Details
Essay and Interior Illustration by Bob White
Hardcover, 288 pages
6.9 x 0.86 x 9.55 inches
Artisan (October 3, 2023)
A gorgeously illustrated collection of first-person stories on the sublime joy of flyfishing
I met Peter Kaminsky in 1985, when I was a rookie guide in Patagonia, and had the pleasure of guiding him for a week on, what was to me, new water. He didn’t know it at the time, but we figured out much of that water together. I’ve admired Peter’s work for nearly forty years, and was honored when he asked me to contribute an essay to his latest book, “The Catch of a Lifetime”, which is a collection of stories from over seventy notable fly fishers, including Carl Hiaasen, Joan Wulff, Tom McGuane, Rachel Maddow, John Maclean, David James Duncan, Flip Pallot, Monte Burke, Howell Raines, Roger Waters, and many more; too many to list. I am particularly honored that one of my paintings graces chapter twelve, “The Masters”, which features essays by two of my heroes; Nick Lyons and John McPhee.
There’s something for everyone in this book. I guarantee it will be enjoyed.
From the Publisher
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.
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, Condé 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
