|
|
Alaska Fishing
by Renee Limeres and Gunnar Pedersen
Who must have this book: Any serious Alaskan
fisherman should seek out this book.
Who should have this book: Anyone who can find
a copy.
ISBN: 0935701516
|
The
third edition of this has been released in April of 2005. The
information is much the same or better, but the design of the book
is heads and shoulders above this edition and well ahead of nearly
everything else out there.
Years ago I was looking for any kind of guide book to
fishing Alaska. By chance I was sent to Anchorage on business and
ended up meeting Rene Limeres’ wife. I mentioned to her that
my wife and I had just planned our “once in a lifetime”
trip to Alaska (which ended up more of an addiction than a once in
a lifetime trip.) I said that I was hoping to do at least a little
bit of fishing and she said her husband has written “The Book”
on Alaskan Fishing.
I arranged to have a signed copy sent to me but I had know idea that
this truly was “The Book” on Alaskan Fishing. In fact,
I didn’t even read the book until my first dedicated Alaskan
fishing trip. The species descriptions alone taught me enough to understand
why sockeye’s are less apt to bite and why you don’t freeze
pinks to bring home.
By the time I got through the book, I had a great understanding of
fishing the state. The book is densely packed with information and
well balanced between location descriptions and techniques and practical
advice. The only thing that I might knock about the book is that it
seems to have a bias away from the road system. Also the scope of
the locations it covers is huge. Much too large to ever expect to
experience yourself. But then it is always fun to dream and Limeres
and Pedersen give you plenty of material to dream about.
Overview
The book is broken into three large sections, a planning section,
a species section, and a regional section. The planning section is
very short and to the point. The species and regional sections are
very well balanced. Usually a location guide puts a very brief description
of the species, or a book will go in depth about how to fish different
species but then just throw out a few rivers or lakes where the fish
may be found. This book excels at covering both.
The species section gives a good overview of the natural history of
each game fish as well as information about fishing techniques. There
are also good suggestions about where to find the species and an anectdote
about fishing the specific fish. These are the best species descriptions
I have read, concise yet complete.
The location guide entries are impressive. Nearly 250 locations from
throughout the state are covered. The entries are brief but contain
enough information to help you figure out where you would like to
go. Note: most of these locations are remote fly-in areas so you can
never hope to cover all the areas mentioned in the book, but there
is a good representation of areas and all major locations are covered.
It’s a huge state full of opportunities, and the best of the
crop can be found in this book.
Author
Rene Limeres and Gunnar Pedersen have writtin the book
on Fishing Alaska. Gunnar Pedersen has also writting the popular Highway
Angler. Combined they bring years of experience and make a fantastic
writing team.
