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Episode 351 of the Tom Rowland Podcast
Monte Burke is an acclaimed author and journalist who has dedicated his career to chronicling the obsessions that drive human behavior. A former staff writer at Forbes, he now writes for Garden & Gun and The Drake. His latest book, Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for World Record Tarpon, reveals how the world's greatest fly anglers converged on a small Florida spring for roughly five years, all pursuing the same obsession. In this episode, Tom and Monte dive into the incredible history of tarpon fishing, the characters who defined it, and the ecological story that unfolded as the fishery changed forever. You'll discover the connections between fly fishing pioneers dating back to the first bonefish ever caught on fly, the intense competitions and sabotage that occurred in Homosassa, and the environmental factors that contributed to the fishery's dramatic decline. This is a story about obsession, competition, conservation, and the incredible humans who pushed the boundaries of fly fishing.
For roughly five years, the world's best fly anglers gathered in Homosassa, Florida, all pursuing a single goal: catching the world record tarpon. This little-known scene attracted some of fly fishing's greatest names—Stu Apt, Billy Pate, Ted Williams—all competing intensely in the same waters at the same time, making it arguably the apex moment of fly fishing history.
Monte Burke is an acclaimed author and journalist, formerly a staff writer at Forbes and currently writing for Garden & Gun and The Drake. He's authored a New York Times bestseller about Nick Saban, as well as multiple books on obsession and niche worlds: Sowbelly (largemouth bass), Leaper, and Lords of the Fly (tarpon). He specializes in untangling complex stories about passion and competition.
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What struck Monte Burke most about the tarpon world record story wasn't just the obsession—it was how everything was connected. Bill Smith, who may have caught the first bonefish in the Florida Flats, connects to Stu Apt, who connects to Billy Pate, who connects to Tom McGuane, who connects to Nathaniel Linville and David Mangum. It's a continuum that Burke didn't fully understand when he began reporting, but the deeper he dug, the more the pieces fit together. When Burke decided to write this book, he made a critical choice: show how this moment didn't happen in a vacuum. Learn how the history of fly fishing shaped the Homosassa era at [00:07:05]
In those incredible years in Homosassa, you had the world's best fly anglers—Stu Apt, Billy Pate, Ted Williams, Tom Evans, guides like Steve Huff, Dale Perez, and Bill Curtis—all there at the same time, all hunting for the same goal. The competition was fierce, cordial on the water but turbulent beneath the surface. Burke recounts stories of fiberglass poured on boats (rendering hatches inoperable, steering wheels frozen), sunk boats, slashed tires, and the kind of sabotage that seems fiction but was entirely real. Yet beneath the chaos was a respect: newcomers who didn't challenge the establishment would be left alone, but anyone bold enough to jump in front of a veteran would face consequences. This wasn't genteel fishing—it was competitive at its core. Discover the intensity of these years and the acts of sabotage at [00:09:00]
Listen and Watch Episode 351
Burke's entry into the tarpon world came through Steve Huff, one of fly fishing's greatest guides. When Burke was assigned a Garden & Gun story on Huff about a decade ago, he spent two days on the water and hit it off. From that point forward, they fished together every year, and Huff would tell stories about Homosassa late into the evenings. Eventually, through Steve and Andy Mill, Burke was connected with Tom Evans—a man who had fished Homosassa for 41 out of 43 years, spending roughly three and a half years of his life on a boat in those waters. Burke spent two full seasons (two weeks at a time) with Tom and his guide Al DePieric, poring over Tom's detailed logbooks that documented every day of fishing. The reporting was a treasure hunt: finding sources, making phone calls, discovering that casual details held massive stories beneath the surface. Hear about Burke's Fortune meeting Steve Huff at [00:10:28]
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As compelling as the human stories are, Burke couldn't ignore what happened to the fishery itself. Homosassa was home to a specific subgroup of tarpon that arrived every May, thriving on abundant blue crabs in the bay. The theory is that these crabs were crucial to why the fish grew so large. But the fishery didn't collapse just from the crowds of anglers. Burke's research revealed a more complex picture: the aquifer feeding the springs that empty freshwater into Homosassa Bay has been depleted. Florida state government attributes this to drought, but the reality involves decades of unregulated water extraction. With less freshwater input, fewer crabs survive, and the fish either stop coming or stop biting. The water quality declined too. Burke emphasizes that you can't tell the story of Homosassa without addressing its collapse—not just the human drama, but the ecological crisis. He connected this to larger conservation movements, including his own reporting on the Everglades and the fight to restore freshwater flow. Explore the environmental factors behind the fishery's decline at [00:24:46]
Burke doesn't shy away from the harder questions: Does catching and releasing fish harm them? Are we contributing to the problem by pursuing these species? He quotes Steve Huff saying, Learn More and get your boat dialed in for the season.
