New Books: The Orvis Guide to Personal Fishing Craft

We just received a copy of Rickey Noel Mitchell’s new book The Orvis Guide to Personal Fishing Craft (The Lyons Press, December 2007, 99 pages, softcover). The book covers float tubes, pontoon boats, canoes, and kayaks and offers instruction on fishing from each craft (of course), safety and accessories. Mitchell is a writer and kayak fly-fishing guide out of Fresno, California, and apparently has plenty of field experience to back up his advice. Here he talks about fighting an invisible leviathan in Monterey Bay: “Fortunately my bow was pointed in the right direction and I tie a decent Bimini knot when I build a fly line, because the creature on the end of my line yanked me out of my teaching circle almost capsizing a couple of kayakers as it did so. Pushing the fighting butt of the rod into my gut, my PFD gave me the perfect cushioning and acted as a fighting belt. The mysterious fish was towing my kayak so fast the stern threw up a wake.”