Tales of Fishes

by Zane Grey

To capture the fish is not all of the fishing. Yet there are circumstances which make this philosophy hard to accept. I have in mind an incident of angling tribulation which rivals the most poignant instant of my boyhood, when a great trout flopped for one sharp moment on a mossy stone and then was gone like a golden flash into the depths of the pool.

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1992

About the author

Pearl Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. As of June 2007, the Internet Movie Database credits Grey with 110 films, one TV episode, and a series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater based loosely on his novels and short stories.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

He just sits down and talks to you about his fishing adventures. Very entertaining and I'm not even a sportsman of any kind.

His tales of swordfish hunting were seriously awesome, I spent many hours completely absorbed in fish hunting - who knew?

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well written description of ocean fishing. The writer’s fish stories describe the mental and physical demands of trying to land the largest and most numerous catches of swordfish, marlin, tuna and several other species of deep water fish. Imagine listening to story after story of fighting a three hundred pound fish for several hours only to have it break the line as it was being brought in. If you are a deep sea fisherman you might enjoy page after page of essentially the same thing. It was quite a departure from the typical stories of the old west. Maybe he wanted to do something different. The book does end with an essay on the importance of being environmentally conscious as one fishes the oceans. Even in 1918 when this was written there were indications that some species were becoming overfished and were in danger of disappearing altogether.

[Richard Nicklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful descriptions of fish and an ecosystem now badly damaged.

Loved the purple prose, but was saddened by the author’s descriptions of vast shoals of tuna where they are now rare.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would enjoy this more if I were an outdoorsy Fisher type person but I'm not. But this is beautifully written though. Compelling drama around a sort of chill activity such as fishing.

[Richard Koerner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on the plane from Chicago to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was a good book, well done, but enough with the fish tales. I skimmed it.

[Erin the Avid Reader ⚜BFF's with the Cheshire Cat⚜ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a girl who is really into fishing, I can safely say that this is a great compilation of stories. It's just him talking about his fishing adventures...yet they're very interesting and entertaining. I always felt like Zane Grey possessed this literary skill to make Westerns and Hunting stories a lot of fun.

That's probably one of my favorite books by Zane Grey.