A detailed natural history of sockeye salmon (and closely related rainbow trout) in Alaska's Bristol Bay region that weaves together their importance as a sport fish, environmental indicator, and life force for the entire ecosystem.

From editors David Joy and Eric Rickstad comes Gather at the River, an anthology of twenty-five remarkable essays on fishing from an ensemble of contemporary authors. Their experiences explore the ways we come to water, for renewal and reverie, or to simply stand waist-deep in a river and watch the trout rise. Gather at The River is more than a collection of big fish stories; it's Ron Rash writing about the Appalachia of his youth and C.J. Box revealing the river where he wants his ashes spread. It's Natalie Baszile on a frogging expedition in the Louisiana Bayou and a teenaged Jill McCorkle facing new realities of adulthood on Holden Beach, North Carolina. This is an anthology about friendship, family, love and loss, and everything in between, because as Henry David Thoreau wrote, "it is not really the fish they are after." The contributors are an eclectic mix of critically acclaimed writers including New York Times Bestselling Authors Ron Rash, Jill McCorkle, Leigh Ann Henion, Eric Rickstad, M.O. Walsh, and #1 Bestseller C.J. Box. Some of the proceeds of every sale will benefit C.A.S.T. for Kids, public charity that joins volunteers who love to fish with children who have special needs and disadvantages for a day of fishing in the outdoors.

A great beginner's guide for new fishermen and those who want to learn to fish for fun, with advice on tackle, bait, boats, accessories, and more. New to fishing and have no idea how to start? With Basic Fishing, you'll be an accomplished angler in no time at all. Expert angler and award-winning outdoor writer Wade Bourne was taught to fish by his father. In turn, Bourne taught his children how to fish. Now he brings his expertise to Basic Fishing, a step-by-step guide that masterfully breaks down the art of fishing with diagrams, vivid photographs, and lessons. You'll learn all about: How to catch fish-guaranteed! Different types of fishing equipment How to select bait, lures, and tackle Where and how to find good fishing spots Boats, boat accessories, and motors Methods for cooking and cleaning fish Increasing your fishing skills Fishing safety And more! This book is great for families looking to bond in the great outdoors, and it proves that the joy of fishing can last a lifetime and beyond as it is passed down from generation to generation. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for fishermen. Our books for anglers include titles that focus on fly fishing, bait fishing, fly-casting, spin casting, deep sea fishing, and surf fishing. Our books offer both practical advice on tackle, techniques, knots, and more, as well as lyrical prose on fishing for bass, trout, salmon, crappie, baitfish, catfish, and more.

As featured in the documentary, DamNation (Patagonia, 2014). During his first summer, Spencer built a sheltered viewing platform, a place to sit with Sis and his notebook, and observe the denizens of the pool for months, and, finally, years on end. Shortly before setting up camp during his first season, Spencer cut the points off the hooks of all his steelhead flies, freeing himself to see more deeply the beauty of his surroundings. As the predatory urge faded, a kind of blindness went with it, and Spencer's eyes and mind became figurative hooks, enabling him to capture the stunning lives and behaviors of these charismatic wild creatures with an intimacy that has rarely been offered before. A distillation of fourteen years of detailed observations, in this surprisingly engaging almanac, Spencer records a natural history teeming with fish, water, vegetation, birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, and amphibians, seasonal changes, and interesting events and stories. Spencer is a modern-day Thoreau, and the steelhead pool is his Walden Pond.

The authors cut through the mystique and complexity surrounding fly fishing and come up with the 12 basic skills needed to understand and enjoy this engrossing art.

Born in the tumbling, oxygen-rich waters of a Pacific Coast stream, Salgair quickly learns about survival of the fittest. Following Salgair, a steelhead trout, as he grows from a small fry in a river to a trophy fish in the ocean, and experiences the dangers, both man-made and natural, that he faces during his life cycle. Barry Thornton is one of British Columbia's best known and respected fishing authors, having earned the Outdoor Writers of Canada Award of Merit, as well as the Roderick Haig-Brown Memorial Award. He has been involved with fishing and the outdoors all his life, as a professional educator and as an outdoors writer and photographer.

This straightforward fishing guide was written for the average fisherman. The focus is on tactics and a handful of secrets that keep fishing simple and enjoyable. These secrets are really a set of easy and logical processes that answer three basic questions: Where should I fish? What do I fish with? When do I fish? The key is in the relationship between trout and their changing ecology, and understanding how complex behaviour is really a set of simple and predictable patterns. Ed looks at the basic physiology and instincts of fish and ends up with proven methods for catching fish. This well-written guide glows with an interesting mix of science, practical knowledge, and light humour. The on the water examples bring the methods to life. No other book so vividly related behavioural science to angling tactics.

