Flyfisher's Guide to Alaska: Includes Light Tackle

Rating:
Summary: A new (in print) bar has been set for Alaska fishing Guides
Review: The first Alaskan fishing book I bought was Rene Limere's and Gunnar Pedersen's Alaska Fishing. It has been out of print for years now and I have been searching a long time for a book that comes anywhere near it for coverage. This book comes as close as any in print book I have seen. It doesn't cover as many locations, nor is it as solid across all sections (like fish natural history etc.) but it is definitely one of - if not the best guide out there right now.

Don't be afraid of the title if you are not a fly-fisherman. The author often mentions situations where you should put the fly rod down and fish spin casting and all the information is just as useful for fly and spin fishermen.

Too bad the publishers didn't put a photo of this book here. I think it would sell better with a visual. I was definitely pleased when my copy came. A quick flip through the well-designed pages made me realize this book is a step above what's out there right now. Be warned though, the book has the dimensions of a phone book. Maybe more like a Milepost. It is not pocket or pack friendly. You might want to plan your trip first, then photocopy the maps and sections that you'll want on your trip.

This is definitely a good book for those planning their first self guided trip. It covers many of the most popular area and covers the road system well. For the Anchorage bound fishermen, it has the best Anchorage area fishing coverage I've seen.


Rating:
Summary: imperfect, but well-above-average, a "strong buy"
Review: This book is a well-above-average addition to what has become tightly held information: where and how to fish in Alaska. Most of the book concerns the oft-fished road-accessible areas; but it does include more detailed discussions of several of the more popular float-fishing rivers, a nice chapter on Kodiak Island, and shorter but interesting chapters on the aleutians - none of which are available in other recent books. The coverage of southeast alaska was really too terse to be of much value; what was there was again road-fishing which is perhaps of use to first time travelers or for cruiseship travelers passing thru - but too busy for seasoned fly fishermen who live in or frequent Alaska. Some chapters were unbalanced - the Yakutat area gives far more than is necessary about the Situk river (which flows thru town), and not enough about others (almost to the point of inaccuracy of facts - e.g., the Italio cabin is about 1/4 mile or less from the river, not 3/4 of a mile). The most glaring omission was the lack of any discussion of the entire gulf coast between Yakutat and Valdez, including Cordova,Prince William Sound, and points inbetween - its hard to believe anyone writing a book that includes silver salmon fishing without ever once mentioning this area. Other annoyances were an index that was woefully incomplete and poorly edited, the overabundance of bear warning stories (an ounce of prevention is fine, but this is several pounds - in a book that's supposed to be about fishing), and far too many pages spent on local community information, fishing regulations, and/or pictures that are of very limited use and available elsewhere. The value per unit book thickness is not high.

What I found most satisfying was the willingness of the author to occasionally talk about an offbeat hotspot, such as irish creek. Or advising a non-intuitive technique that actually works - like dead-drifting lemming patterns (novices just can't resist working this like a bass-popper and Haugen's right - its not fished this way).

The book has a number geographical and factual errors on some locations - which I won't go into - but these are easily distinguished by their overall lack of detail (usually, if there's 3 or less sentences, it's cause to doubt). But the detailed chapters are quite good and accurate. For those who haven't ever been to alaska, there's actually enough to plan a trip. For those who have spent alot of time there, there is still some revelation. The rest I'll keep to myself.

A long time has passed since 1997, when Limeres and Pederson published the 2nd edition of Alaska Fishing, the most comprehensive treatise then available. Few attempts have been made to improve on it; this book may not replace or exceed it - but it does provide more detail on several areas and is by far the best book since - accordingly, I rate it a "strong buy".