About the Book
A Gorgeously Illustrated Collection of First-Person Stories on the Sublime Joy of Flyfishing Every fly fisher has one: that moment-that ineffable, transcendent moment-they can point to and say, That's it. That was when time seemed to stop and I felt fully alive. That's why I fish.Collected and framed by the award-winning writer Peter Kaminsky, The Catch of a Lifetime presents the moving first-person stories of more than seventy anglers recounting their catch of a lifetime. With its tales of brown trout in Montana and bluefish at Montauk Point, smallmouth in Minnesota's Boundary Waters and unforgettable adventures with giant taimen on the steppes of central Asia, bonefish in New Caledonia, white marlin in the Baja, and golden dorado in the tribal lands along the Amazon's headwaters, this gorgeously illustrated anthology is a transporting testament to the call that all anglers heed-to get out there and be one with the water. It distills perfectly the magic of the sport; you can't read it and not want to go fishing.The contributor list is a diverse who's who of writers, artists, sportspeople, and others who've made flyfishing a singular passion, including Carl Hiaasen, Joan Wulff, Tom Colicchio, Charles Gaines, Rachel Maddow, Mark Kurlansky, Brittany Howard, John McPhee, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Jared Zissu. Their encounters, their memories, the words they use to describe, say, a forty-pound salmon leaping into the air or the sight of a great blue heron soaring down the creek to steal a catch make this the book of a lifetime for any fly fisher.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Chapter One Trout
Rain Blind by Val Kropiwnicki
Fishing with Jim by Peter Heller
Initiation by Callan Wink
The Brookie by Connelly Akstens
Staying Late by John N. Maclean
Whoppers by Peter Kaminsky
A Magic Nymph by Mary Rolland
I Made It Myself by Peter Kaminsky
Rematch by Al Caucci
No Expectations by Linda Leary
Right on the Money by Conor Sullivan 0
T-Boned by Rachel Finn
Pets in a Pool by Stephen Sautner
A Moment by Verlyn Klinkenborg
May I Have This Dance? by Paige Wallace
Chapter Two Atlantic Salmon
Just This Side of Despair by Tarquin Millington-Drake
Landings by Monte Burke
Gratitude by Cathy Newman
September’s Child by David A. Van Wie
Generations by Peter Kaminsky
Part 1: The Blackfoot: The Dad by George Semler
Part 2: The Blackfoot: The Daughter by Hannah Semler
Alex and His Grandma by Joan Wulff
Breaking the Spell by Jorge Trucco
Chapter Three Steelhead and Pacific Salmon
Chock-Full by William Sisson
Folie à Trois by Jason Rolfe
Her Salmon by Mark Kurlansky
Once Upon a River by Emerald LaFortune
Lost River by David James Duncan
Chapter Four Dry Fly
Sulphurs by Joel R. Johnson
Drakes in the Afternoon by Matthew L. Miller
There for the Hatch by Hilary Hutcheson
Drakes on a Lake by Lou Zambello
Chapter Five Have Rod, Will Travel
Son of the Sun God by Kirk Deeter
Holy Water by Gay Barclay
Beijing Amazing by Henry Hughes
Carp Fishing, Beijing, 1995 by Henry Hughes
And on the Fourteenth Day . . . by Jared Zissu
Probing the Unknown by Marcelo Gleiser
After the Show by Brittany Howard
Dung Gazing in the Amazon by Charles Gaines
My True Confession by Buby Garcia Calvo
Chapter Six Grand Slams
New Cal Bones by Charles Rangeley-Wilson
How Big Was He? by Roger Waters
Carry That Weight by Carl Hiaasen
A Missed Opportunity by David DiBenedetto
Chico and Me by Flip Pallot
They Might Be Giants by Keith Rose-Innes
What a Difference Twenty Pounds Makes by Paul Bruun
Chapter Seven Inshore
A Backcast on the East End by Sam Sifton
A Fishy Day by Thomas McGuane
Green Lightning by T. Edward Nickens
Hunting the Blue Rhino by Paul Dixon
The Bull by Howell Raines
Lazaretto Reds by Amir Mughal
Chapter Eight Big Game
In the Baja by Tom Colicchio
Attitude by Tom Gilmore
Bluefin by John McMurray
Blue Marlin on the Fly by Pat Ford
Chapter Nine Nightmares
A Pike by Rachel Maddow
Boundary Windfalls by Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate
Impossibly Violent and Savagely Fast by Steve Duda
The Wake-up Call by Ilya Sherbovich
Forty Years Later by Marcelo Morales
First Rodeo by Bob White
Chapter Ten Bass
The Noble Survivor by Roger Emile Stouff
The Demise of the Northwoods Bistroby David Coggins
Hugger by W. D. Wetherell
Mrs. B’s Sacred Carp by Josh Greenberg
Chapter Eleven As Long as I Can See the Light
Then the Rains Came by Katie Cahn
Outside of Time by William Hereford
At Navajo Lake by Kaitlin Boyer
6x Redemption by Seth Norman
Flesh and Blood, and Flyfishing by Matt Smythe
Chapter Twelve The Masters
The Daily Double by John McPhee
My First Salmon by Nick Lyons
Glossary
Acknowledgments
About the Author :
PETER KAMINSKY is one of America's leading angling journalists and authors. His Outdoors column has appeared in the New York Times for thirty-five years. A recipient of the C.F. Orvis Outdoor Writing Award, Kaminsky has been a contributing editor at Field & Stream, Sports Afield, and Outdoor Life and was managing editor of National Lampoon. His angling writing has also appeared in Fly Fisherman, Conde Nast Traveler, Smithsonian Magazine, GQ, The Field, and Anglers Journal. Among his books are The Moon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass, American Waters, The Flyfisherman's Guide to the Meaning of Life, Fishing for Dummies, and Flyfishing for Dummies. As avid a cook as he is a fisherman, he's written eighteen cookbooks, including three with Francis Mallmann. His television credits include creator and executive producer of The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and The Gershwin Prize for Popular song. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Review :
“Peter Kaminsky is a master angler, storyteller, and companion on the water. He combines these skills to take you on a memorable pursuit of flyfishing and adventure. He’ll even buy beers if the day goes well.”
—Tom Brokaw
“Peter Kaminsky is a master angler, storyteller, and companion on the water. He combines these skills to take you on a memorable pursuit of flyfishing and adventure. He’ll even buy beers if the day goes well.”
—Tom Brokaw
“It’s a miracle of a book: eclectic and full of suspense, wit, and fun. There’s nothing like it.”—Nick Lyons
“It’s a miracle of a book: eclectic and full of suspense, wit, and fun. There’s nothing like it.”—Nick Lyons
"Delightful, inspirational, insightful, and educational."—John Rowen, Booklist (starred review)
"Eager to have a new favorite book that fulfills your fishing fantasies? Legendary angler, journalist, and author Peter Kaminsky has just what you need with his new book."—Flylords
“A book for the ages.”—Kirk Deeter, Trout Unlimited
Peter Kaminsky writes passionately about the world of angling, but he now flexes his curating muscles in this beautiful fly-fishing anthology. —Anglers Journal
"Peter Kaminsky writes passionately about the world of angling, but he now flexes his curating muscles in this beautiful fly-fishing anthology."—Anglers Journal
