Rivers Always Reach the Sea

Angling Stories

Foreword by David DiBenedetto
Published by Pegasus Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of Saban and Lords of the Fly comes an exquisite collection of angling stories that span the twenty-first century.

The thirty-one pieces in Rivers Always Reach the Sea—essays, as well as profiles of some of the biggest names in angling, including Lefty Kreh and Andy Mill—take the reader from the rainforests of Chile to the windswept tundra of Russia, from the remote mangrove-choked basins of Florida’s Everglades to the congested littoral zone of New York City, and to many places in between.

The quarry includes trout, Atlantic salmon, tarpon, bonefish and striped bass, but the real quest is for something else entirely. Told in a voice described by the novelist, Carl Hiaasen, as “funny, wistful, and wonderful,” the stories in Rivers Always Reach the Sea keep the focus on the “why” of the sport of fly fishing, and not the “how.”

About The Author

Monte Burke is the author of Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession and the Hunt for the World Record Tarpon, and the New York Times bestseller, Saban: The Making of a Coach, a biography of Alabama head coach, Nick Saban. He is also the author of 4TH And Goal: One Man's Quest to Recapture His Dream, which won an Axiom Award for biography, and Sowbelly: The Obsessive Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass, which was named one of the best books of the year by Sports Illustrated and Amazon, and was chosen for Barnes & Noble's "Discover Great New Writers" program. After a 14-year stint as a reporter, staff writer and editor at Forbes, he is now a contributing editor at the magazine. He is also a contributing editor at Garden & Gun and The Drake. Connect with him via Twitter @monteburke, or through monteburke.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Pegasus Books (June 3, 2025)
  • Length: 208 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781639369003

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Raves and Reviews

"A delight."

The Atlantic

“Monte Burke has proved to be a leading contemporary voice for all things fly…this is aspirational writing, firmly affixed in the pantheon of literature.”

Fly Fisherman

“Burke approaches his tales with reverence, but also with humor and humility. Rivers Always Reach the Sea deserves a revered spot on the bookshelf among the best contemporary collections of fly-fishing literature.”

Trout Magazine

“Monte Burke’s extraordinarily detailed portraits and nice, clean prose turn his stories into literature. I’m a big fan.”

Thomas McGuane, author of The Longest Silence

"If there's a finer writer in flyfishing not named McGuane, I don't know who it would be. This collection of essays and profiles is sure to be a hit."

The Drake 

“A writer at the top of his game…Burke’s propulsive writing is an enduring gift to the reader.”

The Virginia Sportsman

“Well-written, witty, insightful, and beautifully illustrated angling essays. Burke’s writing is filled with reveals. Each essay capably balances narrative and quotes from Burke’s subjects, appealingly mixing angling how-to’s and descriptions of the moods of still and flowing waters in all kinds of weather.”

Booklist

Praise for Lords of the Fly

"Funny, wistful, and wonderful.”
 

Carl Hiaasen

"I cannot recommend this book enough—the writing is breathtaking. Monte Burke has written a masterpiece."

Wright Thompson, ESPN senior writer and author of Pappyland and The Barn

"What Susan Orlean accomplished for the strange, hermetic world of orchid hunting in her 1998 classic, 'The Orchid Thief,' Monte Burke does for another strange, hermetic world in his wonderful Lords of the Fly. A lush, panoramic book."

The Wall Street Journal

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