Customer Reviews

Trout Madness

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This book relates simple tales of a lawyer gone mad with trout fishing. What is so unique about this book is the simplicity in the stories told, they feel so close to the heart that the reader can almost touch them. Reading this book will show you how to appreciate the simple things in life and to take notice of the vast array of people who inhabit this world. Even if you have never fished for trout you're sure to enjoy this book

John Voelker is a U.P. legend, hero, statesman & sportsman with a personal history that proves very unique within a very unique part of our landscape. Lord rest (and preserve!) his soul, because there will never be another like him.

All of his stuff is worth a read though I prefer to his "Courtroom Dramas" his 'trout' books published after he abruptly retired from the insanity of Michigan's Supreme Court and retreated to the relative calm of the woods (and the Rainbow Bar) near Ishpeming & Gwinn, Michigan.

This I say in part because the U.P. is still the best 'wilderness' trout experience east of the Mississippi as I well know from my own experiences.

Traver's trout tales are not merely 'how to' books but are stories of relationships, friendships, adventure and (most of all) the Essence of Life's Simplicities.

I love books where the author has been able to craft such a product that it is as though you are right there in their mind as the write their stories. This book is an example of such a product, as a result, it provides you with a portal into a forgotten era as it impact an area that few of us are only vaguely aware of. You will step into the UP of Michigan during the gaslight era to see what trout fishing meant to people of the that time and place. And it is done so well that you never even have time to realize how foreign this land is to you. The trout action is also very wonderful, while not a "how to" type of book it is still somewhat useful because it introduces you to the ways of old. All in all, a great book of trout tales.

When I first read this book I was a college student in Laramie, Wyoming, 1978. It was my first Thanksgiving at the University of Wyoming and it had been snowing for 3 days, the wind was blowing so hard you could barely see your hand in front of your face, roads in and out of town were closed, I didn't know what I missed more at that moment, warm weather, flyfishing or my girl friend back in Connecticut. My friends and I wondered down to the local Catholic church for Thanksgiving dinner and after eating our fill the ladies auxilliary sent us off with bags of leftovers, pies and a few books to last us through the storm. Needless to say the book I receieved was Trout Madness. Once I got started reading it I forgot all about the storm and missing my girl friend, although I dont think she was missing me, the writing was just so real to me I couldn't put it down. The stories are heartfelt and related with wisdom and charm that only one who is absolutely in love with the outdoors and fishing could conjour. Although supposedly some are based on life experiences, but you know fishing stories. Anyway the book saw me through that cold wintery experience in Wyoming and well into everything else the author had written. If you would like to read about what fishing was and maybe could still be, the relationships and secrets of a lifetime of woodsmanship this is a great collectioin of stories that have stuck with me for many years now.

The best book i have ever put in my hand. Now go read "Trout Magic" and "Danny and the boys"

Had often heard of Traver's classic, even read excerpts from it. But this was my first time to read the book. It shall not be my last. Trout Madness is thoroughly delightful.
Out of print but still not hard to get, nor is it expensive. Highly recommended.

Travers Trout Madness is a classic that is both ageless and timely. It reminds me of G. Macquarries Stories of the Old Duck Hunters in its great, folksy story-telling.