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Sowbelly: The Obsessive Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass | 
| Author: Monte Burke
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $6.16
You Save: $17.79 (74%)
New (4) Used (9) Collectible (1) from $2.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 1099628
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.3
ASIN: B000BOB30G
Publication Date: March 17, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: New book (may have publ mark on edge of pages)
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Product Description
In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, a fascinating look at obsessed fishermen and their quest for fame, fortune, and the seventy-two-year-old record for the heaviest largemouth bass On a rainy morning in the spring of 1932, a farmer named George Washington Perry decided it was too wet to plow and went fishing instead. That day, a star was born in McRae, Georgia, when George landed the largest largemouth ever recordedtwenty-two pounds four ounces, to be exact. The fish has inspired and frustrated hundreds of also-ran anglers for decades. Theyve dedicated their lives to the pursuit of Sowbellya nearly mythical fish, whose swinelike girth holds the key to their dreams. Now avid fisherman Monte Burke captures their stories. Sowbelly features a motorcycle cop from Los Angeles who came within ounces of besting the record, the tiny lake in suburban San Diego where competition has turned especially fierce, a biologist from Texas trying to produce the next world-record bass through scientific research, an Alabaman who has lost his marriage and his daughter to this futile pursuit, and even an excursion to Cuba. Tracking each story with an entertaining, stranger-than-fiction eye, Burke brings readers unprecedented access to the key players in this legendary race. Published just in time for fishing expos and Fathers Day, Sowbelly reels in the ultimate catch for the eleven million fishermen pursuing largemouth bass.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
The Side of Fishing You Never Knew January 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I saw this book on the "Bargain" table at my local bookstore and, after reading the inside flap, decided to give it a read for the $5 cost. The book centers on the chase to break the 75-year-old largemouth bass world record and I had no idea that such a wonderful read awaited me!
Starting with the story of Bob Crupi, a black-or-white-with-no-shades-of-gray policeman who pretty much sacrificed his entire non-working life to chase the record, and ending with the story of Samuel Yera, the easy-going husband and father living in Havana who puts his family before fishing, Monte Burke weaves the tales of the "big players" in the chase for the record in a way that makes the book surprisingly easy to read.
Between Crupi and Yera, we meet the Long-Kerr duo, a pair of the most accomplished largemouth fishermen out there who work together to fight for the record. We also meet the trio of Jed, Mac, and Buddha who are a bit Johnny-Come-Lately and chase the record for the money. The details of the two groups' rivalry will make any casual fisherman or non-fisherman scratch their head in amazement.
And what would the book be without meeting the top lure makers who are helping make it all happen from the "other" side of the pole? Burke introduces us to Jerry Rago and Mickey Ellis. How the state-funded group in Texas, led by fisheries biologist David Campbell and director Allen Forshage, that is trying to grow the record bass in a fishery? Even better, how about Porter Hall, who has seemingly given up a wife and child in his pursuit to grow the record bass in lakes of his own?
Finally, Burke gives us a look at the "bassholes" who are doing their best to swindle their way into the record books. His look at some of the more notorious examples of "bassholes" is simultaneously hilarious and mind-blowing.
Over and over again, Burke finds a way to keep the reader interested in this colorful cast of characters, while interweaving the feel-good story of the current record holder, George Perry. But, and maybe more importantly, Burke manages to keep all the characters straight in the reader's mind by not complicating their relationships. He keeps it all simple, as it should be, and gives such a telling description of each that when you finally look at the pictures in the middle of the book, you feel like you've already viewed them.
This really is an "anybody" kind of book, but those who have had some fishing experience will truly get the most out of it. Those who have never fished may be scared to touch a rod and reel after reading this book for fear of catching the bug caught by the characters within.
 This is a fun book for any fisherman November 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Though the book is written in an easygoing style it contains a lot of fascinating and in-depth information on fishing and the American history of the sport.
Burke is both a capable writer and a fisherman and his intelligence, sense of humor and love of the sport come through in the stories he tells.
Can't Put Down Super Read! September 27, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I could not put the book down. What a great writer. I don't fish for the Big bass but I really enjoyed reading about the men that do. A great read. I would recommend this book to any avid or even weekend bass fisherman (woman)!!!
Not just for bass fisherman September 6, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Wow and I thought I was an obsessed fisherman. The book is all the more relevant now that one of the anglers mentioned in the novel has garnered recent publicity for his unofficial world record. It covers all the aspects of the hunt for the world record: the guys trying for it, the lure makers, the scientists, and many others. The author even goes to Cuba for a fishing trip and talks to an eccentric angler in the U.S. who's trying to grow his own world record bass. It's an eye-opening read.
Well written and very well researched August 17, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Mr. Burke....Excellent. From California, to Cuba, to Georgia, I loved this book. Very well researched, and written. I felt I got to know each character in the book. Being a fisherman myself, I knew the names, but not the stories.....again, BRAVO!!!
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