{"product_id":"2940013684652","title":"Tales of the Angler's El Dorado, New Zealand","description":"There is always something wonderful about a new fishing adventure\u003cbr\u003etrip--for a single day, or for a week, or for months. The enchantment\u003cbr\u003enever palls. For years on end I have been trying to tell why, but that\u003cbr\u003ehas been futile. Fishing is like Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe most humble fisherman has this in common with fishermen of all\u003cbr\u003edegrees. Whatever it is that haunts and enchants surely grows with\u003cbr\u003eexperience. Even the thousandth trip to the same old familiar fished-out\u003cbr\u003estream begins with renewed hope, with unfailing faith. Quien sabe? as the\u003cbr\u003eSpaniards say. You cannot tell what you might catch. And even if you do\u003cbr\u003enot catch anything the joy somehow is there. The child is father to the\u003cbr\u003eman. Saturdays and vacation times call everlastingly to the boy. The\u003cbr\u003epond, the stream, the river, the lake and the sea. Something evermore is\u003cbr\u003eabout to happen. Every fishing trip is a composite of all other trips,\u003cbr\u003eand it holds irresistible promise for the future. That cup cannot be\u003cbr\u003edrained. There are always greater fish than you have caught; always the\u003cbr\u003elure of greater task and achievement; always the inspiration to seek, to\u003cbr\u003eendure, to find always the beauty of the lonely stream and open sea;\u003cbr\u003ealways he glory and dream of nature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I fished under the stark lava slopes of the Galapagos and in the\u003cbr\u003eamethyst waters around Cocos Island and around the White Friars I\u003cbr\u003eimagined each was the epitome of angling, that I could never adventure\u003cbr\u003ehigher and farther. But in this same year, 1925, when we shot the wild\u003cbr\u003erapids of the Rogue River and cast our flies where none save Indians\u003cbr\u003ehad ever fished, the same elusive and beautiful thing beckoned like\u003cbr\u003ea will-o'-the-wisp. It is in the heart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn December thirtieth, when Captain Laurie Mitchell and I stood on the\u003cbr\u003edeck of the Royal Mail S.S. Makura, steaming out through the Golden Gate\u003cbr\u003ebound for the Antipodes to seek new waters, the same potent charm\u003cbr\u003epervaded my being. There was a Lorelei calling from the South Seas; there\u003cbr\u003ewas a siren bell ringing from the abysmal deep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSan Francisco Bay at that hour was a far cry from the turquoise-blue\u003cbr\u003ewater of the tropics. A steely sun made pale bright light upon the\u003cbr\u003eruffled bay; gray fog shrouded the dome of Mt. Tamalpais; from the\u003cbr\u003enorthwest a cold wind drove down on the bare brown hills to whip the\u003cbr\u003emuddy water into a choppy sea. The broken horizon line of the beautiful\u003cbr\u003ecity of hills shone dark against the sky. A flock of screaming gulls\u003cbr\u003esailed and swooped about the stern of the vessel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA big French freighter kept abreast of the Makura through the Golden\u003cbr\u003eGate, then turned north, while we headed to the southwest. The Royal Mail\u003cbr\u003eship Makura was no leviathan, but she certainly was a greyhound of the\u003cbr\u003esea. In less than an hour I saw the mountains fade into the fog. That\u003cbr\u003elast glimpse of California had to suffice me for a long time. We ran into\u003cbr\u003ea heavy-ridged sea, cold and dark, with sullen whitecaps breaking. I\u003cbr\u003ewalked the decks, watching as always, until the sky became overspread\u003cbr\u003ewith dark clouds, and a chill wind drove me inside.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070200004848,"sku":"2940013684652","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013684652_p0.jpg?v=1763583966","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013684652","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}