Fish Books

Tech. volume of drawnings, photos and descriptions of the then known genera and species of African and EurAsia Killies.Not a beginners' book, but helpful in identifying the species(1968) and tracing populations to their orgins. Every serious Killifish Hobbist should have it in their Lib.

This book was the standard reference for identifying killifish back when it was new and is still a good reference text today. Scheel briefly described the maintenance, feeding & breeding of old world killifish, then proceeds to discuss how the species differ from each other in detail. He wrote about the scale and pigment patterns, chromosome number and shape, hemoglobin patterns, and the results of hybrid crossing experiments between different species. He also reviewed the known information about each old world killifish--some new species were described and many old species reclassified. All of this information is definitely worth having if you're a serious killifish breeder. While this book only briefly discusses how to keep and breed killies, the pictures alone are worth many times the price.

Not only is this book enlightening with regard to etiquette, it provides humorous anecdotes by some of the premier fly fishing personalities of our time. It's a very easy read, and being a fairly experienced fly fisher, I was surprised by how much I learned.
It's a great read for beginners to experts alike, and I'm sure our waters would be a better place if all fishermen read this book.

(Rod Rage; The Ultimate Guide to Angling Ethics; edited by Rhea Topping; Guilford, Connecticut; The Lyons Press; 2004; 292 pp; Hard cover; $22.95)

Much of the present day writing is simply a repetition of the accumulated experiences and thoughts of our forebears, especially writing about fly fishing. Today's writers often unwittingly restate the knowledge they acquired through reading the older books and articles without crediting the earlier authors.
When one comes across a book that actually quotes the writings of the earlier authors, it is to be treasured. Such a book is Rod Rage: The Ultimate Guide to Angling Ethics, edited by Rhea Topping (The Lyons Press, 2004).
Ms Topping has searched the literature of fly fishing, from the 15th Century's Dame Juliana Berners to the 21st Century's Federation of Fly Fishers' Chairman of the Board Gary Grant, to find the best thinking about fly fishing ethics and etiquette. She has quoted often lengthy passages and complete articles from writings of more than sixty authors, many of the names well known in fly fishing circles.
In compiling Rod Rage Ms Topping has not just accumulated other writers' work. She has written short, but insightful introductions to each author and closes the book with a summation of much of the thinking of the quoted authors. "Some Dos, Don'ts, and Solutions" cover such problem areas as "Crowding: The Biggest Problem", "Respect for Other Anglers", "Some Options for Fishing in Crowds or With Friends", "On Rights-of-Way", "On the Environment", "On the Law", "On Boats", "The Client's Responsibility to the Guide", and "The Guide's Responsibility to the Client".
The book is illustrated with black and white photos and cartoons of some of the good and bad ethical situations as well as photos of many of the authors quoted.
Rod Rage should be required reading for any fly fisher-no, any angler who goes to a creek, river, lake, pond, estuary, flats, or blue water to enjoy the sport of angling and tries to avoid spoiling the sport of others. Rhea Topping is to be commended for compiling the thinking of these authors as "The Ultimate Guide to Angling Ethics" for us.
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I was given this book when I was primary school age. I`m not a person who gets into poetry much, but as a child I read this book over and over. I now have the same very well worn copy that my 2year old son loves. The poems and rhymes are fun, easy to learn and are written about things children are interested in. A great compilation to have if you can get your hands on a copy.

This is a wonderful, concise, poetry book for children. The chosen poems are very appealing to children, yet not trite...a wonderful introduction to rich poetry. I read this book so often to my kids, I've memorized a lot of the poems. But, alas, the copy has been irretrievably lost and I cannot find another. I teach second grade and need a new copy. GET THIS BOOK BACK IN PRINT SO I CAN BUY IT!!!!

The Romagnolis' (The Romagnoli's Table, The New Italian Cooking), fish cookbook, organized by course, includes a primer on basics such as shopping for and cleaning fish and shellfish, cooking methods, equipment and freezing.

Antipasti recipes focus on shellfish with a variety of tartlets and seafood cocktails; many salads use a mix of canned (tuna, salmon, even shrimp) and fresh seafood and in the pasta/rice/polenta chapter there are no less than five clam sauces.

