I can’t remember my first fishing trip in great detail, aside from the fact that it took several more visits to the lake before anyone caught a fish. But it wasn’t really about catching a fish that we were just going to throw back anyway. The experience was about spending time with my dad who, growing up, only ever got one day a week off and discovered a renewed love of fishing once his children were old enough to take along for an afternoon.
I only get to fish maybe once or twice a year these days, but when I do go, I still get excited for the hunt and the nostalgia of having spent time with my family. So, when I came across Brett Bloemendaal’s book, Fishing For More, I knew that it would spark my interest. Below is my review of Fishing For More along with an interview with Bloemendaal about how he turned his childhood passion into a dream career.
Fishing For More book summary
For Brett Bloemendaal, fishing was a huge part of his life growing up. It’s an activity that he did with his father, brother, and grandfather, and it shaped some of his best memories. But as he grew up, entered the workforce, and built a life for himself, fishing fell further into the background.
Upon his grandfather’s death, the pressures of the corporate world, and health issues attributed to his office job getting to him, Bloemendaal began to question the stability and fulfillment of his conservative lifestyle. This caused him to consider making a career out of one of his most favorite past times.
With his father’s encouragement and his willingness to take a risk, Bloemendaal sets out to start his own fishing guide business. Battling inexperience, uncertainty, and a global pandemic on the horizon, he plows through to achieve a dream job that most of us would be too afraid to ever pursue.
A fishing book
Fishing for More is a memoir with at least half of the book’s content aimed around fishing. So, readers should be prepared for a lot of fishing talk throughout the book. As someone who has done a fair amount of fishing in her lifetime, this was a welcome element to the story, though I could see those uninterested in the sport/activity skipping over these sections.
However, Bloemendaal may recapture their attention with stories of his childhood, recounting his parents’ divorce, his grandparents’ cognitive declines, and his ascent through the corporate world post-college. The author has lived a relatable life with many life experiences that resonated with me. This relatability is what hooks the reader, given that this is not a celebrity memoir or one that retells a famous historical event from an eye-witness perspective.
I used to steer clear of memoirs that didn’t fall into one of these two categories. But as I grow older, I have begun to see the value in these personal memoirs and what they have to teach us.
In Bloemendaal’s case, his book is a success story about a leap of faith in which our protagonist makes it to the other side. It was surprising to hear my gripes about the corporate world echoed in the pages of this book. The deathly quiet, impersonal, and inactive lifestyle of an 8-5 desk job can leave you daydreaming about more exciting ways to spend your days and earn a living.
From the onset of the idea, his trepidation in sacrificing stability for potential fulfillment further adds to his relatability. Rash decisions are not usually made by sensible individuals. But backed by the right support systems, a game plan, and confidence in your craft, it can make the ridiculous into a sensible move.
The voice
The narration in Fishing for More is very straightforward and smooth. Bloemendaal is descriptive without dragging out his thoughts. He’s personal without getting too off track from the memoir’s theme. And he is conversational without his storytelling feeling amateurish.
The story doesn’t take an entirely linear path, but it does follow a somewhat chronological timeline of the author’s first experiences fishing to the beginning months of becoming a fishing guide. The lull in the middle of his fishing career provides time to catch us up to the author’s personal history to see how it all plays into his decision to start his business.
Family is at the forefront of his personal story. Fishing is a family activity, and his blended family which splits into his mom’s side and his dad’s side both play important roles in the author’s journey. His family is a support system rather than an obstacle getting in the way of his dreams, rather psychologically or physically. It’s refreshing given how many memoirs make family the villain of their personal histories.
Ultimately, the only one getting in the way of Bloemendaal is himself. By stepping away from his self-imposed limitations, he’s able to push himself into a more fulfilling and meaningful career.
My recommendation
I recommend Fishing for More to, first and foremost, fishermen and women who can relate to Bloemendaal’s nostalgic tales. I also recommend it to those who had a close relationship with their dad or grandfather growing up. It’s not an overly sentimental book, but it will make you feel sentimental for these male figures who made time for you with your common interests.
Finally, I recommend it to those who feel stuck in the rut of their careers. It may not cause you to quit your job and pursue your dreams, but it will show you that positive changes can happen if you make them happen and find the right opportunities and are willing to weave through the challenges that stand in your way, much like the fight of reeling in a fish. May the most stubborn win.
An interview with Brett Bloemendaal
About the author and book
Author links
Book Title: Fishing for More: A Memoir
Fishing For More book summary
Stuck in a tedious corporate life and suffering from a declining physical state, the memories of father/son fishing trips consume the author. After the passing of his grandfather reminds him of the precious time he has left with his own dad, he suggests they purchase a boat together. While reacquainting themselves with the craft of walleye fishing and the vagaries of boat ownership, and unexpected momentum builds toward a potential way out of the corporate grind. As visions of a fishing guide business quickly take shape, he is faced with a massive career choice; hold on to the perceived financial security of a company job or throw it all away to follow his passion.
Book excerpts
A perfect caricature drawing of my dad alongside his father and grandfather would look like a trio of bobblehead dolls with Hulk fists holding hammers, shovels, and fishing poles.
Those discussions, benign as they seemed to me personally at the time, nested deep into my brain as they began making plans for my future, unbeknownst to me. They took advantage of my struggles and frustrations with the corporate office environment, slowly infiltrating, one neuron at a time…
Fishing helped me get out of my head and into deeper parts of my being. Focusing on a singular thing left me no room for overanalyzing myself.
