In pursuit of fishological paradise

Our correspondent David Profumo reflects on fishing with his father, the Proustian quest that is angling and the imminent release of his new book

- David Profumo

MY heart sometimes sinks like an Arlesey Bomb when I see another fishing book is appearing. I already have nearly 1,000 on my shelves—can there really be much more to be said on the subject? Well, this month, I’m going to keep an open mind, dear reader, as The Lightning Thread is by me.

What’s the angle, as they say? Here’s the elevator pitch: you often hear the claim ‘there is more to fishing than the mere business of catching fish’. My idea was to explore ways in which this might be true, alternating chapters of personal memoir with wide-ranging essays that describe aspects of angling such as superstition, the weather, monsters, drinking and disaster. It’s a celebration of the sheer diversity of fishing (everyone seems to experience it in his or her own different way) and a chronicle of one man’s contentment over some six decades of passionate pursuit.