Robert U. Montgomery gives us a lunker of a story here with “Cindy Sue and the Lunker Club.” Robert, who has been a longtime senior writer for Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) Publications, knows a thing or two about fishing. He also has written a few other children’s books, focusing on outdoor themes and even, dinosaurs. In total, he has written 14 books.
In this book, Cindy Sue, an 11-year-old girl whose grandparents had recently moved to Florida so that they could be closer to her family, tells us her story of how she eventually catches a lunker. Her Pap Pa is an avid angler, and he invites her to come out fishing with him. She isn’t keen, but her mom advises her to go – using time with her grandfather as an incentive.
Throughout the book, Robert lays out certain habits and practices of anglers – such as heading out early on chilly mornings, getting to see incredible viewings of rainbows and Florida’s wildlife (including a manatee), along with the decisions to use live bait versus plastic. Cindy Sue warms up to the idea of being on the water as time passes by, and she begins to value even more her relationship with her grandfather.
The book already had me caught with that theme – a little girl and her grandpa. After that relationship is revealed, we follow Cindy Sue out on her first fishing trip, where she learns terminology and some philosophy lessons. Her topwaiter bait entices a lunker bass to bite her line, and although she doesn’t haul it in, she says, “Then the bass jumped all the way out of the water! Twice! I held on too! Oh, my goodness, this was so much fun! It was better than flying downhill on a roller coaster!”
Cindy Sue’s takeaway from that day reads like this: “Sometimes we chatted about fishing and other times about life. I learned stuff about my grandfather that I never knew before. That made me feel closer to not just him, but my whole family. His grandfather took him fishing for the first time, too.”
On Cindy Sue’s 12th birthday, her Pap Pa gives her a fishing trip to Lake Okeechobee, and at this point, Robert brings in a real person – Sam Griffin, a fishing guide whom Robert has written about in this book: “BIG SAM and the Big O.” “O” is referring to Lake Okeechobee. He and Sam have been fishing together there for more than 30 years.
Robert describes a fishing guide/client relationship between Sam and Cindy Sue as she follows his coaching and eventually reels in a lunker.
Cindy Sue gets a lot more than a lunker for her photo stream. She also notes throughout the story the importance of watching nature first-hand. She then takes this newfound knowledge to school, and because she’s wearing a “lunker club” patch on her backpack, incites an inquisition from a boy who loves to fish, and skepticism from two girlfriends. It’s interesting to note how she becomes friends with the boy and entices the girls to think about trying fishing.
I really like how Robert takes the story from the water to a school hallway, and makes fishing part of a girl’s life story. He also weaves into the story the mention of bass fishing legends, such as Ray Scott, Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, Roland Martin and Penny Berryman. Furthermore, Robert hopes to shine a light on Florida’s TrophyCatch program, now in its 11th year in Florida. TrophyCatch encourages anglers of largemouth bass to provide documentation for bass weighing at least 8 pounds. (Check out TrophyCatch on Facebook, too.)
The artwork, by Kelly Brasel, is colorful and appealing. He captures the emotions and relationships in this story, and also, offers us some lovely outdoor scenes. It makes me want to head out in a boat soon.
I am looking forward to reading this one to my grands during deer season. They are too young to hunt, but love to fish. I think they’ll like this book a lot.
You may order it here, at Amazon. Also, check out Robert U. Montgomery’s author page at Amazon.
Read my review of Robert’s book titled “Who Let the Bugs Out?” – a book that made my grandsons laugh out loud.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
