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About this Book:

A weekend fishing trip in 1955, was the beginning of my enduring relationship with and love for Isabella – a small town located along what Minnesotans call The Northshore. Never did two uncles favor an eight-year-old with more exciting opportunity For forty-nine years I’ve returned to the waters of the Arrowhead Region every chance I get to fish for brook trout. This book offers the reader nineteen stories about my travels and experiences fishing the Arrowhead Region. I describe the rugged and pastoral beauty of the Arrowhead, the enjoyment of catching, cooking and eating brook trout, and about the interesting characters I fished with and ran into. But I wrote this book after surviving cancer and my memories and tales reveal undercurrents that weren’t clear before. Bias is revealed during a fishing trip to Finland (Minnesota), the limits of nostalgia on a return trip to the South Branch and the fragility of relationships on a trip with a Vietnam War veteran to West Branch. Henry David Thoreau said, “Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not the fish they are after.”

About the Author:

Rudy Senarighi was born and raised in Cloquet, Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota at Duluth and Graduated in 1969. He began trout fishing as a youngster in Minnesota, often riding his bicycle eight miles in the dark to be able to be on the stream by sunrise. This has continued to be a passion with him to today. Writing a book about his personal experiences trout fishing in northern Minnesota has been an idea he has nurtured for many years. Rudy taught junior high school in Superior, Wisconsin for seven years before deciding to go back to school for graduate work in Educational Psychology. He moved to Door County, Wisconsin and was employed by the Sturgeon Bay Schools for 25 years as their middle school guidance counselor. A diagnosis of cancer in February of 2000 prompted him to reassess his life’s priorities. He currently does educational training and consulting work.

Book Review:

The stories in this book are descriptions of fishing, fishing holes, fishing humor, natural beauty and odd and interesting fishing characters are a mainstay of this book. They also include musings about nostalgia, friendship, ethics, conservation and other thoughts on life. In regards to style (language, voice, etc.) this work is probably most like that of Nick Lyons and John Gierach. In regards to presentation of philosophy, The work is between Sam Cook and Nick Lyons – a litte subtler than Cook; a little less guarded than Lyons. The three major differences between this book and the books written by those authors are that these stories (1) cover a span of almost fifty years, (2) reveal the character of one geographical area and its people, and (3) were written after surviving cancer. Enduring and surviving cancer changes the lens used when looking back and retelling tales.

Order/Contact Info:

Rudy Senarighi 826 S 16th Court Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 rsenarighi@charter.net