What struck Monte Burke most about the tarpon world record story wasn't just the obsession—it was how everything was connected. Bill Smith, who may have caught the first bonefish in the Florida Flats, connects to Stu Apt, who connects to Billy Pate, who connects to Tom McGuane, who connects to Nathaniel Linville and David Mangum. It's a continuum that Burke didn't fully understand when he began reporting, but the deeper he dug, the more the pieces fit together. When Burke decided to write this book, he made a critical choice: show how this moment didn't happen in a vacuum. Learn how the history of fly fishing shaped the Homosassa era at [00:07:05]
In those incredible years in Homosassa, you had the world's best fly anglers—Stu Apt, Billy Pate, Ted Williams, Tom Evans, guides like Steve Huff, Dale Perez, and Bill Curtis—all there at the same time, all hunting for the same goal. The competition was fierce, cordial on the water but turbulent beneath the surface. Burke recounts stories of fiberglass poured on boats (rendering hatches inoperable, steering wheels frozen), sunk boats, slashed tires, and the kind of sabotage that seems fiction but was entirely real. Yet beneath the chaos was a respect: newcomers who didn't challenge the establishment would be left alone, but anyone bold enough to jump in front of a veteran would face consequences. This wasn't genteel fishing—it was competitive at its core. Discover the intensity of these years and the acts of sabotage at [00:09:00]
Listen and Watch Episode 351
Burke's entry into the tarpon world came through Steve Huff, one of fly fishing's greatest guides. When Burke was assigned a Garden & Gun story on Huff about a decade ago, he spent two days on the water and hit it off. From that point forward, they fished together every year, and Huff would tell stories about Homosassa late into the evenings. Eventually, through Steve and Andy Mill, Burke was connected with Tom Evans—a man who had fished Homosassa for 41 out of 43 years, spending roughly three and a half years of his life on a boat in those waters. Burke spent two full seasons (two weeks at a time) with Tom and his guide Al DePieric, poring over Tom's detailed logbooks that documented every day of fishing. The reporting was a treasure hunt: finding sources, making phone calls, discovering that casual details held massive stories beneath the surface. Hear about Burke's Fortune meeting Steve Huff at [00:10:28]
Never Miss an Episode
Subscribe to the Tom Rowland Podcast
As compelling as the human stories are, Burke couldn't ignore what happened to the fishery itself. Homosassa was home to a specific subgroup of tarpon that arrived every May, thriving on abundant blue crabs in the bay. The theory is that these crabs were crucial to why the fish grew so large. But the fishery didn't collapse just from the crowds of anglers. Burke's research revealed a more complex picture: the aquifer feeding the springs that empty freshwater into Homosassa Bay has been depleted. Florida state government attributes this to drought, but the reality involves decades of unregulated water extraction. With less freshwater input, fewer crabs survive, and the fish either stop coming or stop biting. The water quality declined too. Burke emphasizes that you can't tell the story of Homosassa without addressing its collapse—not just the human drama, but the ecological crisis. He connected this to larger conservation movements, including his own reporting on the Everglades and the fight to restore freshwater flow. Explore the environmental factors behind the fishery's decline at [00:24:46]
Burke doesn't shy away from the harder questions: Does catching and releasing fish harm them? Are we contributing to the problem by pursuing these species? He quotes Steve Huff saying, You wrecked that guy acknowledgingaching that even catch-and-release is stressful for fish. Yet Burke also argues that anglers—through fishing licenses, gear taxes, and conservation organizations like Trout Unlimited, Captains for Clean Water, and the Atlantic Salmon Federation—put their money where their values are. Hunters and anglers fund more conservation than virtually any other constituency. Burke's perspective: if anglers didn't care about tarpon, permits, and Atlantic salmon, there would be no funding, no political will, and no organizations fighting for these species. The act of fishing, complicated as it is, creates stewardship. Listen to Burke's nuanced take on fishing ethics at [00:30:06]
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I got an early copy of Monte's book, and I loved it. This is one of those stories that seems stranger than fiction, but it's all true. When I started in Key West, I heard the stories about Homosassa—the guides, the characters, the intensity—and I was honestly intimidated. That's the big leagues, I thought. But reading this book, I realized those stories were missing pieces. There were parts and fragments I'd heard a hundred times on skiffs or around docks, but Monte put the whole puzzle together in a way that showed me the full history of fly fishing, not just the history of chasing world records.
