Question (from John Mason)

Hi Steve How To Catch Them books Can you, or anyone else out there, offer any guidance on the correct wrappers for first editions? I have just embarrassed myself over a later edition wrapper which was on a first edition book when I bought it and I believe others may well have similar experiences. I guess the price (if not clipped) could offer a pointer, and also the list of books on the back of the wrapper. However one needs to know the first edition price and the actual sequence of publication to even begin to making a start at this task. Notwithstanding that I am fairly certain that in some cases publishers (not only of HTCT) put out books originally with second edition wrappers if they printed a second impression before selling out of the firsts. Kind regards John Mason

Answer (from Steve Burke)

What an interesting question! I almost got caught myself in the same way so I bet many of us would like to know the answer. I suspect that quite a few of the later books in the series were published in just one edition, so perhaps the price and the list of books may not always solve the issue. I don`t know the answer myself but hopefully someone can help, perhaps if they already have most if not all of the first editions.

Question (from (from P.B. of Glasgow))

What a great idea for a website! I’m sure it’ll be a big success and I hope you can help with this question. I’ve been a trout and salmon angler for many years but have just started pike fishing this winter and, to tell the truth, I’ve struggled a bit. So can you please recommend a good up to date pike book? Thanks in anticipation.

Answer (from Steve Burke)

There are a lot of very good pike books available but there are two I’d suggest you start with. The first is “Pike Fishing Beyond 2000”, which is published by the PAC. I reviewed this book when it first came out and so I’ll copy what I wrote to the Reviews section here on Classic Fishing Books. Once you’ve read this I think you’ll find “Pike: The Practice and The Passion” by Mick Brown very useful. It’s very practical and easy to follow, and is uniquely divided into piking month by month. Indeed it’s my favourite pike book. In fact it sounds as I’ll have to do a review of this one sooner rather than later!

Question (from B.S. of Liverpool)

Firstly, thanks for starting an interesting and useful website. I can see it growing very quickly and wish you the best of luck with it. I’ve a question that nobody else seems to be able to answer, so hopefully you can help! I’m collecting “How To Catch Them” books and I’ve got 19. How many are there in the series?

Answer (from Steve Burke)

You’re not quite half way there as, as far as I know, there are 44. Some of them are very hard to find – indeed a few I’ve never seen except in wanted ads. For instance I’ve yet to handle a copy of Specimen Fish (by Peter Stone) and HTCT Cod. Most of the text of the books is rather outdated, but some are still useful guides. I especially like HTCT Roach by Capt. L.A. Parker, which contains quite a bit from his classic “This Fishing”. However, the fun of course is in the collecting, and copies with nice dustwrappers are increasingly hard to find, especially if you’re one of those who insist on first editions. I know some collectors who have collected all the series regardless of condition, then continue the chase by replacing them with first editions.