Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #154680 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-28
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Synopsis
Sitting on a riverbank, with rod and line, must count as one of the most relaxing and enjoyable - yet occasionally frustrating - experiences known to man. Chris Yates discovered the joys of fishing early in life and was quickly hooked by its pleasures. Many years later, he is still content to sit, day after day, observing the quirks of different fish and losing track of time. For him, fishing is much more than just a question of technique; sometimes it's about listening to nothing but your instincts, and at other times it's about enjoying the perfect cup of tea. And, it's always about not knowing how the day is going to unfold...There's no better guide for the uninitiated - and no better companion for those already familiar with the satisfactions of fishing - than Chris Yates. And, immersing yourself in "How To Fish" is almost as delightful an activity as fishing itself.

Customer Reviews

The Title is Misleading, but the Book is Very Enjoyable

Having watched Chris Yates many times on the television, I decided to beg, steal or borrow his book, and I did, not the steal part, I hasten to add. As some of the other reviewers have said the title is a little misleading because it is not really a book on how to fish (which I was rather pleased about. Because learning how to fish from a book fills me with horror). The only way to learn how to fish is to actually fish, preferably with someone who knows what they are doing.

However, I digress. Yates is an accomplished angler, well known throughout the fishing fraternity and if I said that he was a little eccentric, I am sure he would not be offended. He has a liking for old fishing tackle, reels and rods and quite often fishes with them. He is I suppose the nearest thing we have got to a modern day `Mr. Crabtree' and the book is about how he likes to conduct himself when fishing. To the extent that the day out and the location seem to be more paramount than catching any fish. There should always be a little kettle on the boil on the camping stove and a bottle of wine cooling in the keepnet. This is a stroll down memory lane for many of us, but the match angler would probably hang himself from the nearest tree after reading this book. This is really about a way of life. The days when people had time to relax and enjoy their leisure time and not worry about how bad the traffic was likely to be going home etc etc.

How it feels to fish
This is a wonderful little book. The title is more than a little misleading though. You don't learn how to fish, but you do learn how it feels to fish.

There is no "use this float and put the weights like that." There is however "mist rolling in, pots of tea and how it feels to pluck a perch from under those trees."

Its a series of anecdotes really. The view from the waterside. Every angler of whatever pursuation will love it. Even non-anglers will enjoy it for its meditations and atmospherics.

Yates if an amiable eccentric and a nice departure from the kit- obsessed testosterone crowd who seem to dominate angling books and TV programmes now. He fishes with ancient split cane rods and centrepin reels. And catches large fish.

or more exactly, how Chris Yates fishes
Don't be misled by the title of the book. It is not a how-to manual. It doesn't give away secrets, it doesn't tell you where to fish, how to fish or how to rig a trace and it doesn't go into detail on bait and tackle. It does tell you, in the first person, how Chris Yates fishes in a series of tales and memories of his childhood and youth. We hear of his friends who all seem to enjoy drinking tea and eating cake on the riverbank; we learn of his exploits in all sorts of weather and his aproach to stalking fish.

The central theme of the book shows how one can become obsessed with one particular species of fish. We discover how Chris Yates became interested in fishing, fished around the UK for various species of fish, and now how he has become infatuated with one species of fish - the perch.

An interesting read overall. An insight into British coarse fishing for any non-Brit who may be intrigued why the English drink so much tea, don't eat the fish they catch and why they get so excited over little river fish.