Hooked!: America's Passion for Bass Fishing [Hardcover]

Roland Martin (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2001

"From the boat you peer down into the watery world that is its undisputed domain. You're straining for a glimpse of it, or a hint of one of those hidden places where you know it might lurk, hiding among the weeds and outcrops, perfectly blended into its surroundings among the rotting tree stumps, as still as a rock, waiting and watching for prey. But you're not just looking for any bass. It's the monster, the giant, the tackle-buster, the solitary, the elusive, or the unattainable, it's the unrealizable dream that you carry out and return home with everyday you spend on the water....

Bass fishing is a passion for millions for fishermen. Their pursuit for these powerful freshwater predators spans North America and takes place year-round. Houndreds of bass fishing rounaments are held annualy, ranging from the small local club tournaments to national contests for professional anglers where hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake. And overriding it all is every anlgler's search for the biggest lunker of them all -- the fish that will surpass a wrld record that has stood for nearly seventy years -- which will earn the luchky bass angler a million dollars in prize money. "Hooked! America's Passion for Bass Fishing presents the experience of the sport from the bottom where the big lunkers lurk, to the surface where modern bass boats, bristling with fish-finding sonar and global positioning equipment, hunt them. Packed witht he thrills of the sport, "Hooked! delivers tips, from the pros, tales of memorable fishing days, nostalgic refections, and over 200 vivid color photographs and illustrations. After "Hooked! no fisherman will be able to resist getting our on the water again --as soon as possible!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Given the demongraphies of angling, the bass book market should be even more crowded than the effusive trout market bass fishermen are more numerous, distributed almost evenly across the country and have a fanatic media and star system but the bass book shelf is usually spare. Even bass how-tos and celebrity books (like Jimmy Houston's I Done Caught Me a Big'un) seem to carry less sales weight than similar trout-fishing manuals. This package of well-integrated text, graphic bass-fishing lessons and over 200 splash-in-your-face fishing photographs could change that. Bass fishing pro and personality Martin, Doug Hannon and a few other pro bass stars lend the book an insider bassin' authority; the small coffee-table format gives Bill Lindner's photographs (and those of a dozen other contributing photographers) the room for beautiful outdoor shots. The six short chapters really photo essays hit all the essential aspects of the sport (lures, gear, lunar influences, strategies, etc.) including a nod to fly-fishing for bass. There's just enough basic how-to for younger readers, and the 30-odd pages of text are not without practicality, if not real news, for veteran bassers. Many mystified relatives and bass-fishing widows will be relieved to see it in stores for the holidays. (Nov.)Forecast: While it's more illustration than text, this is a finely rigged presentation for the market of 30 million grown-up Americans who spend thousands of dollars a year to catch little green fish. The publisher would do well to advertise in the South for this title, which fills the bass-fishing void.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (October 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743227794
• ISBN-13: 978-0743227797
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,003,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Corrections are in order, December 30, 2002

By 

Daniel J. Warme "dwarme" (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hooked!: America's Passion for Bass Fishing (Hardcover)

For the record, the only writing Roland Martin did on this book was the forward. The main text was by other, unlisted writers who apparently needed Roland's name for marketing purposes.
This is basically a picture book of bass fishing. Nice coffee table book for the angler's home, but not an educational offering. The photography is good but quite frankly, if you get Bassmaster or one of the other fishing magazines, you've already seen a lot of the pictures. Not my cup of tea but if a gift book for anglers is what you want, this could work.