Some pretty decent books on bass fishing have been turned out in recent years, but none that could be considered "definitive" for the modern age of the sport. Steve Price has stepped up to fill that void here at the close of 2014.
Price, the longtime writer for Bassmaster, Field & Stream and other hook-and-bullet outlets, has covered bass fishing for nearly four decades and has been an eyewitness to almost every major advancement it's undergone since Ray Scott held his first All-American Invitational in 1967. When combined with his superb writing skills, that long association with the sport made him uniquely qualified to pen "The Fish that Changed America."
If Price weren't already a Bass Fishing Hall of Famer, this book would make him worthy of induction. It's packed with interesting anecdotes about how many aspects of the sport came to be what they are today, and almost all of them are presented in the words of the men who made them happen.
For each chapter (there are 42 of them, including an introductory stanza), Price presents the full backstory and then lets the principals take over from there. The book is divided into seven parts (fish, tackle, lakes, boats, pros, business and trophies) and his interviewees run the gamut from Scott to Alex Langer, the man who invented (and much more significantly, marketed) the Flying Lure.
Price makes no claim that the book will make anyone a better bass fisherman. It's strictly fireside reading material to entertain and inform those whose passion for the sport is well developed. If you're at all interested in how this seemingly simple but actually quite complicated puzzle came together, you'll enjoy it.
Each chapter is entirely independent of those that precede or follow it, which makes the book easy to consume in small portions. The only downside is that if you love bass fishing and enjoy reading, it's only going to last you a few days – maybe a week at the outside. Chances are good, however, that you'll devour it more than once.
To order the book direct from the publisher, click here.
-- John Johnson
-- BassFan Senior Edtior
