I have both of JPurdues books, both are real good. I also like Mike Icanonellis fishing on the edge. A good story of "going all in" to achieve your dream.

Al Eason's "How Pro Guides Find and Catch Fish"

greatness

That's because there are so many different ways to catch the fish and rarely two days are the same. Time on the water is the best teacher of all but it's not always possible. I learned a TON from reading BASSMASTER and every other book I could get my hands on when I was younger.

My advice is to go fishing with as many different people as you can every chance you can. Everybody has their strengths & weaknesses. Be like a sponge and soak up as much as you can from the guys that have the knowledge.

Bass masters gave me a lot of beneficial tips from the pros that I still use.

When I got crazy about bass fishing, it was Roland Martin's "101 bass catching secrets" that I read... it's very dated (especially now), but I think still has good info in it. It's pretty thorough in a lot of places, mine is 429 pages.

He was a character. I was fortunate enough to be with him in his final days and the last person to ever fish with him. Glad you mentioned that book it is always on my desk. Great memories.

It�s important to remember that people learn in different ways. For some, visual input is mandatory. Others learn well from audible input. Demonstration followed by practice works best for most, because it�s almost impossible to learn to DO something by listening or reading about how to do it. It can be done, though. the days before computers and videos, I taught myself to be a pretty good downhill skier by reading, looking at pictures, and lots of practice. Same with playing golf. Most folks learn best by using a combination of visual, audible, and demo/performance. Without a mentor to demonstrate, it�s a long, difficult process. Practicing a task (like casting) the wrong way makes little sense; practicing the right way is invaluable.

For good information, these helped me:

Largemouth: Book of the Black Bass (Henshell)
Smallmouth: Them Ol� Brown Fish (Westmoreland)
All old issues of In Fisherman Magazine
Spoonplugging (Buck Perry)
Soft plastics: There He Is (Bill Dance, I think)
Most articles and videos in www.bassresource.com
J. Purdue�s 2 books
Roland Martin�s book mentioned above
In Pursuit of Giant Bass (Bill Murphy)
Both of Doug Hannon�s books

Hope this helps.

Tom