the aquatic world. He sees the angler's environment all around him-in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida Keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how. The essays contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remain defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport lifts him to a straight-ahead angling description that's among the best contemporary writing on the subject. The Fish's Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.Download Description
Twenty years of heartfelt, funny and vivid essays exploring Frazier's lifelong passion for fishing, fish and the aquatic world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Tracker-Outdoors.com Review of The Fish's Eye
Author Ian Frazier's new book, "The Fish's Eye" is a wonderfully crafted collection of 17short essays about fishing and the great outdoors.The essays bring to life all of the mysteries both human and natural thatmost anglers take for granted. Ian's writing techniques paint vivid pictures of the angler's surrounding whether its a bait shop, a bass lake or the Hudson River."The Fish's Eye" captures the spirit of the angling life experience from every angle. This book is a "must read" for every angler and outdoorsman.

Regards,
David Selman
Tracker Outdoors
www.tracker-outdoors.com

Spotty as a trout but just as tasty
I am a big fan of Ian Frazier's writing, so I snapped this up even though I am not an angler.The material is uneven, "spotty": some good, some indifferent.It contains essays previously published in magazines like the New Yorker and Outside magazine.In fact, if you've read either of those often you will be disappointed to find relatively few new material.

If not however, the anglers will like some pieces, the Ian Frazier fans will like others but tire of the fish stories.The one that is most successful on both counts, in my opinion, is the one about the fellow who ran an angler's shop near Grand Central Station.It is more a personality piece than a fishing piece but combines both of Frazier's great abilities (writing that is funny and generous in spirit, and...of course...fishing).

good stuff
I'm not sure that anyone's ever adequately explained the fact that fishing, baseball, boxing, golf, and horse racing have produced nearly every page of worthwhile sports writing.Baseball has more truly great writing
than the others--from songs and poems, like Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Casey at the Bat; to daily journalism, like Red Smith's Miracle at Coogan's Bluff; to essays, like John Updike's Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu;
to classic novels like Bang the Drum Slowly; to even great B-movies, like It Happens Every Spring--but fishing literature offers perhaps the most consistently high quality of writing (I don't think it has many songs,
poems, or movies and only a handful of worthwhile novels).

The great Red Smith of course excelled in writing about all of these sports and his fishing essays are marvelous.Robert Traver--perhaps best remembered now for Anatomy of a Murder, with its fishing-mad
attorney--wrote a number of great essays, collected in Trout Magic and Trout Madness.Nowadays, John Gierach seems incapable of putting pen to paper without producing an amusing fishing tale.All in all,
there's an embarrassment of riches to choose from.It seems not too much to say that you can grab nearly any collection of fishing essays and find writing of a high standard.In fact, it may be looking a gift horse in the
mouth, but there's so much good writing about fishing that it takes on a certain sameness--all those magnificent trout rising to the mayfly hatches in Montana and Idaho start to blend together at some point.So,
though it seem perverse, it takes more than "just" great writing to get at least this casual fan to grab a new fishing book.An author'd better have a well-barbed hook, to haul us in.

Ian Frazier's writing reputation precedes him--author of such well regarded books as On the Rez and Great Plains--but what's most appealing about this collection of his essays, mostly from The New Yorker and
Outside, is that many of them, especially the early ones, concern the fishing in and around Manhattan.Mr. Frazier takes this unlikely environs and lets us see that its just as fish-happy as any stretch of the Big
Blackfoot River.There are also some really lovely reminiscences of boyhood, including a charming essay about his Dad, who would become so disturbed by the notion of his son catching and hurting a fish that today it
is those occasions when he gets skunked that remind Mr. Frazier most clearly of his father.For my tastes the book loses a little steam when Mr. Frazier moves his family out West.Suddenly we're back in the
familiar--to me overfamiliar--waters of Montana.But such quibbles are more than forgiven because of a few quite humorous essays that are mixed in. One on eating bugs is quite good and one, called Bad Advice,
has an opening scene that's as funny as anything I've ever read anywhere.I hope I'll be forgiven for quoting at length :

Some years ago, on a camping trip in the pine woods of northern Michigan, my friend Don brought along a copy of an outdoor cookbook
that appeared on the best-seller lists at the time. This book contained many ingenious and easy-sounding recipes; one that Don especially
wanted to try was called "Breakfast in a Paper Bag." According to this recipe, you could take a small paper lunch sack, put strips of bacon
in the bottom, break an egg into the sack on top of the bacon, fold down the top of the sack, push a stick through the fold, hold the sack
over hot coals, and cook the bacon and egg in the sack in about ten minutes.

