THE MALLALIEU LAKE CHRONICLES

is the story of a year in fishing. It follows the author from the cold days of winter when we dream of fishing to the magic of spring and the opening of the fishing season to the lazy days of summer and the glorious times of autumn. We travel to Panama for peacock bass, to Canada for walleyes and northern pike and to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. We fish the Porcupine Mountains in Upper Michigan for smallmouth bass, for musky in northern Wisconsin and waters close to the writers home in western Wisconsin.

But it is more than just catching fish. We listen to the haunting cry of the loons, the wind through the pines, smell the smoke of campfires and bacon frying in the morning, drink bourbon out of a coffee cup and eat fresh fish fillets cooked on a camp stove. And it is about people. There are fishing buddies and memories; the authors remembers his grandfather who taught him to fish, his father a Marine Corps World War II veteran and trout fisherman, old friends from childhood and new fishing pals.

It is about companionship and adventure and travel as much as it is about fishing. It is about the wonder of nature and laughter among friends and taking a young boy fishing and watching a bald eagle cavort in the skies. It is what fishing and fishermen are all about.