How to Fish

Overview

A charming, quirky and wise book about fishing - for experts and armchair anglers alike.

Sitting on a riverbank, with rod and line, must count as one of the most relaxing and enjoyable – yet occasionally frustrating – experiences known to man.

Chris Yates discovered the joys of fishing early in life and was quickly hooked by its pleasures. Many years later, he is still content to sit, day after day, observing the quirks of different fish and losing track of time. For him, fishing is much more than just a question of technique; sometimes it’s about listening to nothing but your instincts, and at other times it’s about enjoying the perfect beverage. And it’s always about not knowing how the day is going to unfold . . .

There’s no better guide for the uninitiated – and no better companion for those already familiar with the satisfactions of fishing – than Chris Yates. And immersing yourself in How To Fish is almost as delightful an activity as fishing itself.

Reviews

"In his accessible and occasionally lyrical prose, Yates sums up a year on a river in chapter-long musings on a host of fishing and non-fishing topics, such the topography of a river, the weather, his youth, the bird-like beauty of a perch and the essentially British notion of the restorative powers of tea. The book is also filled with practical and tactical advice about how best to land a whale of a perch. Because of Yates's intelligent observations and his pure dedication to his sport (it is his belief that man was born to fish), this book will be of interest to anglers on both sides of the Atlantic." —Publishers Weekly

"Chris Yates is god. How To Fish is likely to be his magnum opus." —Condé Nast Traveller

"A book about time, about how to spend time and lose it and how to find some kind of peace at the end of it all. A wonderfully elegiac book that
winds gently along with the quiet majesty of an old, old river." —Big Issue

"Angling’s finest living writer . . . His use of the English language in portraying angling is without peer . . . A masterpiece. If you want to know why you first went fishing, read this book." —Angling Times

Author Biography

Chris Yates is a photographer and an author, but first and foremost a fisherman. He was first inspired by the discovery of a monster carp in his village pond when he was five. Thirty years later, he caught what was then the biggest carp – and the biggest fish – in England and went on to write about his experiences in books, in his own magazine, in radio programs and in the BBC2 series A Passion for Angling. He lives in south Wiltshire.