Reviewer: Sharon Brunner
Clyde Wainio’s If it Snows, Go Fishing: 60 Years of Stream Fishing in the Copper Country celebrates a lifetime of fishing adventures in the captivating Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P). Main characters in the story were Ed, someone he fished with for years, his brother Wil, his father Ray and other people he fished with such as his aunt. She surprised him with her fishing ability. Wainio must have taken very good notes throughout the years of his fishing career because he remembered types of fish, locations, and size of many of the fish that were caught since the 1960s. Wainio faced many dangers while fishing. His friend he was fishing with had to stand in the water to escape a bull. They ran into bears, one while walking on the road to their vehicle after fishing and another was in a tree. His father said “Keep walking.” Wainio crept up to rivers and streams to avoid alerting the fish of his presence. I was surprised to learn fish could be spooked. Wainio’s book contains many heartfelt memories of his fishing experiences.
Some of the main themes involve persistence and a love of fishing. Wainio often fished the day after it snowed. Snow in May proved to be beneficial. That was where the title came from and he provided information behind his theory. The U.P. can be known to sport a lot of snow even in May. Over 200 inches of snow fell in Sault Ste. Marie last winter. Wainio provided maps of his Copper Fishing areas, which were extensive. According to the narrative in the book, he fished at many of the streams, lakes, and rivers. He spent hours fishing in many of the locations and became excited when the fish he and others caught were large. Specific areas in which more fish were caught were noted. Wainio was well versed in fishing, and he knew that fishing when there was a strong east wind was not a good idea. He caught most of his biggest fish during the warmer summer months.
I had some experience concerning fishing in the U.P. When I was fishing with my boyfriend when I was 18, I caught a 12-inch perch which was large for perch. He was proud of me for catching that fish. When camping at Brevort, we would fish and mostly caught a lot sun fish. Walitalo provided a picture of a sun fish on page 87. I spent hours cleaning smelt after catching buckets of them. They were so good when I used Drake’s fry mix to cook them. A bucket of smelt was featured on page 61. I enjoyed seeing all the pictures of fish and learned a lot about what they looked like. It was humorous to learn how not to catch big fish such as falling asleep, night crawlers turning to mush and the use of lightweight fishing poles
I was reminded of the 1992 movie “The River Runs Through It” starring Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt and Tom Skerritt with Director Robert Redford. The movie involved two sons of a stern minister, one was more reserved while the other was rebellious. They grew up in rural 1920s Montana while they devoted a lot of their time fly fishing. A useful guide for fishermen would be the Fisherman’s Bible: The World’s Most Comprehensive Angling Reference put together by Jay Cassell was a book that came to mind when reading this book. The author wants to know if he missed anything and will rectify the mistake in the next edition. Wainio recommended longer poles for catching the bigger fish and this book could assist with finding the right fishing gear.
I recommend If it Snows, Go Fishing: 60 Years of Stream Fishing in the Copper Country for its humor, because of its detailed descriptions of fish and its specific locations of where to find them, and its fishing adventures. Wainio humorously described how many fish he caught with one night crawler. It was surprising he did not run into more bears when fishing in the woods as much as he did and running into a bull would be unexpected. Many of the fish found in the waters of the U.P. were mentioned in the book and Wainio mentioned a multitude of locations in the Copper Country to experience fishing success. Wainio proudly shared his heartfelt memoir with phenomenal illustrations of many of his fishing adventures.
Book: “If it Snows, Go Fishing: 60 Years of Stream Fishing in the Copper Country
Author: Clyde Wainio
