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View Full Version : Book Review: Fishing Books and Publications.....



DarkSkies
02-07-2009, 10:39 PM
James Hanna, Author :clapping::clapping:

Got a chance to talk with Mr Hanna for a bit. This guy is a one man book producing factory! There must be at least 10 books he's written, maybe more. He's been fishin since he was 6 years old, he knows the Delaware bay like the back of his hand. It was a privelege to talk to a man with such knowledge, and he's the nicest person you'd ever want to meet. :thumbsup:


Look for him at the shows, or you can contact him at www.cherokeebooks.com (http://www.cherokeebooks.com).

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DarkSkies
02-16-2009, 09:17 AM
Met Lenny Rudolph, acclaimed Rockfish expert and fisherman author. His work is available at geareduppublications, and you can also catch him at a few more of the shows. He's been fishin since he was a little kid, and I had a nice conversation with the guy. Seems to know the Chesapeake Bay and ocean area pretty well, and he's caught quite a few large in his career. Nice meetin ya, Len. :HappyWave:

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DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:31 PM
** I just deleted an entire thread by accident, such a goofball...:bucktooth:
Instead of merge I hit delete....freaking goog move......
What you are seeing is my attempts to C&P what is still left on the other screen.......:beatin:
before I close it out and it is lost forever.....







From 2009
*******
Night Tides, The Striper Fishing Legend of Billy the Greek
by Michael G. Cinquemani

I'm reading this book, almost done. I like it. I thought I would write a review about it, and realized there are a lot of other good books out there that guys have made comments on.

That's great, but what motivates us to go out and actually buy that book? A one word sentence where a guy says, get this book it's cool! :thumbsup:.......

Maybe....

What if someone wrote a review about WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? AND WHY?

And gave their honest opinion of why they felt the book was great, or why it didn't apply to their type of fishing, and wasn't worth it, to them. :clapping:

So I'm asking any member who's interested to help me out on this. I realize I can't do a review on these books. I barely got time to read this one, and may read one or 2 more this year
Some of you guys have, though, and have good opinions why or why not these books helped you.

Anyone who can write a comprehensive review to help me and the other people out there to decide if a book is worth it, I'll send ya a free plug. :D



**You can follow the format I start below, or follow your own. If ya want the free plug, I'm glad to send it out, but please make the review more than one paragraph, and answer the who what when where and why to some degree.

Maybe insert quotes from the book that you feel might motivate people to buy it, and tell how it helped (or why it didn't help) you.

Honest opinions here. If you think it sucked, please say so, but back up your opinion as to why.

If you think it helped to make you a better fisherman, let us know why as well. :thumbsup:

Thanks guys.

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:32 PM
book:
author:
topics covered:
area covered:
what did you learn from the book?:
what books would you like to see from this author in the future?:

did you enjoy the book? Why or why not?

a brief summary of the book, or any quotes you feel are worth mentioning:

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:33 PM
** As originally posted by Frankie Surf, 2009




Conservation?

The guy takes home huge fish all season long. He takes home fish for his neighbors and friends that don't fish. How is that conservation? Fish that size are almost always female and produce an enormous amount of eggs. Destroying hundreds of millions of eggs does not bode well for Bass stocks.

The base of the word conservation is conserve ; to use or manage (natural resources) wisely; preserve; save. He is doing none of that.

I will give a short review of his book.

It was poorly written. No real time line and, at points, no way of discerning who is telling the story. Billy Legakis does not really give much information about how he fishes which I think is why most people bought the book. He does give some tips and tricks but most is very basic information that most should know anyway. He also comes off as an "I am better than you" fisherman. I didn't care for that at all.


Just because a book is about fishing does not make it good. You want a good book that is not about fishing but has some in it? The Old Man and the Sea. There is more inspiration for fishing than any other book ever written.

You want tips and how to? Moby D,i,c,k. Melville holds no secrets back.

These are great times we live in when I can't just type out the name of a book without being censored.

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:35 PM
^ Frankie, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Name me the author of that quote, without cheatin by using the internet or askin someone else, and I'll send ya a plug. :HappyWave:

Maybe you know Billy personally, I only met him once, so maybe you know more about him than I do.

I was impressed because he talked about he and his buddies got thousands of fish in the 60's and 70's, and how he thinks things should be different now. I know plenty of older guys in NJ who did the same thing, caught fish till there were none left to catch. That's what people did back then, no one talked about conservation.


He went on to say how he mostly fished from a boat now, and realizes too many guys who have boats are taking their limits, every day they can. That seemed pretty honest to me.

What I think is important is what is being done TODAY for conservation.



