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The Catch of a Lifetime: Moments of Flyfishing Glory
A gorgeously illustrated collection of first-person stories on the sublime joy of flyfishing
Every fly fisher has that moment—that ineffable, transcendent moment—they can point to and say, That’s it. That was when time seemed to stop and I felt fully alive. That’s why I fish.
Collected and framed by the award-winning writer Peter Kaminsky, The Catch of a Lifetime presents the moving first-person stories of more than seventy anglers recounting their catch of a lifetime. With its tales of brown trout in Montana and bluefish at Montauk Point, smallmouth in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters and unforgettable adventures with giant taimen on the steppes of central Asia, bonefish in New Caledonia, white marlin in the Baja, and golden dorado in the tribal lands along the Amazon’s headwaters, this gorgeously illustrated anthology is a transporting testament to the call that all anglers heed—to get out there and be one with the water. It distills perfectly the magic of the sport; you can’t read it and not want to go fishing.
The contributor list is a diverse who’s who of writers, artists, sportspeople, and others who’ve made flyfishing a singular passion, including Carl Hiaasen, Joan Wulff, Tom Colicchio, Charles Gaines, Rachel Maddow, Mark Kurlansky, Brittany Howard, John McPhee, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Jared Zissu. Their encounters, their memories, the words they use to describe, say, a forty-pound salmon leaping into the air or the sight of a great blue heron soaring down the creek to steal a catch make this the book of a lifetime for any fly fisher.
Every fly fisher has that moment—that ineffable, transcendent moment—they can point to and say, That’s it. That was when time seemed to stop and I felt fully alive. That’s why I fish.
Collected and framed by the award-winning writer Peter Kaminsky, The Catch of a Lifetime presents the moving first-person stories of more than seventy anglers recounting their catch of a lifetime. With its tales of brown trout in Montana and bluefish at Montauk Point, smallmouth in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters and unforgettable adventures with giant taimen on the steppes of central Asia, bonefish in New Caledonia, white marlin in the Baja, and golden dorado in the tribal lands along the Amazon’s headwaters, this gorgeously illustrated anthology is a transporting testament to the call that all anglers heed—to get out there and be one with the water. It distills perfectly the magic of the sport; you can’t read it and not want to go fishing.
The contributor list is a diverse who’s who of writers, artists, sportspeople, and others who’ve made flyfishing a singular passion, including Carl Hiaasen, Joan Wulff, Tom Colicchio, Charles Gaines, Rachel Maddow, Mark Kurlansky, Brittany Howard, John McPhee, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Jared Zissu. Their encounters, their memories, the words they use to describe, say, a forty-pound salmon leaping into the air or the sight of a great blue heron soaring down the creek to steal a catch make this the book of a lifetime for any fly fisher.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published October 3, 2023
16 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 11, 2023
The passion for flyfishing
Fly fishers have a deep connection with nature that allows them to relax more in natural surroundings away from civilization to make fly fishing not only a great a sport but an intimate meditative activity. In this edited book, there are twelve chapters that include fly fishing of trout, Atlantic salmon, steelhead, Pacific salmon, blue marlin, blue fin, bone fish, pike, and others. This is a collection of about seventy-six essays, twelve by women, and three by the editor Peter Kaminsky. This is remarkable because there was a time when fishing was dominantly a man’s sport, but it is brightening find so many women getting involved, and they enjoy the sport as much as the men do.
Many of the personal stories narrated by the authors are brilliant expressions of themselves enjoying the fishing life to the fullest. These encounters bring to life recollections, as Paige Wallace describes the sight of a rising trout to the primal shiver of romantic attraction on the dance floor. Hilary Hutcheson describes a trout rising above the surface as a little more than the gentlest kiss with the spinner, but the fisher’s presentation must land as delicately as a falling leaf. Then there is the heart–warming story of a father – daughter’s month-long transcontinental fly-rodding adventure that ends at the Blackfoot river in Missoula, Montana. George Semler and his daughter Hannah Semler describes the natural setting of the river which fascinated years earlier by Norman Maclean in his book “A river runs through it.” Semler recalls that he was bewitched and enchanted by the river.
In many ways streams, creeks, brooks, lagoons, and rivers are like living creatures. They exist, grow, and move. They have their mood swings, being angry and being peaceful. A fly fisher who spends time in such an environment comes to an understanding that these waterways have a soul, and one must respect them. You will get a sense of that in the story of Norman Maclane’s fishing in the Montana landscape that engages a reader with profound metaphysical questions. These moments are a physical rapture in the presence of unsullied primitive America that are as beautiful as in the works of Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Hemingway.
One of the things that is missing in this book are the photographs that summarize the excitement and joy of the fisher, the moment he/she caught. Many authors recall some of their biggest catches on water, but the reader would like to connect with that moment and imagine how that instant flew for the author. Most essays run from one page to three or four pages.
Fly fishers have a deep connection with nature that allows them to relax more in natural surroundings away from civilization to make fly fishing not only a great a sport but an intimate meditative activity. In this edited book, there are twelve chapters that include fly fishing of trout, Atlantic salmon, steelhead, Pacific salmon, blue marlin, blue fin, bone fish, pike, and others. This is a collection of about seventy-six essays, twelve by women, and three by the editor Peter Kaminsky. This is remarkable because there was a time when fishing was dominantly a man’s sport, but it is brightening find so many women getting involved, and they enjoy the sport as much as the men do.
Many of the personal stories narrated by the authors are brilliant expressions of themselves enjoying the fishing life to the fullest. These encounters bring to life recollections, as Paige Wallace describes the sight of a rising trout to the primal shiver of romantic attraction on the dance floor. Hilary Hutcheson describes a trout rising above the surface as a little more than the gentlest kiss with the spinner, but the fisher’s presentation must land as delicately as a falling leaf. Then there is the heart–warming story of a father – daughter’s month-long transcontinental fly-rodding adventure that ends at the Blackfoot river in Missoula, Montana. George Semler and his daughter Hannah Semler describes the natural setting of the river which fascinated years earlier by Norman Maclean in his book “A river runs through it.” Semler recalls that he was bewitched and enchanted by the river.
In many ways streams, creeks, brooks, lagoons, and rivers are like living creatures. They exist, grow, and move. They have their mood swings, being angry and being peaceful. A fly fisher who spends time in such an environment comes to an understanding that these waterways have a soul, and one must respect them. You will get a sense of that in the story of Norman Maclane’s fishing in the Montana landscape that engages a reader with profound metaphysical questions. These moments are a physical rapture in the presence of unsullied primitive America that are as beautiful as in the works of Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Hemingway.
One of the things that is missing in this book are the photographs that summarize the excitement and joy of the fisher, the moment he/she caught. Many authors recall some of their biggest catches on water, but the reader would like to connect with that moment and imagine how that instant flew for the author. Most essays run from one page to three or four pages.
October 23, 2025
It’s really something to read a book with so many beautiful, captivating photos, but also to feel the passion of the authors in every page.
I knew almost nothing of fly fishing before this book and now I want to try it.
That wasn’t my intention in getting the book from the library, but it’s a happy consequence.
Kaminsky collected a wide variety of fishers to tell their fascinating stories, and they do so with glee.
Lots of human emotion in fly fishing. I’m grateful to have read this book. Feels like one to get for a cabin or coffee table.
I knew almost nothing of fly fishing before this book and now I want to try it.
That wasn’t my intention in getting the book from the library, but it’s a happy consequence.
Kaminsky collected a wide variety of fishers to tell their fascinating stories, and they do so with glee.
Lots of human emotion in fly fishing. I’m grateful to have read this book. Feels like one to get for a cabin or coffee table.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews