This week I sat down with Monte Burke to discuss his new book, Lords of the Fly. I was lucky enough to get an early copy of the book and give it a read before our interview. This book features some of my all time heroes and tells the incredible story of chasing after the world record tarpon in the late 70’s and early 80’s in Homosassa, Florida. Monte traces the history of Saltwater Flyfishing. This is an incredibly interesting story, featuring legends like Steve Huff, Dale Perez, Lefty Kreh, Chico Fernandez, Mark Sosin, Stu Apte, Tom Evans, Flip Pallot, Billy Pate, Ralph Delph, tom McGuane, Jim Harrison, Russell Chattem, Guy De La Valdene, Ted Williams, Andy Mill, and many others who were responsible for early innovation or obsessed with catching the world record tarpon on the fly. This story is full of friendships and rivalries, some even escalating to sinking boats, ruining marriages, and much more. Monte really dives into this in his book, interviewing many of these people to get the exact story. Monte has a background of working for Forbes, where he learned the best way to get accurate information, and he does a ton of digging to make sure that he got this wild story fully accurate.
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