When one starts, then they all say, “My turn!”

It used to be that sports biographies hovered around the major team sports, occasionally making the foray to tennis pros and boxers. Then someone realized motor sports were big and soon we had biographies on Formula 1 and NASCAR drivers. Then Mick Foley (aka Cactus Jack, Mankind; he also tag-teamed with The Rock under the name of The Rock 'n' Sock Connection) started the wrestling biography craze that now seems to be running out of steam. Or wrestlers of note. Or something.

Which brings us to the sport of fishing. Now, there have always been the how-to fishing books and the ubiquitous flyfishing books that are one part essay, two parts philosophy and one part humor. But now we have something different, something that hasn’t reared it’s head since the mid-90s. Bass fishing books, and not the how-to ones either.

It started earlier this year with Sowbelly: The Obscure Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass by Monte Burke. It’s all about the quest to top the 1932 bass record of 22 pounds and 4 ounces. Ok, you must admit, that’s a lot of bass...



Then immediately thereafter Celebrity Fish Talk: Tales of Fishing From an All-Star Cast by Dave Strege came out. Not a bass fishing book per se, but close enough in my view. This book is chock full of fishing mishaps with various celebrities, including how Kevin Costner faced his own Perfect Storm and what happened when Tiger Woods was confronted with a bear while fishing in Alaska. I really would have liked a story about how Nicholas Cage was nibbled to death by those pesky ravenous blue gills that seem to inhabit every cubic meter of bodies of fresh water, but alas...



It all cumulates with the publication of Fishing on the Edge: The Mike Iaconelli Story. Bringing competitive bass fishing to the new millennium is newcomer Mike Iaconelli, winner of the 2003 Bassmaster Classic. As the front cover states, he’s not your father’s fisherman. ‘nough said.