Chasing the biggest trout in the world, sports writer Thomas takes readers from Montana and Labrador all the way to Chile and New Zealand.

Fly fishermen everywhere will enjoy these varied, witty, and engaging adventures by one of America’s finest outdoor writers. There is a long section on trout fishing called “Brookies, Browns, and Bows,” and another on the challenges and excitement of saltwater fly fishing, and an exciting group of memoirs about fishing near home and in far-flung and often exotic places—like the Minipi, Bighorn, and Norfolk rivers, where the trout can beggar the imagination, and where frustration can be the occupational hazard. Trout Eyes is a love letter to the fish we pursue and insects they eat and the waters in which they live. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for fishermen. Our books for anglers include titles that focus on fly fishing, bait fishing, fly-casting, spin casting, deep sea fishing, and surf fishing. Our books offer both practical advice on tackle, techniques, knots, and more, as well as lyrical prose on fishing for bass, trout, salmon, crappie, baitfish, catfish, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

A Collection of Fishing Stories from Across the Globe, by a Master Storyteller. To the uninitiated, it might be somewhat surprising to discover that fly fishermen tend to be rather contemplative sorts. During those dark nights and long seasons when fishing is not a promising endeavor, we settle down to the next best thing, reading our vast libraries of ancient fishing lore, interspersed with the odd philosophical tome. And when we do, we usually don’t want to read proverbial stories about “landing the big one,” or lengthy how-to expositions on how to catch the aforementioned big one. Rather, we tend to prefer stories that place our beloved piscatorial pastime within the larger context of life and nature. Stories that, as Hamza describes, “…sparks a light. A light that is both familiar and comforting.” Such is The Zen of Home Water, the latest angling book by Jerry Hamza. Hamza is a John Volker for the new millennium. His book is interspersed with stories about monster brook trout, beautiful North woods streams and lakes, quirky backwoods guides, and legendary fly hatches. Through it all, he shows us one of the most profound truths of life, that “It takes the acquisition of wisdom to understand that a happy life is actually a mosaic of small and insignificant events…we string together moments in life—like pearls becoming a beautiful necklace.” The iridescent pearls that Hamza strings together are many and include the importance of “freestyling”, that uncontrollable escape impulse that implores us to drop whatever we are doing and head to the stream, any stream, with fly rod in hand. Another recurring theme is the need to unplug from the modern, electronic world. He instructs us how to trespass (with bartered permission) and fish those waters that look so inviting yet so out of reach to the (usually) law abiding. His recipe for squirrel stew is not jealously guarded but freely shared. And his stories of catching giant brook trout in the Maine North Woods allow the reader, who usually can’t participate in such acts of angling greatness, to at least know that they are occurring to someone, somewhere. Hamza is a member of that peculiar subset of anglers, the bamboo rod aficionado. While acknowledging the cold, hard fact that bamboo rods are nothing more than conglomerations of “expensive blades of grass,” he also realizes that these handmade treasures passed down to us from previous generations will hopefully outlive us (and our car doors) and that we are merely their caretakers for a time. Although the dreaded “g” word (i.e., graphite) does make a brief appearance, Hamza is definitely one of those anglers who would rather hold an aged, organic creation of the bamboo rod maker’s art than the latest admittedly efficient chemical concoction straight from the laboratory. This puts him squarely in the tradition of John Gierach, although Hamza’s writing is better and his stories more entertaining. Hamza’s own home waters are dual--Maine’s Grand Lake Stream area and the southern shore of the Lake Ontario region. There are echoes of Thoreau’s Maine Woods in his stories of remote lakes and plentiful trout. And while he takes us all around the country when relating his angling exploits (Kerouac’s On the Road is a particular favorite of his), it is evident that the concept of “home water” carries a lot of weight with him. His beloved “Zen Lake”, with its less than perfect history and many small fish, could be the home water of any of us.

Grab your fly rod; grab your backpack; and in some cases grab your sides with laughter, as angling author Peter Shea transports you to some of the finest wilderness locations in North America. From a short jaunt along Vermont's Long Trail to Labrador's most remote mountain range, the author has followed a passion for wilderness trout. Chasing golden trout, high in Montana's Beartooth's or Wyoming's Wind River Range, backpacking for cutthroats in the vast Bob Marshall Wilderness or the most remote corner of Yellowstone Park, Shea shares his stories and experiences, providing an inspiration for your own trip or armchair fishing adventure. Long Trail Trout's storylines often drift away from the fishing itself, and focus on the characters and odd situations that can populate a forty-year career of backcountry trout fishing. An arrest, a honeymoon gone awry, bear fears, and a life-threatening hurricane, are among the themes that take their turn in a personal anthology that is a fun and easy read.

Amateur or expert, every angler dreams of landing "the big one," but that's only part of the appeal of fly fishing. Because even when hours pass without a bite, nothing beats the rugged beauty of the surroundings. For both armchair travelers and avid outdoorsmen who may have already started a checklist of their own, Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die maps out the meccas of the fly-fishing world. Through in-depth interviews with the sport's acknowledged gurus, author Chris Santella goes beyond standard guides to convey the very essence of the recommended locations. Readers can vicariously cast mouse pattners to fifty-pound taimen in the wilds of Mongolia, wrangle with wily permit off the Florida Keys, and match the hatch on Montana's Armstrong's Spring Creek. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba (tarpon), the Zhupanova River, Kamchatka (rainbow trout), and the Rio Negro, Brazil (peacock bass) are also included. The essays include a cultural and natural history of each site, along with colorful anecdotes based on the author's and authorities' experiences. With breath-takingly-beautiful photos of the spots, many by celebrated fly-fishing photographer R. Valentine Atkinson, the book also provides adventurous anglers with enough travel-and-tackle information so that they, too, can start planning excursions to go fish around the globe.

Fly Fishing - North America is a beautiful pictorial essay of the serious Fly Fishing destinations across North America. Each lodge and destination represents a different outdoor experience. You will find different species of trout, pristine streams and lakes, views of the rustic and warm accommodations and most importantly, the people who live it everyday. They are a special breed of people, dedicated to the outdoors from the Libbys, who are over 110 years in the fly-fishing business in Maine, to Kirk and Liza Gay from Valhalla, in Alaska. In essence, they are equal to the qualities of the stream ... evoking a warm spirit of friendship and a part of their happiness is your visit. All destination have a special history and are well established. We were looking for a "spirt of comradery" in each destination and we found it. In addition to a pristine environment, we experienced what we wanted to present to the fly anglers of the world. Fly Fishing - North America represents the finest Fly Fishing Destinations that remain virtually untouched. We do not mean to portray that these are the only destinations of this caliber nor have we purposely ignored salt-water fly-fishing. The basics of fresh water fly-fishing in union with the finest destinations are graphically represented in Fly Fishing North America from Maine to Alaska (including Canada). We personally visited each lodge or resort and experienced 1st hand, the facilities, fisheries, guides and the services they offered. Each one provided an exhilarating adventure, which we have shared with the reader in addition to providing a pictorial graphic presentation of what it would be like to visit that destination. "Welcome to Fly Fishing - North America". Grab a rod, get ready to travel and join us in the Stream!"