I watched as Don followed the directions exactly. Both he and I remarked that we would naturally have thought the sack would burn;
the recipe, however, declared, "grease will coat the bottom of the bag as it cooks." Somehow we both took this to mean that the grease,
counterintuitively, actually made the bag less likely to burn. Marveling at the "who would have guessed" magic of it, we picked a good spot
in the hot coals of our campfire, and Don held the sack above them. We watched. In a second and a half, the bag burst into leaping flames.
Don was yelling for help, waving the bag around trying to extinguish it, scattering egg yolk and smoldering strips of bacon and flaming paper
into the combustible pines while people at adjoining campfires stared in horror and wondered what they should do.

That's just good stuff and, by itself, makes the book worth reading.

GRADE : B+

Fish tales....and other cornucopia
My father has been passionate about fishing for as long as I can remember. I never have been. I didn't have the patience and lets face it, if you're not catching fish, then you're standing there holding a stick dangling string into a monumental body of water. As I've gotten older (and wiser?), I try to fish with my father whenever possible and, preconceived notions aside, I'm really enjoying myself. Consequently, when I ran across Ian Frazier's new offering, THE FISH'S EYE, I immediately purchased a copy for both my father and myself (reading is a passion we share). I thought I might glean some insight into an experienced fisherman's psyche as I read this set of 17 essays and thus, a snapshot of my father's fishing experiences. The essays, written by Mr. Frazier over the last 20+ years and presented in chronological order, present the reader with Frazier's experiences in the fishing life....and his experiences have been wide and varied.

As an incredible admission, this reader had no clue that there were people who actually fished in New York City proper (it just didn't seem to fit) but Frazier sets this misnomer to rest in his first essay, "Anglers." Here, he describes his experiences of observing and listening to a few of those throwing their lines into one of six ponds in the City's park system near Harlem Meer.

One of the better and more detailed essays is "An Angler at Heart." This essay details the story of Jim Deren, the owner of Anglers Roost, in none other than New York City! Frazier tells of his many conversations with Deren as he frequents The Roost. This 47-page essay is actually several essays rolled into one, all featuring Deren and his experiences in the fishing life. At one point in the essay, Frazier spends nearly two full pages informing us of the different types of lures one would be confronted with when visiting Angler's Roost. In this reader's opinion, if there is one essay epitomizing the spirit of this book, it would be this particular one.

"Guiding Guys" is a hilarious spoof on fishing guide services. Frazier describes the "guarantees" one receives in the propaganda distributed by many of these services. In this essay, Frazier writes from the point of view of a guide making just such guarantees of outings ranging from great fishing to extremely great fishing. And, he provides the reader with several different guides to choose from. There's Craig, 6'7" and 275 lbs. who grunts and answers in one-word sentences; Potter, who will never stop nagging you the entire outing as to how badly you're doing; and, last but not least, former President Jimmy Carter. Now, you have to pay a little extra for Mr. Carter but its well worth it as the former President will regale you with tales of his Presidency as you sit around the campfire.

Perhaps the most poignant essay for me was "Fishing Without Dad." This essay is specifically dedicated to Frazier's memory of his father, who never liked to fish and moreover, thought it was cruel. This particular piece details Frazier's penchant for fishing while growing up but without the fatherly advice and companionship he seemed to yearn for. This is probably the most touching piece in the book.

The only downside to this collection of essays were those pieces that had absolutely nothing to do with fishing. This fit more into the life stories portion of the book. "In The Brain" has almost nothing to do with fishing but regales how Frazier tormented his brother (as brothers will do) on family vacations. "It's Hard To Eat Just One" describes Frazier's experiences with eating his bait, specifically bugs. In my opinion, these pieces (and a couple others) should have been modified or removed as they had very little if anything to do with fishing.

Frazier's penchant for spinning a story is outstanding. That said, anyone who loves fishing will enjoy THE FISH'S EYE; anyone who isn't a fisherman at heart will most likely find these tales slow and possibly boring.

