Seasons of the Striper: Pursuing the Great American Gamefish

by Bill Sisson, Peter Kaminsky (Foreword)

Lifelong fisherman and author Bill Sisson takes us on a journey to fish the finest striped bass waters along the Atlantic coast.

This is the story of America’s beloved saltwater sport fish and the millions of anglers who pursue them. Drawing on three decades of notebooks full of observations and interviews, as well as hundreds of hours spent pursuing the “striper,” “linesider,” or “rockfish”—as they are known regionally—through each season, from spring through late fall.

The essays and photographs illuminate the fish through these seasons and highlight their pursuit from the surf and boats, day and night. Accompanying essays, or fish tales, are told in Sisson’s unmistakably authentic voice and share stories of history, the seasons, and friendships. These tales transport us from the Gulf of Maine to Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, and from the Chesapeake Bay to Montauk, the Jersey Shore, Martha’s Vineyard, and Cape Cod.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2022

Reviews

[Ken Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a beautiful coffee table book that is also a wise, interesting and well-written paean to the history and mystery of striped bass fishing, please buy "Seasons." Sisson is the former editor-in-chief of Anglers Journal--arguably the most literate and beautiful fishing magazine ever produced. "Seasons" takes its cues in the most flattering way from the way AJ approaches fishing--as obsession, as beauty, as art, as craft, as perhaps the most telegenic and viscerally interesting connection to the environment. The photography is simply breathtaking but the writing is equally compelling, powerful and moving. You'll learn a ton. In twelve Chapters, Sisson glides through the history, both highly researched and highly personal, that captures the allure of iridescent battler that he calls the "great American gamefish." But if you're looking for the heart of the book--and the heart of the writer--linger on the chapter titled, "The Old Ways." There Sisson takes readers on a deeply personal journey, recounting his childhood immersion in striper fishing as a member of a family that aligned with what would become a disappearing American tribe, the Swamp Yankees. These were free-thinking, rugged individuals in hand-made boats, eking out a living and chasing stripers on beautifully arresting seashores long before they were parceled out, developed and sold to hedge-fund money. They say you can't go home again but Sisson takes us to that particular place in a way that you can't help but feel his pride in what he learned and absorbed there and the rueful sense of what's been forever lost. This is not an essay you will find in most 'fishing' books--which is why “Seasons” should be on every thinking fisherman's coffee table.—Ken Wells

[Bob Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked it up at the shore library and it was a good beach read. Photo quality was excellent, and got me fired up for striped bass fishing.

Falls a little too into the fishing as an epic soul searching journey for me, but if you like striper fishing you will enjoy it.