On the premise that small fish deserve more recognition in the field than they get in competition with game fish, this is a more generous compendium which combines facts about species, identification, methods and sport, with a certain amount of personal recall by a man to whom fishing has been a lifelong avocation. With opening chapters on the 21 families of fish considered, on tackle and gear, on terminology, this then takes up rook bass, crappies, sunfish, perch, pike, bass, pickerel, catfish, whitefish, herring, sturgeon, and many others- where found, how identified- how caught. There's a bit of philosophy-some anecdote- a mood of nostalgic memories of boyhood.