You’ll want to muckle onto this wicked cocker of a book, Behind the Cast, by legendary Maine guide Dale Wheaton, who owned Wheaton’s Lodge in Grand Lake Stream with his wife Jana for 34 years. If you don’t read this book, I’m going to cold conk you, and you’ll catch didley-squat on your next fishing outing. Oh, sorry, don’t get frazzled. I’m just yanking your chain.
These are words used by Maine guides and included in a wonderful glossary called Guidespeak at the end of the book.
Dale’s long career as a guide (he started guiding as a teen-ager) has given him lots of great stories which he shares with us in this book. But his book is much more than hearty laughs, or stories about customers from hell. You will treasure these stories and share them with friends.
Of course, I loved the stories about those customers from hell. Turns out Dale had a lot of those! And he also shares stories about some of his worst guiding mistakes. He had customers fall out of his grand laker, get in a snit and refuse to continue fishing after losing a couple of fish while his wife was hauling in some big ones, and oh, those guys who peed in the boat (lots of those).
There are also stories that will bring tears to your eyes, and lots of stories about amazing days of catching fish.
Yup, this book is a keeper.