PROFILES IN SALTWATER ANGLING: A HISTORY OF THE SPORT - ITS PEOPLE AND PLACES, TACKLE AND TECHNIQUES. By George Reiger.

1973 1st edition. 4to (180 x 254mm). Ppxii,470. Colour paintings, b/w photographs and illutrations, bibliography, pictorial end-papers. Silver-gilt swordfish motif to two-tone blue and white cloth, spine titled in silver-gilt.

This is a very readable and comprehensive history of saltwater fishing worldwide, but with a great emphasis on America and American anglers. This book "is the hitherto untold story of the remarkable men, past and present, who found the fishing grounds and developed, through trial and error, the increasingly sophisticated techniques of catching and landing the big ones. George Reiger, ...has brought to this unique sport an awesome capacity for research and a brilliant gift for telling a lively story and conveying valuable information. His book is already being called a classic. Reiger begins with the early pioneers of the sport: Henry William Herbert, who wrote under the pseudonym 'Frank Forester' and was America's first sporting historian; Louis Agassiz, one of the world's first real marine naturalists; 'Tuna' George Farnsworth, one of the all-time great fishing guides who was responsible for many world records and advances in boat handling and tackle design. The author tells of the grand old men of ocean angling, such as Charles Frederick Holder and Zane Grey in the Pacific, Van Campen Heilner and Mike Lerner in the Atlantic. There are superb portraits of such glamerous fishermen as Ernest Hemingway and Philip Wylie. The book also treats the big names of today - and reveals their most prized and hard-learned fishing tips. [This book] covers all aspects of the sport: the development of more effective rods, reels, lures and lines, which allowed larger fish to be landed; the evolution of fishing strategies and boat handling tactics; the fishing clubs that fostered the popularity of the sport by sanctioning contests and keeping accurate records of the activities of their members; and the fishing writers who kindled the enthusiasm of the beginner and fueled that of the fishing veteran. Within this handsomely designed book is a portfolio of the best saltwater angling photos ever taken, line-drawing protraits of all the profiled fishermen, and beautiful original oil paintings."