Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die [Hardcover]

Chris Santella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

Amateur or expert, every angler dreams of landing "the big one," but that's only part of the appeal of fly fishing. Because even when hours pass without a bite, nothing beats the rugged beauty of the surroundings. For both armchair travelers and avid outdoorsmen who may have already started a checklist of their own, Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die maps out the meccas of the fly-fishing world.

Through in-depth interviews with the sport's acknowledged gurus, author Chris Santella goes beyond standard guides to convey the very essence of the recommended locations. Readers can vicariously cast mouse pattners to fifty-pound taimen in the wilds of Mongolia, wrangle with wily permit off the Florida Keys, and match the hatch on Montana's Armstrong's Spring Creek. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba (tarpon), the Zhupanova River, Kamchatka (rainbow trout), and the Rio Negro, Brazil (peacock bass) are also included. The essays include a cultural and natural history of each site, along with colorful anecdotes based on the author's and authorities' experiences.

With breath-takingly-beautiful photos of the spots, many by celebrated fly-fishing photographer R. Valentine Atkinson, the book also provides adventurous anglers with enough travel-and-tackle information so that they, too, can start planning excursions to go fish around the globe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Santella, a freelance writer for the New York Times, the New Yorker and Fly Rod & Reel magazine, offers 50 short takes on the ultimate fly-fishing destinations in this beautifully photographed and nicely packaged volume. Each locale comes recommended by an avid fisher; for example, the founder of Frontiers Travel, Mike Fitzgerald, and his son, also named Mike Fitzgerald, suggest fishing for Atlantic salmon at Laxa I Adaldal in Iceland. Fly-fishing instructor Cathy Beck leads Santella to the thrill of catching snook off Boca Paila in the Yucatan. And Sweetwater Travel founder Jeff Vermillion describes the excitement of fishing on the Ponoi River in Mongolia for taimen ("the world’s largest almonid, capable of reaching 70-plus inches in length and more than 100 pounds"). In Europe, Simon Gawesworth tells Santella about the trick to fishing brown trout on the River Test in Stockbridge, England, where wading is forbidden. The book also highlights more traditional (though no less exciting) trout fishing destinations, such as the Bighorn River in Montana and the Green River in Utah. With its elegant descriptions, gorgeous photos and practical information on accommodations and equipment, this book is a dream travel guide for avid fly-fishers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Santella offers 50 short takes on the ultimate fly-fishing destinations in this beautifully photographed and nicely packaged volume...With its elegant descriptions, gorgeous photos and practical information, this book is a dream travel guide for avid fly-fishers."-Publishers Weekly
"A lavishly photographed dreambook of the world's top angling spots."-Men's Journal
"Everything dad needs to tackle his next trip."-Fort Worth Star-Telegram

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584793562
• ISBN-13: 978-1584793564
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hunting & Fishing > Fishing
  • #73 in Books > Travel > Reference > General

More About the Author

Chris Santella is a freelance writer and marketing consultant whose work has appeared in the New York Times among other publications. He is also the author of Stewart, Tabori and ChangÂ’s Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die, Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die, and Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Beatiful places March 9, 2006

By Gustavo Pereyra

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

nice book, but i would like to see more pictures of the different species!! also some maps to locate some places would be great...I live in argentina and the 3 places chosen are great, although you must be a millionaire to fish rio grande!! Fortunately we still have a lot of places here to fish for free.

I would rather see a book where they tell where to fish and spent little money (as an example the book tells you that i f you want to fish rio traful, the only way to do it is going to arroyo verde lodge and thats no true!! you can do it for free if you want..there are accesses by foot or you can reach it by the lake, an there are other private places much more cheaper, but why they dont describe that??). Do not tell me where i can go spending $ 5000 a week because its obvious i could go everywhere with that money!!!!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for the Rich Fishing Addict August 28, 2005

By G. Collector

Format:Hardcover

If you have unlimited funds and time this book provides the backbone for a lifetime of fishing trips to exotic locales. Initially I bought the book as a gift for a flyfishing addict but it was such a great read that I ended up buying a second book for myself. The photography is outstanding and so far I've visited 2 of the places in the book and they both ranked as the top trips I'veever taken. 2 down and 48 more to go!!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Where's the Beef, Er Trout? November 24, 2006

By Andrew Schonbek TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a beautiful book, one that is smartly designed and packaged, pleasant to leaf through and to handle, but somewhat lacking in substance.

Here's an example of the kind of lapse that would have been caught had the book been written for hard core fisherpeople. We read, "The South Island of New Zealand is awash with beauty and teeming with trout". And then a few sentences later, "The South Island trouting experience is certainly one of quality rather than quantity. A majority of the rivers simply don't support large numbers of fish. Some of the most fishy-looking water you can imagine may not contain a single fish".

So is the South Island "teeming with trout" or is it not?

Ultimately it doesn't really matter. This isn't a book about information - it's a wonderful collection of vicarious fishing trips. I'd never flicked a fly rod when I got it, yet I was engrossed, transported, and in the end captivated.

The settings range from intimate, "Brown Trout on Letort Spring Run", to grand, "Steelhead on the Dean River". Along the way we encounter tarpon, bonefish, snook, pike, redfish, all manner of salmon and trout, and even something known as a giant trevally that lurks in the waters off Christmas Island.

And the photographs are stunning. I only wish there were one for every destination.

Recommended to wile away a winter's afternoon while waiting for the ice to break.