The Best Fishing Books I’ve Ever Read

I’ve been a student of the sport of fishing for as long as I could read. I’ve often discussed how some of my earliest memories are poring over a book about Northern Pike and being enchanted by tales of the water wolf. My thirst for knowledge led me to acquire more and more texts throughout my life as I searched far and wide for the best fishing books on everything from largemouth bass to fly fishing. So inspired, I eventually wrote a few fishing books of my own.

Unfortunately, some of the best fishing books ever are no longer in print and can only be found on eBay, but there are several other great works available on Amazon and other retailers. Here is a list of my favorite fishing books of all time. Where possible, I’ll give you a link for purchase. Where not, I’ll at least describe it as best as possible so you can find it second hand some day yourself.

Note that while most of the “best of” posts out there basically try and spam you with every book ever written in a hope of making a sale, I really want to keep this list authentic and talk about the books that have truly inspired me, or I found useful for some reason. I have no idea if this will make it next to impossible to find this article on search, but at least if you do, it’ll be useful.

A Disclosure Up Front

Just so you know (and it is posted all over the place) I am an Amazon affiliate, and any links to Amazon on his page will grant me a small commission at no cost to you if you make a purchase. However, as of writing (4/24/2021), I’m not an affiliate for anyone else. So if I send you to some other website because that’s the only place I could find the book, it’s because I really want you to have it – not because I’m making any commission on it. Take that for what you will. I’m hoping that we’re planting a little “Trust Tree” here, but we’ll see if you agree!

The Fishing Books That Inspired Me

First things first, let’s talk about those fishing books that really inspired me as a kid: In-Fisherman’s Handbook series. I believe at the time it was called “The In-Fisherman Masterpiece Series” and was a boxed set of five. First printed in 1983, Dad had this set up at the lake and I would spend evening after evening staring at the book on pike in particular. While there are also books on laregemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, crappie, (and later catfish), it was their book on northern pike that truly fascinated me.

It was this series of books that first taught me concepts like the different types of lakes (eutrophic, mesotrophic, oligotrophic) and where to find fish in each. It also had several cut away illustrations showing where to find fish on points and at different times of the year. They teach the different times of year from a fish’s perspective (e.g. pre-spawn, post-spawn, the summer peak, etc.) as well as how to identify these using water temperature and other clues. They discuss the likely moods of fish and how to trigger them at these times.

I’ve seen it said that these books are too technical. I’ll grant they’re technical, but I don’t know that the “too” applies. Again, I was able to follow along well enough when I was 6-10. I will say this, these are basically textbooks. They have some illustrations (mostly helpful maps) and some black and white photos, but by and large, they’re simply filled with information.

I’m the kind of guy who enjoys a thoroughly-researched tome and who isn’t afraid to dig through scientific journals from the 1940s to get information, as seen from my article on fishing for chain pickerel. I appreciate how the In-Fisherman publications always strive to bring science into their works.

Where to Find These Books?

According to the copy I have in my office, these books have been reprinted at least 17 times. There are quite a few out there! If you’re interested in checking out the book that I credit with basically inspiring me to grow up and write about fishing, click the picture below to go to Amazon and check best price.

While I liked their book on pike the best (mostly because of my uncle’s trophy hanging on the wall), they did write a series of books on other fish. Here are some links to where you can find them. Note that these are older books, so while a few are new for a reasonable price, you might want to consider getting a gently used one on some of the others. In any event, check Amazon for the best price as it can fluctuate.

• In-Fisherman Smallmouth Bass: Handbook of Strategies
• Largemouth Bass: An In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies
• In-Fisherman Channel Catfish Fever: Handbook of Strategies
• In-Fisherman Walleye Wisdom: Handbook of Strategies
• The regretfully named In-Fisherman Crappie Wisdom: Handbook of Strategies

Other Advanced Fishing Books

We might as well roll right through with some other fishing books that I would consider “advanced.” What I mean by that is that these are highly technical books, not necessarily for the beginner, and probably not the best “bathroom reader” that you can pick up and digest a piece at a time. Nonetheless, if you are truly a student of this sport, these books are extremely helpful.

The Critical Concepts Fishing Book Series

Once again, we see In-Fisherman at the forefront. This time with their Critical Concepts series. These are much like the Fishing Masterpiece Series discussed above, but expanded considerably. I personally own their largemouth bass series but at some point will probably pick up their book series on walleye as well as crappie.

What I enjoy about these books is they break things down book by book so they can explore it in more detail than they did in the Fishing Masterpiece Series. Also some (though not all) of the books have color illustrations which is helpful especially when you’re discussing fishing lures, where variations in color can make a difference.

I wore the spine on these books out very quickly and learned a ton reading them. Once again, science is put to the forefront. For example, there’s an entire chapter in the largemouth bass series about tracking the species. Several graphs and considerable data is produced citing legitimate scientific studies. The insight from these is incredible and will help you be a better fisherman.

If you click the links in the first paragraph, you’ll be taken to the first book in each of these series. Note that there are several books in each series (I believe 3 for bass, 4 for walleye, and 2 for crappie). Make sure you check them all out. The second book in each series is about location, and this alone could save your fishing days or even pay for itself in terms of tournament wins or meals brought home.

High Percentage Fishing

Josh Alwine spent considerable time and effort bringing a true masterpiece into this world with High Percentage Fishing: A Statistical Approach to Improving Catch Rates. What he basically did is look at several prior works of big bass theory, specifically works by Doug Hannon, John Hope, and Bill Murphy (huge names in the industry). Alwine noticed that they disagreed with each other significantly, and tried to explain why.

