cover image Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die: Fly-Fishing Experts Share the Worlds Greatest Destinations

Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die: Fly-Fishing Experts Share the Worlds Greatest Destinations

Chris Santella. Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, $24.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-1-58479-356-4

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.