by E.L. "Buck" Perry
Instructional books on fishing are normally little more than a good cure for insomnia. I've read a thousand times how to tie a knot, create a hair-rig, shot a float and cast a fly. Unless someone points out to me that I've been doing it wrong all these years then I really don't need to read it again, thanks anyway. Spoonplugging is an instructional book. However, if you lose interest here then you will miss out on one of the most important books available for the thinking angler.
On the face of it this is simply another book, among hundreds, telling me how to catch largemouth bass in American lakes. Entirely irrelevant to me really being as I am an angler living in Britain with no intention of a fishing trip to the States anytime soon. But this book is hiding a lot more than a glance at the front cover might reveal.
Firstly, this is not a book of methods. If you want to be shown specific methods on how to fish then this is not the book for you, though there are a thousand others out there that will give you what you need. What this book does best is make you think. Throughout the text Perry will force you to think about why you are fishing in the way you are. Why did you choose that lure? Why did you cast there? Why did you pack up at that time of day? Why did you choose that part of the lake? To be frank, the book asks a lot more questions than it truly answers, but that's the point. This is a book to be read, considered, and read again.
Lure anglers are the magpies of the angling world. We know that really there is no magic lure that attracts fish like a magnet but we still keep buying them in the hope we find it. Every new lure that comes out has to be bought because you just never know. Perry helps reinforce the knowledge (that really we already know) that the lure plays a very small role in catching the fish. Wrong lure in the right spot is better than the right lure in the wrong spot. Simple, I know, but it's surprising how easy that can be to forget. Whilst the book is really dealing with lure fishing, the principles involved can be transferred to all other angling disciplines.
To be honest, I found Spoonplugging to be quite a hard read. That may be due to the overpowering American-ness (if that's a word) in the way it was written or simply because of the massive amount of information contained within its pages. It is however well worth reading and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking for a more advanced instructional book, lure and fly anglers in particular.
Spoonplugging doesn't often come up for sale in this country. My copy was purchased through Coch Y Bonddu Books who occasionally get them in second hand. Failing that, look to America to source a copy.
First published in 1965 as a 32 page booklet. This review was written after reading the considerably revised and enlarged edition (now around 300 pages) of 1973, basically an entirely new book.
Click here to go back to the list of all reviews.
On the face of it this is simply another book, among hundreds, telling me how to catch largemouth bass in American lakes. Entirely irrelevant to me really being as I am an angler living in Britain with no intention of a fishing trip to the States anytime soon. But this book is hiding a lot more than a glance at the front cover might reveal.
Firstly, this is not a book of methods. If you want to be shown specific methods on how to fish then this is not the book for you, though there are a thousand others out there that will give you what you need. What this book does best is make you think. Throughout the text Perry will force you to think about why you are fishing in the way you are. Why did you choose that lure? Why did you cast there? Why did you pack up at that time of day? Why did you choose that part of the lake? To be frank, the book asks a lot more questions than it truly answers, but that's the point. This is a book to be read, considered, and read again.
Lure anglers are the magpies of the angling world. We know that really there is no magic lure that attracts fish like a magnet but we still keep buying them in the hope we find it. Every new lure that comes out has to be bought because you just never know. Perry helps reinforce the knowledge (that really we already know) that the lure plays a very small role in catching the fish. Wrong lure in the right spot is better than the right lure in the wrong spot. Simple, I know, but it's surprising how easy that can be to forget. Whilst the book is really dealing with lure fishing, the principles involved can be transferred to all other angling disciplines.
To be honest, I found Spoonplugging to be quite a hard read. That may be due to the overpowering American-ness (if that's a word) in the way it was written or simply because of the massive amount of information contained within its pages. It is however well worth reading and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking for a more advanced instructional book, lure and fly anglers in particular.
Spoonplugging doesn't often come up for sale in this country. My copy was purchased through Coch Y Bonddu Books who occasionally get them in second hand. Failing that, look to America to source a copy.
First published in 1965 as a 32 page booklet. This review was written after reading the considerably revised and enlarged edition (now around 300 pages) of 1973, basically an entirely new book.
Click here to go back to the list of all reviews.
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