From dead-sheep bait to whopper-sized catches ("It was this big!"), intoxicated trout, and flying pike, this collection presents the choicest gems of bizarre fishing facts. Consider the Oxford scientist who in 1910 discovered the marvelous life-giving properties of brandy to fish who had otherwise gasped their last. Or the nine-year-old boy fishing for trout who caught a large mussel-containing no less than 40 pearls-and managed to earn more in one day than his father, a farm worker, had earned in the last five years. Then there's the case of the two Americans who had an argument about whether it would be possible to cast a fly from the roof of the Savoy Hotel into the Thames. The dispute was finally settled when one of them secured himself to a chimney, and, with the help of a policeman who stopped traffic on the Embankment, finally achieved the feat. Like a tin of sardines, this book is packed with fishy, bite-size tales, and is guaranteed to have you hooked.