Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith to release book about his fishing passion

Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith
Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith (Image credit: Gonzales Photo/Terje Dokken/PYMCA/Avalon/Universal Images Group - Getty)

Adrian Smith might be better known as one of the guitarists in Iron Maiden, but away from the studio and stage, Smith is a keen angler.

Now Smith will focus on his love of fishing in his first-ever book titled Monsters Of River & Rock: My Life As Iron Maiden’s Compulsive Angler, which will be published on September 3 through Virgin Books.

It’ll take the reader “to the Final Frontier of fishing” and document Smith's journey around the world with Maiden and detail his river-bank adventures, which saw him appear on the cover of the August 2009 edition of Angler’s Mail for catching the biggest chub of the season.

The synopsis for Monsters Of River & Rock reads: “Welcome to the world of Adrian Smith, as he clocks into his day job furthering the geographical boundaries of hard rock – and clocks off to explore far-flung rivers, seas, waterways, lakes and pools on his fearless quest for fishing nirvana. 

“His adventures range from his first sturgeon – a whopping 100-pounder from Canada’s swirling Fraser River that nearly wiped him out mid-Maiden tour – to a close shave with a large shark off the Virgin Islands while wading waist-deep for bonefish. Not to mention an enviable list of specimen coarse fish from the UK.

“Charming, funny, and moving in equal measure, Monsters Of River & Rock is the ultimate fishing-fantasy armchair read, and is also the story of a rock star in a fast-moving world who seeks peace and tranquillity at the water’s edge – wherever he is.”

Monsters of River and Rock: My Life As Iron Maiden’s Compulsive Angler is now available to pre-order.

Adrian Smith: Monsters Of River & Rock

Adrian Smith: Monsters Of River & Rock
Away from the stage and studio, Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith likes to indulge in a bit of angling. In his first book, Smith takes the reader on a fast-moving adventure as he searches for fishing nirvana.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.