BY MONTE BURKE – www.instagram.com/monteburke13 (Excerpt from “Rivers Always Reach the Sea“).
Shortly after lunch, a young man appeared from the piney woods, leading another man, this one older, silver-haired, by the elbow. They walked to the water’s edge and wedged their way in between Taylor and Chouinard. The young man stood by the older man’s non-casting side and gave him instructions on where to cast. “Two o’clock,” or “little longer”…that sort of thing.
After maybe five casts, the older man’s rod went into an arc. Salmon. He let the fish run, then reeled hard when it stopped. The salmon leapt, and the young man yelled “drop the tip!” and the silver-haired man did exactly that. The silver-haired man brought the salmon in to his feet but never looked down. The young man expertly tailed it with his bare hands, then pulled it out of the water. He grabbed the silver-haired man’s hand and led it to the fish. The silver-haired man rubbed his two fingers across the salmon’s glistening back. Then the young man released it.
The young man repositioned the older one in the water, turning his body so that he again faced quartered downstream. A few casts later, he hooked another salmon. Same scene: Young man guiding the older man’s hand to feel the fish’s back and then releasing it.
“Everyone remained quiet for a while, and then Chouinard made a little noise in his throat, like he was going to say something”.
With that, the young man again held the older man’s elbow and led him out of the river. They disappeared into the green pines with the mist.
Once they were gone, I glanced furtively at my companions. Taylor and Clark were bent slightly at the waist, intently minding the swing of their flies through the riffly pool. Chouinard was standing on a red rock in mid-river, cracking long casts over the water with his double-handed fly rod. I started casting again. We fished like this, hard and without a word or eye contact, for three more hours. We did not hook a single salmon.
Back at the lodge, we staggered around, silent and exhausted. We picked at the food set in front of us.
After dinner, we lingered at the table. Everyone remained quiet for a while, and then Chouinard made a little noise in his throat, like he was going to say something. We all looked at him. He was leaning his chair back against the wall. He was staring at the bottle of Labatt’s Blue in his hand, working on pulling off the label, turning up the corners.
“I tried everything today,” he started, addressing his words to the bottle. “Wets, dries, riffle hitch. Dead-drifting the fly. Stripping it. Everything.”
We all nodded. Yes. Yes.
“I can’t believe it,” he continued. “I can’t believe I was outfished by a blind guy.”
He began to chuckle, giddy with exhaustion, and the next thing you knew, it caught on and we were all doubled over in laughter. We had suffered the same fate.
When the laughter died down, Chouinard stopped worrying the corners of his beer label. Then he rubbed his head thoughtfully.
“I even tried casting with my eyes closed.”
Beer shot through my nose. (2005)
Rivers Always Reach the Sea – Review
Severely smitten with Monte Burke’s Lords of the Fly, we couldn’t wait to dive into his newest offering – Rivers Always Reach the Sea. This exquisite collection: 31 essays and profiles spanning salmon rivers in Labrador to bonefish flats in the Bahamas, and even the gritty urban shores of New York does more than just map angling adventures. Burke’s prose is lean, polished, and deeply evocative, breathing life into landscapes, legends, and the why behind our restless return to the water. It’s less about fly patterns and casting techniques, and more about the why of angling – what binds enthusiasts to the rhythm of rivers and tides Burke doesn’t just tell stories; in Rivers Always Reach the Sea he beckons us into them. The book confirms why Monte Burke remains one of the most compelling voices in angling literature.
To buy a copy of the book – www.amazon.com/RiversAlwaysReachtheSea/
About the author
Monte Burke is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Saban: The Making of a Coach. He is also the author of Lords of the Fly, which was named one of the best books of the year by Field & Stream and Outdoor Life and was described by the Wall Street Journal as “wonderful…a lush, panoramic book,” 4TH And Goal, which won an Axiom Award for biography, and Sowbelly, 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, and Rivers Always Reach the Sea (“A delight.” —The Atlantic), a collection of angling essays and profiles. He is also the co-editor of Leaper, which was named one of the best books of the year by the (London) Times.
His latest book is Men of Troy: The Epic Afternoons, Wild Nights, and Enduring Legacy of Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans,
