Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Surf Fishing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought the book believing i will learn a lot, however i did not learn as much as expected.
Pros:
*Nice pictures and good quality paper.
*Easy to read and fun on a rainy day.
*Low cost.
*Recommendations about the tackle, the best of the book.
*A few pictures about casting

Cons:
*No drawings about fishing line or fishing strategies. Only drawings availables are at Appendix 2 and are about knots for hooks, not for lures, and are pictures no drawings.
*NOT the complete book of surf fishing. It is far from a "complete book".

If you are a beginner on surf fishing, you will hardly find a "complete book on surf fishing", you will need 2-3 books that covers different topics, but not this one.

Not recommended for surf fishing learning techniques or strategies. However

I had done some surf fishing when I was younger. Now that I'm approaching retirement I've decided to get back into it. The fish haven't changed much, but surf rods and reels have changed quite a bit since I bought my equipment in the 1970s. Everything, from rods and reels to lines and hooks, is lighter, more powerful, more specialized and more sophisticated these days. While I'm certain I could still catch fish with my old gear, I'm sure that some new stuff will make my efforts more fun and efficient. The instructions in this book are clear and the photos are sharp and very helpful. Long-time sharpys won't learn much from this book, but newcomers and casual surf anglers can pick up enough information here to get them into fish often enough that they will want to stay with the sport and become more expert at it.

This book is a good place to start if you are looking to fish the surf. It gives practical and useful advice to help you, but like any sport you won't read yourself to competence. You have to just get out there and do it!

This is an outstanding book for those just getting into the sport of surf fishing. I found this to be a great reference book, good color pictures and a easy read.

I just started surf fishing and this book provided me with 90% of what I needed. Everything else was on-hand experience which no book could teach. It saved me hours and hours of "guess work" at the beach. Even friends of mine have borrowed my book seeing my success based on what I've accomplished due to this book (now i dont even know who has it, so many have borrowed it).

I was first taken by surf fishing when vacationing as kid with my family in Mexico. A group of laid back locals stood around drinking some beers and shooting the breeze-until the rod bent like a crazy and the guy (they were all men) sprung to action and wrestled with the catch, hauling it a big fish (no idea what kind). It had a thrill and appeal to it: minimal work and big pay off for exciting work.
In Surf Fishing, Al Ristori (the fishing editor for the Star Ledger) captures the appeal of surf fishing, with lots of practical advice. The book has tons of great caliber photos and the whole book is printed on thick, glossy paper. If you're interested in surfing fishing, you'll be pleased with this one.

I didn't read this book... I started it, but in perusing through the book, I realized there is only photos of two women in the whole book, neither of them identified, unlike the other photos. I can only assume (yes, I know what that means...) he thinks surf fishing is too strenuous, too macho for women.