Since Tenkara was introduced to the United States in 2009, it has become a rapidly growing trend, and many anglers have adapted the traditional Japanese techniques for waters in the United States. This comprehensive book covers the current state of Tenkara-the best flies, a rundown of equipment (it is no longer simple), essential techniques, and advice from anglers around the country.

"We'd all rather be fishing than doing anything else. But if you can't do it, then reading about it is the next best thing. The Longest Silence is one of the best fishing trips I've had this year. " Jeremy Paxman, Daily Telegraph."Thomas McGuane, much-lauded American novelist, has spent over 50 years in pursuit of the catch and in the course of 33 short, dreamily episodic essays he succeeds in capturing the sometimes spiritual, sometimes challenging, occasionally amusing and more often than not enchanting world of the whenever-possible angler. Few are the works of literature which can successfully capture the essence of a sport. With this soulful and reflective work McGuane has surely created a modern classic" Scotland on Sunday"It is a meaty book, and an uplifting one, dazzling well-written. Just as I'd be a proud angler if I could catch specimens half as big as his 25lb sea trout from the Rio Grande, or his 18lb steelhead form the Dean, so I'd be a proud man if I could write a book half as good as this." Financial Times "Writing to die for" Daily Mail

** BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week ** Shark Drunk is, in part, the tale of two men in a very small boat on the trail of a very big fish. It is also a story of obsession, enchantment and adventure. A love song to the sea, in all its mystery, hardship, wonder and life-giving majesty. In the great depths surrounding the remote Lofoten islands in Norway lives the Greenland shark. Twenty-six feet in length and weighing more than a tonne, it can live for 200 years. Its fluorescent green, parasite-covered eyes are said to hypnotise its prey, and its meat is so riddled with poison that, when consumed, it sends people into a hallucinatory trance. Armed with little more than their wits and a tiny rubber boat, Morten Stroksnes and his friend Hugo set out in pursuit of this enigmatic creature. Together, they tackle existential questions, experience the best and worst nature can throw at them, and explore the astonishing life teeming at the ocean's depths.

Published to rave reviews in hardcover and purchased by DreamWorks in a major film deal, The Big One is a spellbinding and richly atmospheric work of narrative journalism in the tradition of Friday Night Lights. Here is the story of a community--Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts--and a sporting event--the island's legendary Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby--that is rendered with the same depth, color, and emotional power of the best fiction. Among the characters, we meet: Dick Hathaway, a crotchety legend who once caught a bluefish from a helicopter and was ultimately banned for cheating; Janet Messineo, a recovering alcoholic who says that striped bass saved her life; Buddy Vanderhoop, a boastful Native American charter captain who guides celebrity anglers like Keith Richards and Spike Lee; and Wyatt Jenkinson, a nine-year-old fishing fanatic whose mother is battling brain cancer. At the center of it all is five-time winner Lev Wlodyka, a cagey local whose next fish will spark a storm of controversy and throw the tournament into turmoil. Much more than just a book for fishing enthusiasts, The Big One is an exhilarating story of passion and obsession--and a powerful testament to the dreams that keep us all going.

This is a compendium of forty-five of Barry Thornton's best article and columns on fishing with flies in the Northwest. Barry focuses on three main angling opportunities -- saltwater fly fishing for Pacific salmon, fly fishing for steelhead and still water fly fishing for rainbow trout. These are the primary fishing sports in the region and provide a worthy challenge for those anglers who have been drawn to fly fishing. The anthology's lively and easy-to-read style is complemented by a vivid thirty-two-page colour section. Full of valuable information, tips on tackle, amusing anecdotes and useful reminders, Fly Fishing will reel-in readers in pursuit of trophy fish.

Step-by-step instructions for tying the most effective trout flies for rivers across North America Hundreds of photographs show top and side views of 626 premier patterns DVD with clear instructions on 31 critical fly-tying techniques

Every fly tier will strike gold in this book of fly patterns, filled with both hot new flies and proven, reliable standards plus tips on how, where, and when to fish these patterns.

Soon after Dexter Petley began writing down his observations of people on the borders of rural Kent and Sussex during the 1960s and 1970s, he realised that his stories were acquiring a broader significance. Between the riverbank where he taught himself to fish and the secondary modern where gardening and smallholding were on the curriculum, he witnessed the lives of a demobbed generation who were still adjusting to post-war Britain, surviving hand-to-mouth, eking out a living mending cars, recycling scrap metal or hop-picking. This fractured landscape, carried like an heirloom since boyhood, has allowed Petley to untangle the fragments of his own life, from the loss of his first love to the nomadic existence he has been living ever since, in London, Africa and France. Here is an unsentimental memoir of exceptional quality. Reminiscent of Laurie Lee and H.E. Bates, each story is peopled by vivid, earthy characters who gravitate around the lakes and ponds and rivers that have flowed through Dexter Petley's life.