Customer Reviews

The Definitive Guide to Fishing in Southern California

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I live near the Los Padres National Forrest. Reading first about the destinations I am personally familiar with, I can tell that Chris has personally fished and hiked these areas with regularity. This guy knows what he's talking about.

The book will primarily tell you where to go and what bait offerings to use. If you are not an experienced fishermen, its not a great primer on the basics of fishing. You'll need complimentary books for that.

This book is an absolute must for any Southern California hiker, backpacker or camper who incorporates fishing into the recreational package. It's stimulated some great new outdoor ideas for me. I can't wait to hit some of the new spots that Chris talks about.

(Chris, if you read this, how about adding GPS coordinates in your next book?)

I'm a fly fisher who has fished (both fly and conventional) many of the streams and lakes (as well as the ocean) in Southern California for the last twenty six years. I've looked at many guide and how to books only to put them down, realizing that what I'm holding was not "definitive." But Shaffer's book is definitive, and more importantly, it is very practical. All of the essential items are in each of his entries, and the information is very up-to-date. Also, there are phone numbers, maps, directions, and other important pieces of data.

I was talking to a friend of mine of some of the places I had fished and camped at as a child, but I couldn't remember the names of these specific places--only the locations. I very badly wanted to go back, but I couldn't find the information on the Internet. As I perused this book, I found the stream in this book. It was easy because it goes by region or area.

It also gives some tactics for dealing with certain streams and lakes. Once again, the information is very up-to-date and practical.

Overall, I was very satisfied with this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to fish Southern California.

I have seen many books on fishing, but "The Definitive Guide" is maybe the best ever. Not only does it cover locations that most of us don't even know they exists, they are all described in great details. If you read the book and then visit the places, you will agree, that the research done was excellent. And the photos, Wow!!

Dont buy a lot of fishing books because few seem to have updated information, but this one was rigth up to date and talked about things at my local lake that i've fished for 20 years that i wasn't even aware of. What i liked was it was the first fishing book i've seem with color photos of each lake. I wasn't used to that. This guy did a good job

This guide gave me everything from A to Z about fishing in southern california. It hepled me pick out the best places to go and gave me the easiest and quickest means to get there. The full color photos were just a bonus to the most complete book I've seen about fishing Southern California. I'm very impressed by the fact that the Author has traveled to each and every destination he writes about. By adding colorful real life experiences to the book, it is not only a great guide book, but also an interesting and enjoyable read. I recommend this book to all types of fisherman who plan on fishing the Southern California region.

I have used this book so much I may need to buy a new copy! His reviews tell you everything.

Save yourself some time and buy two or three copies of this fishing guide. You are certain to want to share all of the great info with friends and it's likely that you will wear out your own!
This guy knows every place you could possibly find to fish in Southern California and tells you exactly what to expect at each place (saves disappointments without ruining pleasant surprises).
Great advice - great guide - GREAT gift!

This is the best California fishing book series available. There are also the Central and Northern California editions. The best features of these books that makes them so valuble is the commentary and especially the pictures. So many times I have gone to a campsite or lake, only to be so disappointed to find a pond instead of a lake or a campsite with no scenic beauty. These books have pictures of each fishing site, so you have an excellent idea of what you are in for. There is nothing as disappointing as finding a site way below your expectations after driving for hours to get there. These books pretty much eliminate that scenario, especially since they also give you contact information so you can verify the fishing site is still intact, active and as you see it in the picture. Beautiful color pictures on EVERY page of the book. Outstanding.

Excellent treatise on Southern California Fishing. While my interests are mainly in fly fishing, Mr. Shaffer has done an excellent job of identifying and rating a large number of Southern California fishing locations, both lakes and streams. His personal evaluation of each site is interesting to say the least. I would rate this as must have for any southland angler looking for new places to fish.