What Fish Don't Want You to Know: An Insider's Guide to Freshwater Fishing

Frank Baron with common sense fishing knowledge, gathered over a lot of years, has a regular guy sense of humor. Raised in a fishing family and was fishing before he could hold a cane pole, he gives you the straight inside talk about fish and fishing. Thoughout his many years of fishing he has learned to think like a fish, and with this knowledge you will learn through his unique sense of humor, and from a fish's point of view, that all fish have just a few things in common; where to live, what to eat, and what's a comfortable watery enviornment. Along with a chuckle nearly every page, Frank will give you the fishing facts that if you follow, you'll catch lots of fish. There is only one thing; don't tell the fish you know! I highly recommend this book -- [...]

Reading this book was very enjoyable as the author has a natural straightforward style, with loads of humor and sarcasm. The book also contains interesting anecdotes about the author's fishing outings which depict well the ups and downs of fishing and get to the essence that "fishing isn't all about catching fish". Overall, this book is an easy read, and I got through it in a few hours. I would recommend this book to anyone who is brand new to fishing and doesn't want to read an encyclopedia. This book provides enough to "whet the appetite" and to have a trick or two in the bag. I also recommend this book to seasoned anglers, mostly for the entertainment value through the anecdotes and the humor throughout the book (e.g., "Heightened Awareness"). However, if you are a seasoned angler, don't pick up this book hoping to learn "tips and tricks" - most of the tips in this book are aimed at beginners. You may pick up a tip or two but this book won't wow you with tricks which you can't find anywhere else (at least it shouldn't if you have perfected your craft through readings, experience, and oral tradition). Where this book leaves me a bit short is that it tries to be too many things at once, sort of a "jack of all trades, master of none", which is why I give it 4 stars and not 5 stars. It is also a bit disorganized in that it references different sections for the same topic (e.g., gear) without a synthesized view. For example, the Appendix section talks about reels but doesn't talk about rods. Floats are mentioned in various parts of the book but do not appear in the Appendix. Furthermore, this book covers so many topics that all topics can only reach 10% depth given the book is 162 pages. For example, only 2-3 knots are discussed (the Uni-knot is not discussed) and "gutting a fish" takes all of about 5 lines. The book could have greatly benefited from tables to summarize and organize information for quick reference. For example, types of freshwater fish are discussed throughout the book, but there isn't one place where a beginner can get a synthesized view of available freshwater fish, where to fish for them, what season is best, what lures to use, etc. This book will be hard to use a reference once someone gets through it (unless you make notes). All in all, this was an enjoyable book and I commend the author for taking the time to share his passion and his interesting anecdotes which many of us older anglers can relate to. If you are new to fishing, pick up this book as a lighthearted and humorous intro into the wonderful world of fishing. This book may just get you hooked; but look for other books to go deeper into techniques and to perfect your craft (e.g., Kugach's). If you are a seasoned angler, pick up this book on a day when you can get out to fish to reflect on your past outings; you will find the anecdotes all too familiar.

Despite having a cabin near a nice lake, I hadn't been fishing for many... many... years. When I decided to have a go at it again I set about to find a good book that would give me the basics. What I found was Frank Baron's book which provided not only a good bit of information - but a welcome dose of the philosophy of fishing and... well... of life. I would recommend this book to anyone who is even remotely interested in the topic. Since reading Frank's book I have set out to find others of equal quality, but I haven't found any yet. "Did you learn anything useful?" you ask. My first day out I hit the lake early. Following some of the guidance from the book, I moved to the downwind side where I found an area near some structure. I laid my line (rigged per one of Frank's suggestions) where the shade from the trees met the sun on the water (also per Frank's advice). An hour later I had a nice rainbow in hand. Since my only goal for the day was to catch dinner, I called it quits after that first fish. (See the chapter in the book on 'fishing ethics'.) Thank's for a great book!

I really enjoyed this book and the authors passion for the sport really shines through. I found the chapter on fishing ethics particularly engaging and found myself nodding in agreement, I've been fishing for about a year now and go almost daily when the weather allows. One should note that the author is from Canada and most of the information applies to fishing in Canada in cold clear water, and focuses on species found in those waters. If you're a Bass fisherman you may pick up a few nuggets but this probably isn't what you're hoping for. I did pick up some good information but most of it I had already picked up from other sources online and elsewhere. I was hoping for more detailed information on almost every subject and this book just didn't go into enough detail, although I suspect it wasn't meant to. Very enjoyable on an entertainment level but pretty light on technical aspects and gear. If you've been fishing for a long time don't expect to learn much you didn't know already, but you'll enjoy it anyway because you'll relate to the authors humor and obvious love for fishing. I'd recommend it to any fisherman just be aware that you may learn a few tricks but it won't revolutionize what you do. For it's entertainment value I'd give it 5 stars, for its information value I'd give it 1 or 2 so I settled on 3.

This book provides a good description of the catfish and their sensory perceptions. It also provides a good description of how to fish for them. This book is geared for the beginer and intermediate fisherman.

More for the American market

Got this as a gift, and thought it was a very nice book!

Well narrated, full of good infos...