Dad didn’t have his badass Jean-Claude Van Damme hair anymore, and I was no longer a wide-eyed kid who saw him as an all-knowing mythical figure. He was human, not Hercules, and at this point we were just two guys trying to figure it out…
What seemed to help even more, though, was being outside, moving around, breathing fresh air, and getting sunlight on my skin. It felt good for my body, and it felt great for my soul. It started to feel like my body was trying to tell me something.
The hard part of this life-altering “decision” was just acknowledging what I already knew. Suffering comes from knowing something and refusing to acknowledge it and take a new course in response. All I had to do was let go.
“I just spent all day untangling messed up rods, baiting hooks, re-rigging broken lines, and getting them out of snags. And it was one of the best days of my life.”
Talking Shop
What do you want readers to take away from your book?
That following a passion isn’t silly, nor is a “traditional” job always financially secure. We often say “I wish I knew then what I know now,” but part of us is still an adventurous kid at heart. If you sit with that childhood version of yourself for a while and get to know them again, you can blend that passion and adventure with all your adult knowledge and skills, and you’ll probably be very fulfilled by the result. Also, cliché as it is, life is short…very short. So do the thing! Cast a line!
What’s the best review/compliment that you’ve received about your book?
I’ve had two people tell me that they hate reading but couldn’t put it down, that it was like waiting to open Christmas presents the next morning and they couldn’t sleep having put their reading on hold.
What famous books can you compare to your own?
Some have told me it reminds them of Hillbilly Elegy and asked me who would play me in the movie. Also, “Some” is my aunt.
How long did it take to write your book from the day you got the idea to write it to the day you published it?
It happened pretty fast, really, but it’s been building in my head for a long time. I started early November of 2020 and finished in May of 2021 with proofreading. Once I get to the point where I have the vision, it becomes a borderline obsession and just kind of pukes out. It totally consumed my life for the duration. COVID quarantine also helped that.
How long have you considered yourself a writer? Did you have any formal training, or is it something you learned as you went?
I would say since high school really but no formal training outside of school and college. I was a writing tutor at my university, so that helped. It’s just something I’ve always enjoyed. I wrote my college “memoirs” as a spoof on the idea and sent them to hundreds of my students over a year after graduation, but this one is a little more serious.
If you don’t make a living exclusively writing, what is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?
It is half of my day job now, but it dovetails with what I do as a fishing guide and fishing YouTuber. That’s where the story came from, and I thought it made nice, complementary services and products in that way, but it also gave me a story I couldn’t not write, if you’ll excuse the double negative.
Do you have a writing ritual, odd habits, or superstitions?
I wrote it almost entirely by using dictation on my MacBook. If anyone reads the book, they’ll probably understand why. My body grew to despise almost all computer work, but I had to get it out there, and this is what I did. Editing was much harder! That doesn’t work as well with dictation, so I had some rough weeks.
How well do you handle criticism, either while writing, editing, or reviews? Do you ever use that criticism to change your story?
I can be a bit sensitive, but I’ve gotten better. I chose to enlist a team of beta readers here, and that very much helped prepare me for professional editing which otherwise likely would have ruined me.
“What If” Scenarios
If your book ever becomes a movie and you get final say over the cast, which actors would you hire to play your characters?
Well, I make Jeanne Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal references to my father, so one of those two for him. Probably Tom Cruise on stilts to play me (I’m 6/3”), though every stranger I meet says I’m a dead ringer for Vince Vaughn. Chris Daughtry isn’t an actor, but he’d play my brother. Maybe Sally Field for my mom?
If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?
My deceased grandfather. If anyone reads the book, they will understand.
If you could be in a writer’s group with up to four famous writers, who would they be?
Tom Robbins is my favorite fiction author and seems very interesting. I love his stream of consciousness rants and wordplay. Mary Karr for her memoir prowess. Song writer, not book writer, but Myles Kennedy. And Dan Jenkins, the deceased sports writer…alive, of course; wouldn’t learn much otherwise.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
Well, then I have this fishing thing locked in for life! Probably spend way more time making YouTube fishing videos.
You have the means to hire a full time assistant to help you with your writing. What tasks do you give them to do?
Typing! And definitely social media and marketing. I tolerate that, but it’s not my niche.
You have final say over who reads the audio book version of your story. Who do you choose?
Is this even a question?! Morgan Freeman. And he can read it to me at bedtime as I drift blissfully into slumber.
What famous artist or photographer would you want to create or capture your book cover image?
I’m perfectly happy with my buddy, Randy Belisle, who did mine.
Just for Fun
A movie or a piece of music that changed your life.
There are a couple songs discussed in my book, actually. “Watch Over You” by Alter Bridge, “Solace” by the same band, and “If Not Now When” by Incubus.
Favorite place you’ve visited/place you want to visit.
I absolutely love Puerto Rico. When I visit the castles in Old San Juan, I always picture theme music playing in the background as I move up the walkway and watch the waves crash onto the shore.
Food you’d like to win a lifetime supply of.
Avocados. People who know me will know. I eat at least one a day.
Your favorite genre to read.
I personally love memoirs because of the reality. I read fiction, but unless it really hits me, it doesn’t sink in when I know it’s made up on some level. I really connect to certain people’s true stories.
The activity you’re doing when you’re not writing.
Fishing, obviously, but also golf and guitar.
Celebrity you’d want to be friends with.
Bill Murray. What a riot. And I’m quite reserved and shy whereas he waltzes through the world as if it’s his own personal playground yet not in an obtrusive way. Everyone loves him for interrupting their life.
Favorite Halloween costume ever.
I own the orange Dumb and Dumber tuxedo. It’s sublime.
A talent you have and a talent you wish you had.
I play the guitar but wish I could play piano.
When time travel is achieved, do you go forward or backward?
After watching Back to the Future, I’m not sure there’s a difference.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Fishing For More here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
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