Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes: Second Edition - A Comprehensive Guide for Identifying and Learning about Inland Fish Species

Larry B: Received exactly as specified.

United States on Aug 22, 2023

Nana: Got for grandson, has more words than pictures. So was disappointed in that, but son said that it is suppose to be a good and reputable source.

United States on Jul 24, 2023

RonB: I accidentally donated my original copy of this book to the library before I moved. Thankfully my wife re-bought the book and I have the pleasure of knowing other folks can get it through the library. It's a great little book crammed with all kinds of information for fishermen, or just outdoor lovers, alike. Over 600 pages in a compact book.

United States on Jul 22, 2022

Lyd: Purchased this as a gift for my 12yr nephew. He was so excited because he loves fishing and couldn’t wait to use the book.

Canada on Aug 19, 2021

Flyogi: I purchased this for our 7yr old grandson knowing that he may be too young for it but he absolutely loves fishing. He was so excited to be able to learn about so many fish! Hopefully this guide will serve him well into adulthood.

United States on Mar 05, 2021

JMVS: This book answers the question "What the heck did I just catch?". Good for fishermen and nature lovers. Would have been 5 stars if it was waterproof.

Canada on Aug 04, 2020

Friedrich Bitter: Wenn man sich für Fische aus Nordamerika interessiert, führt an diesem Taschenbuch nichts vorbei. In seiner jetzt vorliegenden 2. Auflage gibt es einen aktuellen Überblick aller gültigen Arten.
Aufgebaut ist es nach Fischfamilien. Alle Spezies werden mit dem wissenschaftlichen Namen und der umgangssprachlichen Bezeichnung aufgeführt.
Es gibt Verbreitungskarten zu den Arten, wichtige Informationen und Zeichnungen bzw. Bilder. Mit Pfeilen ist markiert, anhand welcher Merkmale sich Arten im Feld schnell von ihrer Verwandtschaft unterscheiden bzw. überhaupt bestimmen lassen. Sicherlich ließen sich noch weitaus mehr Informationen über jede Art zusammentragen, aber dafür gibt es die entsprechende Fachliteratur. Als Taschenbuch für einen schnellen Überblick oder zur groben Bestimmung direkt vor Ort macht dieses Werk allerdings eine sehr gute Figur - was ebenso für seinen verhältnismäßig geringen Preis gilt.

Germany on Feb 06, 2020

Nathan: The book is excellent for identifying fish in North America. This book contains every little minnow,shiner,dace,etc. to every type of Gar,Carp,Salmon,Trout,etc. The book only tells you about its description,range and habitat so do not buy it if your looking for a fishing book and how to catch each fish. But the book is great for identifying your catches weather it would be in your minnow trap or on your rod. The book also has a map of where the fish lives and exactly what habitat it prefers. ex. Lake bottoms,deep lakes,large rivers,backwaters,sluggish ponds,small streams,pools of water,etc.
The book provides a picture of each fish to (Most pictures are colored and the ones that are not are mostly obscure never heard of species that probably will never concern you expect for maybe some chubs and sturgeon)
All though the types of fish are in groups (all bass together in one section and all Dace in another section of pages). The one Problem I have with this book is that there is so many small little sculpins,minnows,dace,darters,etc. that finding the exact species of a minnow is very challenging because there is no chronological order.

Canada on Feb 16, 2019

Elinvar: There are 4 problems with this book.
1. The plates are separate from the text, and it is annoying to flip between the two.
2. Of the 57 plates, 15 (26%) are black and white. Included in the black and white plates is a plate featuring Cichlids; one of the most colourful groups of fish.
3. The quality of the colour plates is only average, and this is not helped by the small size of each illustration. This is particularly noticeable on the plate of Cutthroat Trout, where 19 tiny illustrations have been crammed onto one page.
4. The book advises that fish identification is achieved by first using the plates, and then the text for confirmation. However, although 909 species are featured in the book, 227 (25%) are not illustrated. The "not illustrated" species include the Atlantic Stingray and the Tench. Both of these fish have a unique appearance, therefore you would be unable to narrow down an identification by looking at the plates for similar species.
The format and quality of this book reminds me of field guides from the 1960's and 1970's. Comparable European field guides now achieve a much higher standard.

United Kingdom on May 19, 2013

Jason Dattilo: This guide is a great go-to book to identify nearly any freshwater fish you would come across in North America. That is the main purpose of this guide and it does it very well. It is not overly geared for icthyologists although alot of the descriptive terminology is not in everyones vocabulary, there is a glossary to define these terms used, so you can always find out exactly what a "caudal fulcrum" or any other term you are unfamiliar with means. It is set up for people interested in fish that want to know what they are. The plates are organized with similar looking species together and short descriptions and arrows are used to show you what to look for to seperate the different species. If you have narrowed it down to a couple of possibilities but still not quite sure, you can go to the page with more complete decriptions for each species and it tells you morphological characteristics, range maps, habitats, and similar species so you can be more sure of your identification. It also has more detailed pictures of certain parts to look for if two or more fish are very similar in appearance. I can not think of a better way for such a complete guide to be organized. The plates do...

United States on Jun 03, 2011