A grueling 37-hour fight with a Pacific salmon. The maimed fisherman whose severed thumb turned up in the belly of a Mackinaw trout. From extraordinary marlin quests to the crazy bat who took an artificial fly, from hackle-raising tales of "fish catches man" to those nutty catfish noodlers who grope into the murkiest holes bare-handed, here are fishing's most unpredictable and spectacular tales. To get them, Shaun Morey traveled from Alaska to Australia, Mexico and the Caribbean, interviewed anglers, boat captains, guides and witnesses, dug up photographs and video tapes, and confirmed each story.

Yes, truth is stranger than fiction.

"This collection will both amuse and stretch your credulity . . . some of the origins might just surprise you." -- Bob Stearns, [Field & Stream]

"The things that happen to fishermen in this book are unbelievable." -- Rolla Williams, San Diego Union-Tribune