There is more to fishing then catching fish and the Notes From The Dockside takes you there. It is a collection of short stories that are all about what fishing is. There is humor, memories, and tales plus observations of life and the ironies found outdoors. Anything related to fishing is fair game for Mike Yurk as he writes about the world of fishing. There are stories about good food, the peculiarities of nature, sentimental gear like stoves and lanterns along with favorite baits and old fishing rods. Although most of the stories are from Wisconsin and Minnesota, we travel with Mike on other adventures from Turkey and Europe to Canada and Mexico and places in between. The stories are of people such as his wife who is lovingly referred to as The Bass Queen, a grandfather and father from his earliest fishing days and friends and fishing buddies who have shared a boat or sat around a campfire with Mike. The Notes From The Dockside are rich in life and the appreciation of being outdoors and the simple pleasures of going fishing.

More Notes From The Dockside is the second volume of columns Mike Yurk writes about fishing. These short gems from the world of the outdoors capture the fun, memories, adventures and occasional misadventures that come from days on the water. The stories are of people and in More Notes From the Dockside you will again meet The Commissioner, The Boat Doctor, and Mike's beloved wife, The Bass Queen, as well as the entire cast of Mike's fishing buddies. There are memories of fishing with his grandfather and father and now years later of fishing with his grandchildren. More Notes From The Dockside revels in the joys of time on the water and the simple pleasures of being in the outdoors with family and friends. "In his previous collection of anecdotes, Notes From The Dockside, Mike Yurk puts the reader by the fire place at fishing camp or pot-bellied stove in a bait shop and spins the yarns that have fueled hours of conversation during and after many a fishing season. Anglers generally collect more stories than fish and Yurk provides a wealth of observations with More Notes From The Dockside, with journeys through the wonderful world of Piscatorial pursuit."-Jon Echternacht, reporter Hudson (Wis.) Star Observer "Mike Yurk is a seasoned angler and author who has filled his stringer with stories on waters near and far. Pull up a seat and let him share his tales in Notes From The Dockside one pleasing nugget at a time."-Paul Smith, Outdoor Editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Once Upon The Water is a series of adventures that take you fishing along with the author from Canada to Mexico with numerous stops closer to Mike Yurk's home in the upper Mid West. But the adventures are more than travels to faraway places and catching fish. They are memories shared with friends and family that make them. There are recollections of fishing over the years with a cousin, taking Mike's 82 year old mother fishing, a tribute to the grandfather who taught Mike how to fish, and reminiscences of his father while fishing his father's favorite trout stream. Adventures with his son and sons-in-law illustrate the special relationships formed and crazy antics occurring while fishing together. A lazy day of fishing on a hot summer day with Mike's wife evoke the joys of when the living is easy. There are fishing tales from Alabama in an email from England and a testimonial to a buddy who travels from Germany to fish in America. Join Mike and long time friends as they fish when it is twenty below zero on a winter day in northern Minnesota, a trip when they catch walleyes from a remote lake in Canada and on another adventure where they fish for smallmouth bass that are as big as footballs. Old bonds are rekindled with family and friends during an annual gathering where the champagne and memories flow. An old and new friend fish together in Key West and a new fishing buddy is found due to a chance encounter on the way to Mexico. Fishing is an adventure not because of where you are or what you catch but because of the people who share it with you. It all starts once upon the water.