Zane Grey on Fishing

by Terry Mort (Editor), Loren Grey (Introduction)

Overview

Though he made his name and his fortune as an author of Western novels, Zane Grey's best writing has to do with fishing. There he was free from the conventions of the Western genre and the expectations of the market, and he was able to blend his talent for narrative with his keen eye for detail and humor, much of it self-deprecating, into books and articles that are both informative and exciting.
His first published fishing article appeared in 1902, and he continued to write books and articles on angling until his death in 1939. From the trout streams and bass rivers of the East to the steelhead rivers of the Northwest; from the offshore angling of Nova Scotia and California to the unexplored waters of New Zealand and the South Sea islands, Grey was constantly in motion, sometimes fishing three hundred days a year, always writing to support his passion. At one time or another he held more than a dozen saltwater records, yet he always returned from the big game to the freshwater streams he had learned to love as a boy.
This book is a selection of some of Grey's best work, and the stories and excerpts reveal a man who understood that angling is more than an activity-it is a way of seeing, a way of being more fully a part of the natural world. No writer exceeds Zane Grey's ability to integrate the fishing experience with a world he saw so vividly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493084012
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Series:	On
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Terry Mort has degrees in literature from Princeton University and the University of Michigan. His short stories and articles have appeared in a number of national periodicals, and his historical novels were published in 2004. He is also the author of The Reasonable Art of Fly Fishing and the editor of Jack London on Adventure. He lives in Sonoita, Arizona.

Table of Contents

Foreword Loren Grey vii

Introduction Terry Mort ix

Chapter 1 Lackawaxen 1

The Lord of Lackawaxen Creek 3

Chapter 2 Southern California 17

Two Fights with Swordfish 19

Tuna at Avalon, 1919 34

Chapter 3 Florida 39

Bonefish 41

From Rivers of the Everglades 54

Some Rare Fish 63

Chapter 4 Nova Scotia 69

From Giant Nova Scotia Tuna 71

Chapter 5 Pacific Northwest 95

At the Mouth of the Klamath 97

From Rocky Riffle 113

From Down River 121

From Rocky Riffle 124

More from Rocky Riffle 125

Three Years Later, Again on the Rogue 127

Chapter 6 New Zealand 129

Black Marlin 131

The Tongariro River and The Dreadnaught Pool 145

Chapter 7 Tahiti 165

Nato Fishing 167

Marlin! 170

Chapter 8 Australia 185

From An American Angler in Australia 187

Chapter 9 Mexico 207

Zihuatanejo Bay 209

Byrne-by-Tarpon 223

Chapter 10 The Galapagos 229

The Galapagos 231

Sources 251

Editorial Reviews

Western novelist Grey was far more comfortable with a fishing rod in his hand than a six-shooter. The considerable wealth he garnered penning novels funded his trolling the world's waters in search of fish-any kind of game fish. Like the publisher's Hemingway on Fishing, this book gathers Grey's best piscatory remembrances gleaned from numerous related volumes. Divided geographically, chapters cover Southern California, Florida, Nova Scotia, New Zealand, Tahiti, and other exotic locales. The selections-some full stories, others mere excerpts-are refreshing in that not only is the writing crisp and often humorous but also that many of the Herculean battles with leviathans of rivers and oceans end with the quarry breaking free at the last moment. Although he held 14 records and designed innovative equipment, it was the act of fishing itself-for Grey, as much an emotional and almost spiritual experience in communing with a wild creature as a physical one pitting man against nature-that was the main allure, not necessarily the catching. Numerous photos are included, plus a foreword by Grey's son, Loren, and a fine introduction by editor Mort. Zane Grey on Fishing offers some of the author's best writing: don't let this one get away!-Michael Rogers, "Library Journal" Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"Zane Grey on Fishing offers some of the author's best writing: don't let this one get away!"—Library Journal

"The book is a selection of some of Grey's best work, and the stories and excerpts reveal a man who understood that angling is more than an activity. It is a lifestyle."—Great Lakes Boating

"What has virtually remained hidden behind his conventional formulalike books in the Western genre is that Grey's best writing came when he wrote about angling. Here he was free to blend his talent for narrative and sense of humour. " —Atlantic Salmon Journal

"Of course, the big daddy of far-flung fishing is Zane Grey. This is an excellent...reader for those who may want to dip into his truly fabulous fishing life. —Gray's Sporting Journal

From the Publisher