The book leans toward simple dishes flavored with herbs and olive oil (grilled salmon steaks with parsley butter and lemon; trout poached in tomato sauce, flounder with capers) with a dash of the exotic (sole, shrimp and caviar ravioli; Venetian eels and peas; aspic with sole, crabmeat and shrimp).

The Romagnolis have thought of everything, including puff pastry, frying batter, fish stocks and a variety of sauces.

If you're looking for a great Italian cookbook and love seafood, look no farther.

The recipes are easy to follow and the notes give insight into what you're making.

I've made a dozen or so dishes from this, and we've never been disappointed. The cacciucco (Tuscan Fish Stew) is to die for!

Sublime and enchanting is how John Hay has the reader feeling. It is truly a superb book, well written and thoughtful as well as thought provoking.

I first read this book in the early 1970s when I was conducting my Ph.D. thesis research, which dealt with the migratory behavior of a fish called the alewife, also known as river herring. Alewife are like small, silvery salmon. About 10 inches long, they migrate into small streams and rivers along the East Coast in the spring to spawn, and the juveniles then migrate to the ocean in the fall, where they live for four or five years before returning to their home stream to spawn. John Hay captures the mystery and delight of an alewife run. Unlike salmon runs that occur in large rivers where the fish can't be seen, alwife migrate into many very small streams, many of which pass through towns and under old mills, such that the fish are readily visible to people. To see thousands of fish stacked up at the base of a dam, knowning that they had traveled thousands of miles in the Atlantic for years before finding their way back to the location where their life began as an egg, is almost incredible. John Hay describes the essence of the alewife in a very informative but tremendously readable style. This is a must read for anyon who enjoys fine writing and has an interest in the natural world.

This book deserves the highest praise for its integration of local knowledge with academic fisheries biology. It provides an excellent guide to Columbia River fish. That alone is worth the price of the book. The real "meat" of the book, though, are the Nez Perce testimonies: myths, folktales, personal reminiscences, views on local fish politics, and just plain good old-timer stories. We are reminded that the Native people often say in poetic or symbolic form what biologists say in academic polysyllables. Whether Coyote's encounter with beavers or excessive offtake of a fluctuating population is to blame, everybody knows that you can't catch too many fish or there won't be any more. The Native people add the critically important dimension of respect for the fish. You won't protect what you don't respect. That is why the politicians and even biologists so often fail to preserve the fisheries, even with the best intentions and the fisheries science--they lack that critical realization.
The book brings out the tragedy of damming the Columbia River. Hydropower is cheap only because nobody factors in the real costs, especially the hundreds of millions of fish a year lost to the economy.
This book is pure delight. I haven't enjoyed reading a book in a while, or learned so much.

Books about fish customarily fall into two categories: biology texts that treat the animals like biochemical systems and fishing books that treat them like cunning prey (the better to rationalize the angler's heroism). "Salmon and His People" is another kind of book entirely-a complex look at how the salmon has figured in Nez Perce tribal origin stories, tribal history, tribal religion, tribal stewardship, and how the animal has fared under the dubious stewardship of the Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and National Marine Fisheries Service.

The voices telling this complicated story are multiple, as are the perspectives: tribal storytellers, biologists, fishermen, children, policymakers. Salmon is not treated as an isolated creature but is instead viewed within a finely wrought network of other water animals.

I cannot praise the ambition and achievement of this book highly enough. Because the Nez Perce view the fate of the salmon as part of a regionwide environmental disaster, "Salmon and His People" also becomes an elegy for that lost river, the free-flowing Columbia. Several recent books (Blaine Harden's "A River Lost," Wm. Dietrich's "Northwest Passage," Richard White's "The Organic Machine") have addressed the devastation of the Columbia and its fisheries, but none of these is as heartful and creaturely an account of what the damming of the Columbia has meant to the peoples and animals of the river. The Nez Perce are particularly qualified to write an account of the Columbia's devastation because their lands are upstream of most of the eighteen dams on the mainstem Columbia and Snake, and much of their section of the river lies within the Hanford Reach, that unhappy zone once occupied by the federal government's plutonium-production plants. (The Hanford Reach is also the only undammed section of the Columbia River.)

