Lines On The Water
Book Review: Cast Catch Release
Cast Catch Release
Author: Marina Gibson
This is really three books woven into one. On the one hand there are delightfully and vividly described fly fishing trips around the world catching every fly angler’s ‘bucket list’ of fish like the tarpon, permit and bone fish in Mexico, bumphead parrot fish off the Farquhar atoll in the Indian ocean, Atlantic salmon wherever they can be found, red fish at the bottom of the Mississippi and everything in between. Marina describes not only the events themselves, but the skills and tackle needed to be successful.
On another front she describes in great detail the ups and downs in her personal life, how she discovered that angling is the great mental saviour for all of us and how it not only gave her the inner tools to overcome periods of depression, but also to show her future path to impart to all the joys and benefits of fly fishing. This is encapsulated not only in her personality and business but also the energy that she has put in to establish a charity in Cancer & Pisces to give those recovering from cancer the opportunity to use fly fishing as an aid to recovery.
Threaded through each chapter is a detailed account of the amazing life cycle of the Atlantic salmon from birth to death and all the risks and hazards placed in their way predominately by man in the form of pollution, salmon farms, barriers to migration, and climate change to name but a few. Throughout the book it is very apparent that of all forms of fly fishing it is salmon angling that is Marina’s primary passion.
A book I have no hesitation in recommending to anglers of all ages, we can all learn from this. Indeed my 88-year-old father, a dedicated salmon angler of many years, read it after me and told me afterwards the he just could not put it down until he had finished it.
Review by Mark Owen
Head of Fisheries, Angling Trust
Cast catch Release is available from good booksellers. Buy online HERE
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