FISH: 77 Great Fish of North America [Hardcover]

Dean Travis Clarke (Author), Flick Ford (Illustrator), Peter Kaminsky (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2006

Fish is a stunning celebration of this continent’s great fish, mostly game fish, with a sprinkling of fun (pumpkin seed sunfish), history (shad), and culinary delights (bluefish). These detailed, never-before-published watercolor portraits, with text by the master of sport fishing, Dean Clarke, combine to make an upscale guide for the naturalist, an aid to the angler, a tool for the educator and conservationist, and an enjoyable read for everyone. It’s part field guide and part angler’s soul, but most of all a feast for the eyes.

Every fish has a story, and this book presents 77 incredible tales of hunting, studying, catching, and eating fish. Each portrait is accompanied by tips on bait and habitat. Also included are essays on the state of our oceans, and species conservation efforts. Artist Flick Ford’s watercolors of individual specimens—many of which he caught—are rendered in a unique technique that captures the perfection of the fish at the moment it was pulled from the water. Everyone who fishes longs to land “the big one,” and here it is—the best catch of the season for sport-fishermen and weekend anglers alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dean Travis Clarke has been executive editor at World Publications for the past fifteen years, where he works on Sport Fishing, Marlin, Fly-Fishing in Saltwaters, and Boating Life magazines. He also hosts the popular Sport Fishing Magazine television show on the Outdoor Life Network. He lives on Florida’s east coast.

Flick Ford fell in love with fishing at age five. His father, an accomplished fly-fisherman and talented commercial artist/copywriter, instilled in him a deep respect for nature and nurtured his early creativity.

Born in 1954 in Atlanta, Flick was raised in Westchester County, New York. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Flick fished the Adirondacks, New England, Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, Virginia and the woodland lakes of Quebec, while pursuing two other loves: music (as lead singer in a garage rock band) and art. He took formal watercolor classes in the 1960s; figure drawing and graphic design classes from 1973 to 1976 and then studied art at Evergreen State College in Washington State.

Flick moved to New York City in 1978 and dove into the audio/visual scene including indie film, video, underground publishing, cartooning, illustration as well as reconnecting with music. He performed in the East Village with several bands, and wrote and sang lead in The Crazy Pages for almost twenty years.

Ford left New York in 1993, heading for the Hudson Highlands where he quickly became obsessed with fishing the NYC watershed. As he branched out to many of the brook trout places where he had previously fished in parts of the Adirondacks and Vermont, the effects of over twenty years of pollution, over-development and acid rain became painfully apparent.

“ I felt I should start to keep a record of the fish I caught and decided to do it in watercolor paintings. I just want to catch and paint these fish, and show how they appear to me in all their iridescent beauty.”

Today Ford makes his home in Putnam County, New York. He fishes more than 100 days a year and ties his own flies. He selects early every fish he paints for its relative size and beauty. After landing a fish, he quickly gets a digital photo before the colors fade, carefully measures it in all dimensions, sketches details, counts scales, fin rays and finally traces it to get its actual outline. He has developed a technique of successive washes utilizing masking friskets and painstakingly detailed dry brush that make these fish truly come to life on paper.

Peter Kaminsky is a cookbook author and a New York Times columnist, and was the Underground Gourmet for New York magazine. He has written books with chefs Gray Kunz, Daniel Boulud, and Fabio Trabocchi. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: The Greenwich Workshop Press (September 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867130954
• ISBN-13: 978-0867130959
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 14.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #690,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Classic's, October 17, 2006

By 

William Smith (Long Island) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: FISH: 77 Great Fish of North America (Hardcover)

Once and awhile a book comes along that touches your senses and raises your emotions, FISH is just such a book. Flick Ford's beautiful watercolors of the 77 fish species are the best since S.F.Denton did his over 100 years ago. These complimented by the moving and lighthearted text of Dean Travis Clarke as well as Peter Kaminsky's introduction make this book sure to be a timeless classic. It's the type of book the reader can pick up at any time and turning to any page leave ourselves to go to that place inside that brings us all the peace we experience streamside, casting into a rolling surf, or trolling a pattern offshore. FISH is a perfect book, and anyone who even remotely loves the sport of angling or appreciates these amazing creatures should have a copy in their library and one wrapped as a gift for that special angling friend.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Stunning -- a fantastic book, October 6, 2006

By 

John B. Spence "Making the very complex... Aw... (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: FISH: 77 Great Fish of North America (Hardcover)

Earlier this week I received my copy of FISH: 77 Great Fish of North America and I am absolutely amazed. It is a superb book, beautifully written with stunning artwork. I rarely purchase what I would consider "coffee-table" or collector-type books, but I am extremely pleased with this book. I have spent several wonderful hours going through it -- and enjoyed it immensely. It will be a treasured book in my library and reminds me a great deal of the early James Audubon bird books. For any dedicated angler or fish enthusiast it is a "must-have."

5.0 out of 5 stars Fish Book Review, December 20, 2008

By 

Trina C. Love "TLove" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: FISH: 77 Great Fish of North America (Hardcover)

This book is the perfect book for the fishing enthusiast. More than met my expectations. Was delivered within just a few days. Very happy with this order and product.