Sea Level: Adventures of a Saltwater Angler

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Catching Fish
Review: The thing I love about this book is that it puts things in perspective. I love to salt water fly fish but it is the fishing and being around others who love the sport that makes it special. Catching and landing the fish is just the icing on the cake! I really like the way the author uses his real life experiences as a guide and fisherman. These are great stories and I like the look of the cover. It is a little pricy but it makes a great coffee table book...I feel it will be a collectible some day. I just hope Mr. Cardenas writes more to add to the collection.

Rating:
Summary: tells it like it is
Review: VFR and low altitude over the Atlantic from Montauk to Chesapeake Bay made yesterday's down-and-back aerial commute to our partner-shipyard a perfect backdrop . . . I devoured Sea Level. The 26-essay collection (compiled over 15 years) conveys Jeffrey Cardenas' eclectic adventures in saltwater angling - from both ends of the skiff, knee-deep, and up to his neck. Bonefish to bluefin, the author has experienced it all.

Tropical environments, oceanic wildness, and the right attitude to face these elements are misunderstood by many anglers. Cardenas' naturalist's perspective is a constant in his writing; he provides fascinating windows through which the harsh, complex and often subtle world where we pursue game may be glimpsed. Among vast, seemingly disconnected fragments of natural phenomena Jeffrey draws understandable constellations. It's fascinating, entertaining prose.

The essay "Barracudas" will make you laugh. "Survivor" will make you think - really think. You'll feel a raw seascape in "Bonefish Wilderness" (my favorite). His words on bonefish (woven through many stories) are collectively as enlightening as texts devoted entirely to that species.

I recommend Sea Level to fly-rodders of all backgrounds; it's a great read that tells it like it is.

Rating:
Summary: change the title!!
Review: While the writing is good and the stories are interesting, saltwater fly fisherman share a "snootiness" that is a bit off-putting to us guys who are quite content with our "boat rods".

The title of the book and/or cover ought be changed to indicate it is a fly fishing book, in my opinion. Of course, the market is much smaller and no doubt the author and publisher considered this when deciding on a title. And, the price ... is a bit out of whack as well.