Here's a quote from the book, this came from page 40:

"Every season I live by a strict personal policy of keeping only progressively larger fish. If I get an early-season fish of 45 pounds, I will only consider keeping a fish that beats it. I say "consider" because I no longer keep fish that are not extraordinary, or an occasional one requested for food. I don't gaff fish or net them, no matter what the size. I don't touch a fish's gills or even take them out of the water if I'm not going to keep them. I never gut hook fish because I never let fish run for more than 2 seconds, regardless of the bait. I consider myself a conservationist today. "

If you have more evidence of what you're saying, Frankie, feel free to post. We gotta censor words here because some might want to fight over bein called a D,I,C,K, that's just the way of the modern internet. Too many people throw names and insults around without thinking.We won't censor your opinions, though, you're entitled to them, and a difference of opinion is what makes a discussion interesting. (At least to me anyway) :thumbsup:

Thanks for the honest review, and your honest opinion.

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:36 PM
Originally posted by Jonthepain:


"hah! gimme a hard one."

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:37 PM
Originally posted by Darkskies



".....and no PM's to this guy for the answer, Frankie, he didn't take his medication today." ;):HappyWave:

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:38 PM
Originally posted by Frankiesurf:


"Charles Dickens from A Tale of Two Cities. I read it years ago, from what I remember it was about or set during the French Revolution. Thats all I got.

I didn't even have to ask my wife that one and she is the Lit major.

Anyway, Billy keeps progressively larger fish but not always. He catches MANY large and keeps a bunch of them. That seems very self aggrandizing to me. Maybe he eats them but he is not hurting for money. The man spends hundreds a WEEK on bait and fuel. He does this for sport and keeping many huge fish a year seems to be a statement. He doesn't explain why nor did he in the seminar I saw him at."

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:41 PM
Originallly posted by Darkskies :




^^ "Somehow I hoped you didn't know the answer to that, but I guess you did. :2flip: :HappyWave: I'm impressed. I'm a man of my word, PM me the address where you ya want the plug sent, and I'll get it out to ya. Congrats, I think." :rolleyes:

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:43 PM
Originally posted by Darkskies:

6-1-09





16346

Exploring the Little Rivers of New Jersey by James and Margaret Cawley

I just finished reading this book, recommended by a member.

I give the book 3 out of 5 stars. If you were looking for a book that details the history and development of the towns along the rivers, and the history of canoing these rivers in NJ, you would rate it higher.

I rated it from a fisherman't point of view. Plus, I'm always interested in seeing how people wrote years ago, as this was published back in 1942.

One of the coolest quotes in the book was from Thoreau:
" The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation. Their incessant anxiety and strain is a well-nigh incurable disease. They have no time to be anything but machines. It is a fool's life."

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:45 PM
Originally posted by Darkskies:



"Outline & summary:

Although the writing was from another time, and some people might find it boring, I enjoyed learning about the Great Egg Harbor river, Millstone river, villages of Batsto and Bivalve, the Maurice river, the Raritan river (100 miles from start to finish), Passaic River (which at one time was a preferred destination for weekend canoists) the Ramapo, and Hackensack rivers.

The Hackensack river is one of the great underutilized rivers in our area, and I'll be kayaking there this summer and fall. Also the Metedeconk river, fed by deep cold-water springs.

And finally, the Paulinskill and Muskonetcong and Toms rivers, which hold trout and some interesting history.

This guy wrote it from the perspective of a historian, so as I said it might appear boring to some. The good things I got out of it were learning a little about the history of the rivers and how they came to be used recreationally.

Apparently, 60 years ago there were quite a few groups of "outdoors people" who went camping and canoing. It seems in our society as people have gotten more affluent, a lot of these old traditions have lost the great popularity they once had. I can identify with this because I have seen it happen with fishing, where many young people no longer wish to participate, or have no interest at all.

That's pretty sad to me, but it is what it is.

So I saved you guys from the read, and presented a basic outline for anyone who has a few hours to kill when they're not fishin and busy with other stuff. I'm glad I got a chance to read it. :thumbsup: I thank the member who recommended I read it. as well.





If any of you guys are interested in a free plug for writing a book report, please try to make it at least as comprehensive as what I did in the last 2 posts, thanks." :HappyWave:

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:47 PM
Originally posted by rockhopper:


"The River Why by David Duncan was always a favorite of mine.

I came across this while searching for another fishing book. I remembered how it was a good story. Here is a quick summary from the inside

"Gus Orviston, a young flyfisherman whose parents are manic fishers (father Henning with flies, mother Carolina with worms), runs away from the city and family to immerse himself in catching fish on a small river near the Oregon coast. But he finds that doing nothing but what you love isn't ultimately rewarding, and the degradation of the natural world around him troubles Gus as well. While he tries to decide what to do with himself as well as how to save his beloved rivers and streams, he learns how to relate with his oddball neighbors and meets a lovely woman who is almost as good at fishing as he is. This wonderful 1983 novel is sort of a _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ of flyfishing."

DarkSkies
02-15-2013, 08:48 PM
Originally posted by porgy75:


"Fluke an Angler's guide by Bob Sampson
Just finished reading this book. Since I am new at this sport I found it very information. It covered baits and lures for the surf and bays. It also went into detail about different techniques."