Beautifully illustrated with color plates on almost every page (the registration could be better), "Salmon and His People" will challenge most readers to think about fish more deeply. The book is the second in a series of Nez Perce nature guides; it was written by Dan Landeen, environmental specialist for the tribe, and Allen Pinkham, a tribal elder and former chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe Executive Committee, and published by Lewis-Clark State College's Confluence Press.

I have no connection to the Nez Perce Tribe or the Confluence Press. I write for fishing magazines, and in my experience this is a singular book.

Simon has been trying to catch a salmon all summer long. When he finally has the opportunity to catch a salmon trapped in a hole made by clam digging, he decides the fish belongs back out in the ocean. How he makes the effort and succeeds in freeing the fish is inspiring to young readers. Within the story is a short, two-sentence description of the salmon cycle that readers can understand, and a description of the tidepool life. I'm so happy to see this book still in print! It was one of my son's favorite books when he was little. I highly recommend it to parents and teachers.

Agreeing with the previous review, I would add that Simon's perceptions, reactions, and actions are realistic for an 8 to 10 year old boy. Also admirable are the low-key presentation of Simon's determination and persistence--just as in the best folk tales he does what he has to do without any self-consciousness of heroism. The illustrations are very expressive but the perspective is a bit shallow--but this won't bother children.

This is a very informative and helpful book for any beginner who wants to set up a saltwater aquarium!

As usual, I was pleased with Amazon delivering in a timely manner just what I expected. The book was a holiday gift. He was pleased. It's very good in text and illustrations for someone just starting out in the hobby.

I got the hint from his wife and in 5 minutes online picked out what I wanted and off it went. I always look in Amazon first before making any purchase.

Great Book I would buy it for children of all ages

I am 11 years old and I read this book to my 3 year old brother and my 6 year old sister and even I liked it. The ryhming is fun and the pictures are great. The best part is when the little boy thinks someone is following him but what he really sees are prints of his own feet!!

It's not NASCAR or the Indy 500. It is small town, dirt track racing. There's dust in the air, and colorful characters racing their cars around the track. There's plenty of competition, an intense desire to win, and enough mystery and intrigue to keep even non-racing fans on the edge of their seats.

SATURDAY NIGHT DIRT is set at Headwaters Speedway in Minnesota. Mel Walters and her father, Johnny Walters, are struggling to keep their little race track in business. Johnny, once a driver himself, is now confined to a wheelchair after a tragic accident years ago. Mel's mother needed only a few short weeks to determine she couldn't stay married to a man in a wheelchair, so Mel and her dad have been on their own for quite some time.

Still in high school, Mel acts as track manager, and she is probably the sole reason for the track's continued success. The story begins and ends on one Saturday. Because of Mel's drive and determination, it's a Saturday that makes history for the track and just might breathe some new life into it.

Other members of the cast of characters include several young racers like Trace, Amber, and Beau hoping to make their mark in racing. There's Patrick, who handles parking and sings the national anthem before the night's racing begins. Maurice is a retired navy man who handles the signal flags like a pro. There are also the down-and-out racers like Sonny from the local reservation who lack the funds to really be taken seriously by the other competitors. Even the ever present threat of bad weather becomes a player in the non-stop action at the track. Each plays a part in the Saturday night excitement and helps make the story a real page-turner.

SATURDAY NIGHT DIRT is billed on the cover as "A Motor Novel." Hopefully, that means it is the first of many more. Weaver's book is especially excellent for reluctant guy readers, even if they don't have a special interest in the sport of dirt track racing.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Auto racing is the number one spectator sport in this country not because of NASCAR or Indy, but because of the hundreds of short tracks that run weekly programs from Pennsylvannia to Kansas to California. The drivers are hometown heroes -- the guy or girl who bags your groceries, runs the auto body shop, sits next to you at school. From the pits to the popcorn seller, the ensemble cast in this young adult novel is spot on accurate and real. Crashes, intrigue, romance -- a good story and no better way to get young people, even "motorheads," to read!

Marsh Muirhead - author of "Key West Explained - a guide for the traveler