Brook Trout [Hardcover]

Nick Karas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

North America has had a four-hundred-year love affair with the brook trout - Salvelinus fontinalis - its great native trout. And now Nick Karas offers the first major profile of this most beautiful of gamefish. Brook Trout is a thorough look at the history, biology, and angling possibilities of the fish most fishermen affectionately call the brookie. Through the eyes of a trained ichthyologist, Karas explores the brook trout's biology and the events that led to its evolution and distribution. He unravels the controversies surrounding the two largest brook trout ever taken. But the core of this book is the fishery: its past status, current condition, and future. And because the history of brook-trout fishing is inseparable from the history of American fishing, Karas follows the development of the rods, reels, lines, lures, and flies that evolved as anglers continued their fascination with this great gamefish.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Salvelinus fontinalis' North American range (the brook trout also swims South America and Europe) has shrunk as Homo sapiens' range has expanded. Karas explores brook-trout history and speculates about its uncertain future. He has obviously taken a lot of time researching old brook-trout stories, myths, and legends; for example, Daniel Webster was at one time reputed to have caught the largest brook trout ever, a 14.5-pound monster (Karas debunks this story and makes some informed guesses as to who actually caught it, if indeed it ever existed). He does not, however, provide basic fishing advice. Yet if you seek a definitive resource on brook trout, search no further; indeed, so encyclopedic is it that even brook-trout devotees shouldn't expect to read the whole thing at one go. Jon Kartman

From Kirkus Reviews

The much maligned brook trout gets star billing in this encyclopedic, readable study of Salvelinus fontinalis from Newsday outdoor columnist Karas. Many anglers give the brook trout a bum rap, considering it an inferior quarry to the wily, fighting browns and rainbows. But there is also a dedicated band of brook trout fanciers, who find in this exquisite fish--decked out in black and olive, rose and pearl, accessorized with light green shading to yellow squiggles and vermilion dots haloed in powder blue--the very stuff of our continent's angling past, a synecdoche testifying to clear, cold, pure waters, to a life pristine and unpretentious. Karas is decidedly in the latter group, his book a labor of love: ``Our relationship with this unique fish has never been fully documented or evaluated,'' he writes. It has been now. Karas goes back into the mists of paleoichthyology to get a handle on beginnings; charts distribution in post-glacial times; scrutinizes species, subspecies, strains (the brook isn't a trout but a char); offloads a bargeful of fish stories. The author devotes the majority of the book to the history of brook trout fishing in New York and Canada, from remote headwaters to rivers the mention of which--Nipigon and Minipi and Ashuanipi--get brook-trouters in a lather; and closes with the rude effects of acid rain on wild trout waters, this after logging and mining had already trashed the habitat. This is the kind of book anglers long for: smartly written, free of hyperbole, full of obscure historical tidbits, laced with snatches from old diaries and letters, and enticingly informative (from mere clues to gift-horse treats) on how and where to fish for wild brook trout today. Angling literature, burdened as it is by overproduction, has every reason to celebrate Karas's brook trout encomium. (color and b&w photos and illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 396 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558214798
• ISBN-13: 978-1558214798
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #648,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Ichthyology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must read for anyone interested in brooktrout, February 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Brook Trout (Hardcover)

Brook Trout by Nick Karas is among other things a life history of America's great trout species. The book spans millions of years of evolution and the ice age telling the species story. The science is well researched and written in a manner that may be understood easily.The book also presents information about the decline of Brook Trout populations over the last century and a half and the prospects for the species future. Brook Trout according to Karas were first pursued by early settlers soon after their arrival in the new world. That pursuit among other things was responsible for much of the species decline. Brook Trout are rebounding in many areas of its range and its prospects for survival are good. Many anglers are interested in restoring habitat and seeing the species recover and this book presents some ideas to facilitate a recovery plan. This book is a must read for everyone interested in the species recovery or angling opportunities and is well written and informative. Included in the book are some great photographs of Karras and trout. If you fish for brook trout, don't miss reading this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best written book ever on Brook trout....a brookie addict, May 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Brook Trout (Hardcover)

I have fished brook trout for 25 years both in lakes and streams, and this book BROOK TROUT is right on the mark. Full of informative information that was not obtained over a short duration. The author of this book gives the brookies the credit it deserves. Rich in history and sad at times, this book tells why the brook trout should be American proud symbol for all fishermen.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have for Brookie Lovers, April 19, 2002

By 

BP (Herndon, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brook Trout (Hardcover)

Brook trout are my favorite trout (or Char, as the author corrects us) and there's a lot more to this book than the fish itself. It describes the history of the fish from a regional perspective, explaining why, for example, the fishing in New York is the way it is and how amazing America's brookie rivers once were. After reading it, I had a new perspective on American history.

Karas provides ample attention to how environmental problems have damaged the quality of brookie rivers as well.

One thing a reader should be aware of, however, is that the book is light on tactics for actually catching brookies. It's much more about why the fish is in the state it's in and what it used to be before man ruined the brookie's habitat.

Nevertheless, I was so engrossed in the history provided and the beautiful photos that I didn't mind not getting out of the book what originally inspired me to buy it--how to catch brookies. I've read the book twice and enjoyed it each time.