A Cast in the Woods

Praise for Stephen Sautner’s previous book, Fish On, Fish Off:

“Fish On, Fish Off” is a hilarious, engaging collection of everything the rest of us won’t admit--like fish that get away, not just usually but always; the unsung art of rod breaking; and catching fish only Sautner has heard of. How refreshing to read the memoirs of a weird fisherman--i.e., an honest one.
--Ted Williams, Conservation Editor, Fly Rod & Reel

"What a delicious basket of short, witty, perceptive, and memorable glimpses into Sautner's rich fishing life. Full of adventure--from New Jersey to Alaska--and hilarious misadventures, Fish On, Fish Off is a treat all fly fishers will love."
--Nick Lyons, author of Fishing Stories,Spring Creek, Bright Rivers

"From Cape Breton to Cuba to New Jersey, these personal and resonant fishing tales will keep your mind on the water when your body can't be. Sautner has written a vivid and beautiful kind of memoir through fishing and you'll enjoy being his companion!"
--James Prosek, artist and author of Eels: An Exploration from New Zealand to the Sargasso of the World's most Mysterious Fish

"Stephen Sautner's Fish On, Fish Off has everything you'd want to find in a book about the outdoors: adventure, humor, pathos, suffering, triumph, and plenty of fish. This book of essays proves once and for all that poetry is as much a part of fishing as a rod and reel."
-- Steven Rinella, author of The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine, American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, and Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter.

"These travels with a fishing rod reveal a whole new dimension to the world. And even when the underwater residents are not cooperating, there is always a tale to be reeled in."
-- Jeremy Wade, host of "River Monsters"

If you love wild woods and wild trout, Sautner’s word magic will transport you to the best of both. His battle to preserve them from a daunting array of natural and unnatural forces amuses even as it instructs and inspires.

I’m a sucker for cabin memoirs (Walden, A Family Place, etc.). Sautner’s book is a worthy standard-bearer of the genre.

This is more than a fishing book, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Sautner is perhaps the best writer on this sport today. I don’t make this claim lightly; my collection of hunting and fishing books long ago passed from being a passion to sheer lunacy. Sautner gets it. He gets why we fish, the beauty of running water and native fish, the joy of the pursuit.