For sports lovers
This reviewer became a fan of the essay upon reading the classic "How to Cook Roast Pig".However, perusing seventeen pieces on fish, fishing, or related topics seem outside my lane as the only fish I catch is in a can.Still, Ian Frazier is a popular New Yorker essayist and many of his tales occur in and around the Big Apple.Thinking it's the sediment of the Hudson that makes the bagel taste good, I figured I could always shut down by the second contribution by explaining that the big one got away.However, instead I read all seventeen pieces in one sitting, as each contribution is intelligent, witty, and insightful.These tales are not just putting a worm on the hook in Central Park, but are human-interest segments that are often amusing but always insightful.Anglers will love this collection of Mr. Frazier's best New Yorker contributions, but so will anyone who relishes a different perspective through a fish's eye.PS, I still will catch my fish in a tin.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Product Description
Do you end up with a sore shoulder after casting all day? Are you tired of that nagging wrist pain? If you find yourself suffering for your sport, this book is your solution. Fit to Fish is a ground-breaking book, co-authored by a practicing orthopedic surgeon and a physical therapist who are avid fishermen with over 25 years of combined orthopedic experience. With easy-to-understand text and helpful photographs and illustrations, Hisey and Berend discuss common fishing-related overuse injuries, including the anatomy, symptoms, and common causes of each. Also included is treatment information that details timely self-care advice, fishing and casting modifications, bracing suggestions, equipment modifications, and appropriate exercises. Detailed exercise programs are presented at the end of each chapter to help speed recovery from injury, or maximize fishing and casting performance for the healthy angler. This valuable clinical and scientific information is destined to make your fishing experience less painful, more enjoyable, and more rewarding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The perfect gift for any fisherman
Does casting give you shoulder problems, or are your wrists suffering from fishing? While fishing is ordinarily seen as a relatively passive sport, it exhorts demands on the body which can result in injury - and which need preventative exercises to resist. The collaborative and expert work of physical therapy Stephen L Hisey and Medical doctor Keith R. Berend, Fit To Fish: How To Tackle Angling Injuries uses photos, illustrations, and written description to discuss common fishing-related overuse injuries. Symptoms, causes, and remedies for each are discussed along with equipment and methodology modifications for both optimum fishing and optimum health. The perfect gift for any fisherman.

The perfect gift for any fisherman
Does casting give you shoulder problems, or are your wrists suffering from fishing? While fishing is ordinarily seen as a relatively passive sport, it exhorts demands on the body which can result in injury - and which need preventative exercises to resist. The collaborative and expert work of physical therapy Stephen L Hisey and Medical doctor Keith R. Berend, Fit To Fish: How To Tackle Angling Injuries uses photos, illustrations, and written description to discuss common fishing-related overuse injuries. Symptoms, causes, and remedies for each are discussed along with equipment and methodology modifications for both optimum fishing and optimum health. The perfect gift for any fisherman.
... Read more

Book Description
Write, for the future generations, about yourself and the stream.Use this attractive hard-bound book to record your days on the water for future use by yourself, relatives, or friends.It will become a treasured family document as it is handed down through your family.Each printed page contains spaces for entries such as: location, companion, weather, water conditions, fishing equipment, hatches, flies or lures, special fish sizes, species, etc.In addition there is much lined space for trip observations -- what future readers will specially enjoy.Wouldn't you have like to have read your grandfather's fishing journal?Start your legacy now!!! The book comes with round back case binding and a ribbon. ... Read more

Book Description
Drawn from a lifetime of passion for fishing, these stories focus on one man's angling adventures at the world's most exotic locations. Jim Chapralis began fishing at age eight, became immediately addicted, and for the next six decades found a way to fish in 40 countries. Jim pioneered the international fishing travel business, and in this book he describes trips to Angola in search of giant tarpon, to Panama, where he and friends are held at bay by a dozen guns; and to Colombia, where witch doctors practice their medicine on two of his clients. Inspiring and filled with personal anecdotes from his adventures, this book produces an insatiable desire to wet a hook for all angling addicts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Discovering a Fascinating Modern Odyssey
Fishing Passion
by
James C. Chapralis

