This book documents proceedings of a symposium on muskellunge developed as a memorial for E.J. Crossman. It focuses on the biology, ecology, and management of muskellunge, Ed’s favorite fish. The papers include surveys of current ecological, behavioral, and management-related issues for muskellunge fisheries. The symposium was developed to bring researchers and anglers together, and was sponsored by Muskies, Inc.

The most complete fly fishing guide to musky to date Musky, short for muskellunge, have been called the fish of 10,000 casts and are one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, fish to catch on a fly. Musky have a large range--from northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northern Minnesota through the Great Lakes region, north into Canada, throughout most of the St. Lawrence River drainage and northward throughout the upper Mississippi valley, extending as far south as Chattanooga in the Tennessee River valley. This much-anticipated book is the most complete guide to fly fishing for musky to date and includes fly patterns, wisdom, and local techniques from top guides around the country: Blane Chocklett (Virginia); Brad Bohen (Wisconsin); Chris Willen (Tennessee), and more.

The Patch is the seventh collection of essays by the nonfiction master, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It is divided into two parts. Part 1, “The Sporting Scene,” consists of pieces on fishing, football, golf, and lacrosse—from fly casting for chain pickerel in fall in New Hampshire to walking the linksland of St. Andrews at an Open Championship. Part 2, called “An Album Quilt,” is a montage of fragments of varying length from pieces done across the years that have never appeared in book form—occasional pieces, memorial pieces, reflections, reminiscences, and short items in various magazines including The New Yorker. They range from a visit to the Hershey chocolate factory to encounters with Oscar Hammerstein, Joan Baez, and Mount Denali. Emphatically, the author’s purpose was not merely to preserve things but to choose passages that might entertain contemporary readers. Starting with 250,000 words, he gradually threw out 75 percent of them, and randomly assembled the remaining fragments into “an album quilt.” Among other things, The Patch is a covert memoir.