Put “The Common Angler” on Your Reading List

I was a bit confused when I first picked up “The Common Angler” by Jack Wollitz because there’s not much that’s common about Jack’s angling life. He’s been in the outdoor media a lot longer than even a grizzled vet like me, has fished and ridden with superstars including Rick Clunn and Wade Boggs, and has permanently bruised thumbs to prove his fishing accomplishments. Then I read the tagline – “A Celebration of Fishing” – and it made a little bit more sense. This was a book that aimed at helping us to understand through our mutual shared experiences why so many of us were born to fish, or somehow latched onto the sport and made it slightly more than an obsession.

Indeed, on the first page of the preface, he simply says “It is good to be passionate about things…This book is for those who are passionate about things.”

No one in my family likes to fish. I mean, a few of them have gone out a time or two, and seemed to enjoy it, but if they never went again that would likely be fine with them. But they deeply understand my passion for it, and respect that, because they have diverse passions of their own, like art and music and Japanese culture and helping people with seemingly unfixable problems.

That was the main lesson that I got from them growing up: Whatever you do, do it because it genuinely makes you happy and do it to the fullest extent of your capabilities. Only then do they, to quote Jack, “provid(e) context and meaning to your very existence.” I’ve always had their support, but I wasn’t fully able to realize that aspect of my existence until I found people who shared it.

That’s what’s so beautiful about the book. In just about every chapter, I found myself relating to Jack’s experiences and relationships and goals. That’s what we have in common.

If you’re a hard core angler, you too can probably relate to those experiences – getting up to get the jump on everyone else, building a cadre of confidantes who are both your best friends and your angling sounding boards, dreaming of hidden and forbidden ponds.

I really liked the fact that Jack is humble about his experience, ability and level of expertise, and allows his long list of accomplishments – not so much tournament wins, but rather a track record of increasingly unforgettable days – to speak for itself. He gets snagged like us, he believes in “holding your mouth right” just like many of us, and he understands that both competition and lazy days chasing bluegills have their time, place and value. Also, he’s not afraid to veer outside of the bass lane, chasing muskies or salty critters when the opportunity presents itself. I never trust the self-proclaimed experts who are only able to opine on one narrow portion of the sport. He has his eyes open and his brain spinning.

In addition to his passion for angling, I could also relate to how Jack valued his time as an outdoor writer. He began writing a weekly column in my high school graduation year of 1988 and is still at it. “Writers want readers to feel what they feel,” he wrote, and I got it. Combining a passion with an ability to express that passion is a distinct gift, one that I don’t take lightly, and I’m thankful to those who came before me for paving the way. Jack respects his predecessors, too, and provides personalized takes on Hemingway and Izaak Walton.

One of the quotations from the book that stood out to me most came from Rick Clunn: “The greatest reward in fishing is that heightened sense of being alive.” Jack gets it. But what I really have in common with him is my recent understanding that no matter where you are in life, there’s still time to feed a passion, particularly a passion for fishing. It’s never too late.

“Make your next fishing trip the one that starts the best time of your life,” he wrote.

I think I will.

You can purchase “The Common Angler” through Amazon.com and at many other booksellers.