Skinning Catfish in Mary's Kitchen is a compilation of some of Will Brantley’s favorite assignments from the past twenty years. Most of these were originally published in Field & Stream, but a few appeared elsewhere, and some are brand new. Brantley has written a lot about outdoor skills, like how to noodle for flathead catfish. But he enjoys writing about characters the most, like the little old lady who helped him haul a Canadian moose out of the North Woods and the Argentine guide who took him hunting for capybara with hand-rolled buckshot. Some of his favorite characters aren’t people. The only limit of wild bobwhite quail he has ever shot in his life was over Lil, a Lewellyn setter that pointed those birds when she was fourteen years old, on the last hunt of her life. Then there’s the giant largemouth bass he named “Lockjaw” that haunted him for two summers back in the late ’90s, just before he was old enough to drive. All of these stories and more can be found in this book.