Customer Reviews

Moon California Recreational Lakes and Rivers: The Complete Guide to Boating, Fishing, and Water Sports (Moon Handbooks)

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

 

 

Tom Stienstra has had an enviable career as an outdoor writer and enthusiast. In addition to his outdoor column for the San Francisco Chronicle, his "research" for each updated edition California Hiking, California Fishing, and California Camping, all best selling titles in multiple editions, keeps him in the field more than half the year. Would that we all were so fortunate. 'California Recreational Lakes and Waters' is really a supplement to the more popular 'California Fishing' volume, also put out by Avalon Travel under their Moon imprint. Like the former volume, this one discusses fishing in some detail, but the emphasis here is more on boating and water sports. Those looking for the best class V kayaking rapids in the state will find what they are looking for in this book. So will windsurfers, boaters, swimmers, and those still addicted to their canoes. (Steinstra is one of the latter, and his preface describes his life long love affair with his 15 year old green monster.) Just over 350 bodies of water are described, and subjectively rated, in this book (Little Lake Gregory near my house only gets a 6 on a scale of 1-10!) so you can easily find a body of water near you to explore on any day you should have free time. Given the price of gasoline these days, "nearby" is of upmost importance.

I do have some ambivalence about the marketing decision made by Avalon not to simply combine this book with California Fishing. There is substantial crossover between the bodies of water covered in each. Nonetheless, hard core fishermen are an audience unto themselves and other forms of water recreation are becoming increasingly popular in the state. Bottom line: this book gets five stars for doing what it sets out to do. Classic Stienstra, it is at once informative and amusing, and if it gets you outside, the book is more than worth the price.

As a California newcomer, I found this book most helpful not only for locating canoeing opportunities, but to get oriented to the state's abundant water resources. The organizational format was outstanding for enabling quick focus on the region of interest. In particular, the reader will find the bold-type headers in water narratives easy to follow and precise in description. Maps are excellent, and accurate.

This book is broken down into small chapters on every lake and river in California. More of a book / text than a map or illustration.
Very thorough and detailed. Good to use as a secondary reference once you have picked where you want to go from more of a map/description
book. Well worth the purchase price but not my first choice for a search of California Lakes or Rivers. Check out Recreatioon Lakes of California by Dirksen.