HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER

A side job at a fishmonger’s leads to a crazy idea: Why not catch your fish yourself? Sitting outside by the lake, with the silence behind you and the sun in your face, holding the fishing line ca- sually—that is how journalist Heike Kottmann imagined fishing. And so, she sat in a stuffy club house for one summer, studied fish species, fishing techniques, spawning seasons, and minimum

landing sizes, learned how to club a fish expertly, why the best bait smells of garlic and why it’s best to fish at a trout farm.

But not only that—she listened to chubby Fritz’s corny jokes, and ever since then she knows what it means

to stake your claim as a young (and often the only) woman in a male domain. With passion, wit, and an explorer’s spirit, Heike Kottmann relates her adventures with fishing rods and landing nets, her fascination with the world under water, and reveals what is probably

the most important realization: that in fishing, it’s not always about the catch. Heike Kottmann has got luck

on her hook—and is patiently waiting for the next bite …