"Fishing and Hunting Stories from Lake of the Woods" is an aptly titled book, as it is basically a collection of the author's favorite experiences from his hunting and fishing trips to Lake of the Woods. For those of you unfortunates who are unfamiliar with the lake named in the title, it is the 12th largest lake in the US, sits on the Canadian/US (Minnesota) border, and provides the east border for the small town in which I grew up. So now you know my motivation for picking up this short collection.
The booked is split into halves, one fishing and one hunting, and each chapter contains a collection of stories and recollections pertaining to a different species of animal. The author is the owner of Lund fishing tackle in Minnesota, as well as a high school teacher, and he owns land on the islands of Lake of the Woods. Made obvious by the volume of his stories is the fact that he has spent many, many hours enjoying the lake and has taken his share of bounty from it. At the end of each chapter, Lund gives some bullet point helpful hints for hunting/fishing the species discussed in the chapter. They all seem tried and true based on his experiences.
While Dr. Lund is definitely an outdoorsman first and an author second, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I felt as if I were listening to my grandfather retell tales that he has told dozens of times, and you can sense the joy that Lund gets from the act of recalling and telling about his experiences.
My favorite part of the book is Dr. Lund's reinforcement of my own belief, that while the act of hunting and fishing is great, the real joy is found in being outdoors and sharing experiences with friends/family. The product of the hunt is secondary. He has been blessed with many friends and relatives around whom his stories revolve, and the memories of his experiences with these people make the memories more indelible for him, and bring the stories to life for the reader.
As I mentioned, I am completely biased since I grew up on Lake of the Woods and love hunting and fishing, so I am giving the book a 4 rating. The prose is not astounding, but I enjoyed hearing the stories and became excited to continue building my own collection as a result of reading this book.
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