How to Catch a Fish

It is a worthy addition to the lexicon of great fishing books, from Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler to Mark Kurlansky's Cod and Thomas McGuane's The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing.

Since getting hooked on fishing as a boy, Ireland has punted on wild Irish lakes, clambered over medieval monasteries, looking in drains in order to find out how the monks went fishing, trawled through old texts to discover the origins of the word angle, chewed the fat with other devotees, and spent thousands of hours actually fishing.

He has fished in five countries and witnessed (at last count) 15 methods of trying to land the big one, though he confines himself strictly to rod, reel and a floating line.

He dispels the myth that fishing is always for the table: as concerns for the fish population increase, and our knowledge and respect for the environment grows, fish are often landed, admired and then returned to where they are allowed to swim away. Thus the fishing experience has changed and indeed been heightened - the angler feels both physically advantaged and spiritually enlarged (and the fish no doubt relieved).

How to Catch a Fish is packed with glorious fishing stories that will have you laughing out loud, but Ireland also gives advice on how to get started and, on a serious note, warns of the effects of over-fishing, which threatens oceans and rivers. He also argues for the right of access for everyone through open land to river courses.

Kevin Ireland is one of New Zealand's most highly acclaimed writers. He has won the Montana Award for History and Biography, the National Book Award for Poetry and the Prime Minister's Award for Poetry. A resident of Devonport, Auckland, he is also vice-president of the North Shore Cricket Club, and the Torpedo Bay Indoor Bowling Club patron.

He says the most unexpected fish he has ever caught was a specimen-sized ling off the Fastnet Rock in Roaring Water Bay, West Cork.

How to Catch a Fish has been acclaimed by many leading writers and poets:

'Following the instructions in this enchanting manual, I made a decision to hover, angle and, if necessary, tickle Kevin Ireland into taking me trout fishing'
ELIZABETH SMITHER

'A mixture of practical advice, history, autobiography, anecdote and quiet reflection - almost as many ingredients as in a bouillabaisse and just as tasty. I never knew fishing could be such fun'
MAURICE GEE

'Ireland demystifies fishing. How welcome that is. He's informative but never omniscient, and often very clever and amusing. It's brilliant and I loved it'
BRIAN TURNER

'Kevin Ireland's writing has the unusual combination of the born raconteur's exuberance with the quieter insight of a dedicated poet'
OWEN MARSHALL