What struck me most is Tom Evans' dedication. Here's a guy who can barely walk, can't really stand, basically a shut-in in Vermont most of the year, and yet he comes down every year for a month to fish and try to break a world record he's been chasing since 1976. That's obsession to a fault—but it also shows you what it means to care that deeply about something. The fishing world doesn't have another example of someone putting that much of their life into one pursuit.
The environmental part of this story matters too. The conservation movement in fishing isn't just about ethics; it's about understanding that we protect what we love. When you read about the connections between all these anglers going back to the first bonefish ever caught on a fly, you understand that this continuum—this lineage—is worth fighting for. Monte's book does that. It makes you care not just about the obsession, but about the fish, the places, and the future.
What is Ladies of the Fly about?
Lords of the Fly chronicles the obsession with catching the world record tarpon in Homosassa, Florida. It covers the history of fly fishing, the convergence of the world's greatest anglers in Homosassa over roughly five years, the intense competition and sabotage that occurred, the decline of the fishery, and larger questions about conservation and obsession.
When was Lords of the Fly published?
The book was in prerelease at the time of this episode (September 2020). It became available for preorder on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers, with a September 1 release date.
Who is Tom Evans in the book?
Tom Evans is the main character through which Burke tells the story. He fished Homosassa for 41 of 43 years starting in 1976, spending the equivalent of 3.5 years of his life on the water there. Despite suffering from severe back issues that left him unable to walk in his 80s, he continued returning every year to pursue the world record.
Why did the tarpon fishery in Homosassa decline?
The decline resulted from multiple factors: overcrowding from record-seeking anglers, depletion of the aquifer feeding springs that provide freshwater to Homosassa Bay, reduced blue crab populations (the tarpon's food source), and declining water quality. The fish either stopped coming or stopped biting.
What other books has Monte Burke written?
Burke is a New York Times bestselling author. His other books include a biography of Nick Saban, Sowbelly (about the largemouth bass world record), Leaper, and Fourth and Goal. He has also worked as a staff writer at Forbes and currently writes for Garden & Gun and The Drake.
Steve Huff
Legendary fly fishing guide and conservation advocate
Tom Evans
Central character; devoted 41 of 43 years to pursuing world record tarpon in Homosassa
Stu Apt
World record tarpon angler and fly fishing innovator
Billy Pate
Tarpon and billfish record holder; pioneering tackle innovator
Ted Williams
Legendary angler who fished Homosassa
Tom McGuane
Author and fly fishing figure connected to tarpon world
Dale Perez
Guide in the Homosassa era
Bill Curtis
Guide in the Homosassa era
Andy Mill
Champion angler who connected Burke to Tom Evans
Bill Smith
May have caught the first bonefish on fly in Florida Flats
Nathaniel Linville
Modern tarpon angler continuing the legacy
David Mangum
Modern tarpon angler continuing the legacy
Brian O'Keefe
Photographer and angler on Billy Pate's Sierra Leone expedition
Al DePieric
Tom Evans' guide in Homosassa
Pierre Frey
Tarpon angler with incredible stories from the Homosassa era
Carl Hiaasen
Author whose review endorsed Lords of the Fly
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Monte Burke is an acclaimed author and journalist whose work focuses on obsession, competition, and niche worlds that captivate human attention. A former staff writer at Forbes where he honed his reporting and fact-checking skills, he now contributes to Garden & Gun and The Drake. Burke is the author of a New York Times bestseller about Nick Saban, as well as Sowbelly (the largemouth bass world record chase), Leaper, and Lords of the Fly (the tarpon obsession in Homosassa). His approach to storytelling involves deep historical research, patient reporting, and the belief that people genuinely want to tell their stories if asked the right questions. Burke spends his reporting phase as an extrovert gathering sources and tales, then retreats into introversion during the writing phase, allowing him to connect disparate threads and uncover how everything relates. He lives in Brooklyn and continues to pursue his own fishing obsessions while documenting the obsessions of others.
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