For four decades Francis E. Caldwell fished salmon and albacore along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to California. This always readable book unfolds a clear close-up view of the day-to-day view of the fisherman's life- the excitement of a school of fish biting furiously at dusk, the storms, tragedies of friends lost at sea and descriptions of the giant wave that occurred in Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958.

Always immensely popular, Caldwell's first book has long been a classic, has drawn many excellent reviews, and is now in its fifth printing. Pacific Troller was the first of Caldwell's eight published books.