As a university administrator of long standing, I read hundreds of pages of articles, reports, and memoranda weekly, and, sometimes, even daily.I am also an avid novel reader and devour much non-fiction.In other words, reading is the linchpin of much of my work and leisure; therefore, I am always on the alert for the next "great read."
Not being either a fisherman or an angler, but always eager to stretch my knowledge base, I was intrigued by the title of a new book, Fishing Passion, and its tag, "a lifelong love affair with angling."Happily, my curiosity led me to read Mr. Chapralis' marvelous odyssey about his incredible life...one imbued with his love and virtuosity of fishing/angling, his daring immersion in several unique business ventures, and his genius for forging remarkable and enduring friendships, including some with the rich and famous.
This incredible Promethean journey, begun and centered in Chicago but encompassing every corner of the globe, is recounted by Mr. Chapralis in an engaging, humorous, and self-effacing style that is the hallmark of every accomplished raconteur.I found myself racing ahead to see what new, exciting, hilarious, and even life-threatening, adventure he would next expose to this delighted, and by now captive, reading audience.And he never disappoints--his is a career highlighted by a life-informing zest and decades of improbable encounters and feats that will not only fire your imagination but also blow your envy quotient through the roof.
We should all be so lucky if a passion of ours could feed our soul, earn our bread, and burnish our existence with the joy, grace, and success that Mr. Chapralis has attained and conveys so effortlessly and convincingly in Fishing Passion.Am I ever glad that my restless inquisitiveness strongarmed me to read Fishing Passion...and so will you!
Bob McFarland
Schenectady, New York

Vividly communicates the true joy of a beloved pastime
Fishing Passion: A Lifelong Love Affair With Angling by international fishing pioneer Jim C. Chapralis is a unique exploration that explores not so much the "how-to" of fishing, as the emotional aspects of angling. Comparing the attraction and act of fishing to the condition and experience romantic love, as well as deftly capturing the passions of the sport in anecdotes, dreams, memorable personal experiences and communions with nature, Fishing Passion was written by an angler, for anglers everywhere, as it vividly communicates the true joy of a beloved and life-long pastime. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Corey gave the world The Lower Forty and was America's finestsporting writer for three decades.Now, from the archives of Ford'sliterary estate, comes a delightful collection of angling stories neverbefore collected in book form, and many of which have never beenpublished.Join Corey as he explores the world, from the salmon watersof Canada and Alaska, to the trout of Chile, to his own back yard: theBeaverkill River.Along the way he tells his stories, tempering hisunique sense of humor with a touching poignancy as he describes thefishing life.With Trout Tales & Other Angling Stories, you can travelback to an age of uncrowded streams; cool, quiet pools; and light-heartedinnocence. 192 pages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A classic angling guide that still works today
I first read the Montana Angling guide in 1989, before my first trip to Montana.I was pleasantly surprised by the maps and fly suggestions.Once I got on the water, I appreciated the accuracy of the Guide.After all those years, I can still use it to select streams to fish with total confidence.For the most part, the only thing that has changed is the explosion of anglers all over the west (and probably all over the US). Some streams, such as the Blackfoot River system, have improved due to more enlightened conservation techniques. Probably the list of stores, fly shops, and motels need to be updated.But when I return to Montana, I always take along the Guide and the Geological Survey map of Yellowstone Park. Now I don't go to some streams due to crowds.Others are just as good as they were when I first went there. Hint1: Very few anglers hike off the road more than 100 yards.This leaves lots of territory for the rest of us. Hint2: We always know there will be quality, uncrowded fishing when the trailhead sign warns of bears being sighted within one mile. This sign apparently frightens away many hikers.
While I haven't read hundreds of angling guides, today I still would refer to the Guide's stream maps as my first resource, and I wouldn't look for anything better.

Montana Angling Guide - Super information for fly fishing
If you have wondered about the day when you could afford to go to the "Big Sky Country" and catch trout like a pro, this book is a MUST. It tells you how to get there, the access points, and everything youneed to really enjoy your trip to Montana fly fishing. It is well writtenand simply MUST be a part of your fishing gear when you get to Montana.Wheather you are new to fly fishing in Montana, or an old hand, the wealthof information and readable style makes the book worth twice the price. Iwould hope that fishing guides would recommend this to their clients beforethey come to Montata.

As you can see, I am very enthusiastic about a wellwritten worthwhile trout fishing guide.

Hope you will agree ! ... Read more