To do so, he compiled a data set of 40,000 individual catches and started to piece together what it all meant. He cross referenced this data with historic weather data showing where these fish were caught – a truly monumental undertaking. By doing all of this work (he calls it “Piscemetrics”) he was able to draw some important conclusions about how, when, and where you can catch more and bigger fish.

You just don’t get this approach in most books and I appreciate the few that go to these levels. If Mr. Alwine had a blog, you can bet that this would be “epic shareable content” for sure. This amount of effort is incredible and we’re all very fortunate that this was written. As you can see from the photo below, mine is a well-used copy! Really, if science doesn’t scare you and you have an appreciation for what data can do, go pick this book up in the link above.

Easier Reading Fishing Books for Beginners

Not all fishing books are hard to read. Here’s a list of books that are much more digestible for the novice. They read much more like a conversation than a scientific journal, and the advice is excellent. There are plenty of books that fit this bill but a few that I think are important that you should start with are written by two of the masters: Kevin Van Dam and the late Homer Circle.

Kevin Van Dam’s Bass Strategies

It’s hard not to have a title written by the best bass fisherman of all time on this list. This book was first published when I was eleven years old and I found it a few years later. It was easy to read and conversational but importantly it broke down the basic concepts of fishing that you need to know. Cover vs. structure, forage, and the whole mystique of lures. My copy is the 1995 edition, but Kevin Van Dam’s Bass Strategies was updated in 2010 with more techniques and tips.

You’re not going to find (at least in the ’95 version) tons of data or graphs or scientific discussion. Instead you’re going to find practical advice about what works, and–importantly–little tweaks that you can make in your presentation that are going to go a long way. The book is structured almost like a blog post – lots of headings and subheadings to break up the text. This means you can pick it up and explore it in bits and pieces.

Bass Wisdom by Homer Circle

The late Homer Circle was a legend in the bass fishing community. Active for decades and a partner in crime with Glen Lau and the Bigmouth production, Homer Circle also was a routine contributor to Bassmaster Magazine. To say that he knew how to fish would be the greatest understatement on this blog. Bass Wisdom is another great fishing book that everyone should read. Luckily, it’s an easy enough read that everyone can.

There’s 32 chapters in the book which seems like a lot, but many are just a few pages long. They concentrate on different topics such as what sounds and colors make bass bite, and how to land them. Most of the questions that beginners would have about fishing are answered in this book. Again, it’s one of those books that you can pick up, quickly find what you need, and read a few pages before your fishing trip.

Various Fishing Book Series

There’s a whole world of great fishing books that you might not be aware of. Several different fishing clubs have printed a series of books over the years only available to their members. Three that I’ve found while scouring e-Bay for “fishing book lot” were published by B.A.S.S., The Hunting & Fishing Library, and North American Fishing Club.

If you search for any of these names, you’ll be taken to various websites that have some. I hesitate to provide a link because who knows if it will still be valid when you go to it (it’s hard to say with used books).

All I will tell you is that if you can find a bundle of these offered on eBay, you should buy them. They’re full color, very high detail, and for the most part easy reads. While there are plenty of concepts offered, pains are taken to make them accessible to all. You can pick them up and read a section here and there just fine.

My Fishing Book

I suppose I’ll leave it to others to say whether or not this is a “best” fishing book or not, but I did write one of my own. Fishing With Kids: A Parent’s Guide is designed to help parents take their kids out fishing. If you’ve never gone fishing on your own, this will walk you through how to do it. I talk about the gear you need, what techniques to use, and what fish to target. If you’re a fan of this blog and the way it’s written, I think you’ll enjoy it.

The Best Fishing Books for Kids

I’m more or less of the opinion that kids can handle any of the books I’ve already described. I know I had no issues reading any of them when I was little. I will admit, however, that kids tend to like books with a lot of pictures. Not all of the above have those.

One book that I’ve caught my five-year-old looking at frequently is out of print. It’s The Complete Freshwater Fisherman by Ten Pound Books. Published in 2006, it is filled to the top with interesting photographs and tips. It absolutely walks a child or other beginning angler through everything they’d need to know about fishing. You’ll learn to cast, hook, fight, and land fish.

It may interest you to hear that I’ve been working with a publisher to write a book on fishing for kids of my own. It’s due out towards the end of the summer and I’ll update this post when it arrives. If you’re interested in a free advanced copy, send me an email!

Note the above are just instructional fishing books for kids. If you’re interested in bedtime fishing stories for children, I did write another post about fishing books for kids where I went into some of my son and daughter’s favorites.

Conclusions

This was a fun post to write. It was great looking back and thumbing through all these books. It made me remember how fascinating it was the first time I read them. Whether you’re just getting into the sport or want to improve, I truly believe these books will help you. I know I didn’t list every book known to man, but these are the ones I think are actually worth reading. I hope you found it helpful.

Can I let my guard down and be open for a minute? I have to tell you, I don’t know if this article is going to gain traction. There’s this whole concept of “SEO” or “Search Engine Optimization” where people try to load up their posts with as many keywords and products as they can. This is why you see so many of these “best of” lists that basically have 30 things to choose from. I’m of the mind that you come to a “best of” post because you want to know just that! 17 of 30 seems rather ordinary to me!

Anyway, I decided to try and give you what you really wanted in this post. Did I succeed? Please let me know in the comments, or send me an email. I’m curious if you’d appreciate more posts with this structure in the future and feel they add value. You can also sound off on fishingfather’s Facebook page and tell me there. I’d appreciate the feedback!

Thanks,

John Paxton