A special two-book set exclusively available to Amazon.com customers: Chris Santella"s bestselling Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, and his exciting new book of tales of fly fishing adventures! Amateur or expert, every angler dreams of landing "the big one," but that"s only part of the appeal of fly fishing. Because even when hours pass without a bite, nothing beats the rugged beauty of the surroundings. For both armchair travelers and avid lovers of the outdoors, who may have already started a checklist of their own, Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die maps out the meccas of the fly-fishing world. Through in-depth interviews with the sport"s acknowledged gurus, author Chris Santella goes beyond standard guides to convey the very essence of the recommended locations. Readers can vicariously cast mouse patterns to fifty-pound taimen in the wilds of Mongolia, wrangle with wily permit off the Florida Keys, and match the hatch on Montana"s Armstrong"s Spring Creek. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba (tarpon), the Zhupanova River, Kamchatka (rainbow trout), and the Rio Negro, Brazil (peacock bass) are also included. The essays include a cultural and natural history of each site, along with colorful anecdotes based on the author"s and authorities" experiences. With breath-takingly-beautiful photos of the spots, many by celebrated fly-fishing photographer R. Valentine Atkinson, the book also provides adventurous anglers with enough travel-and-tackle information so that they, too, can start planning excursions to go fish around the globe. For anglers, the only thing more fun than catching fish are the stories they tell about those fish . . . and the ones that got away. Nobody knows that better than Chris Santella, author of the best-selling Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die. For his latest homage to anglers, Santella invited 50 celebrated fly fishers to share their favorite fly-fishing stories based on their travels and experiences. The result is this unforgettable collection of stories that are, surprisingly enough for fishermen, true. Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales includes stories that cover the panoply of emotions--comical, poignant, inspirational, incredible, absurd. It tells of Ralph Cutter casting in complete darkness for blind catfish in the caves of Borneo, J. W. Smith boxing grizzlies to protect his tent camp in Alaska, and George Anderson fly fishing for saltwater crocodiles in Cuba. It also describes how Jean Williams, through trout fishing in the Colorado Rockies, helped to bridge the chasm between a type-A father and his neglected son. Accompanied by stunning photographs, the stories in this book reflect not only the rich experience of fly fishing but also how it can extend beyond the rivers, oceans, and fish to touch the core of our daily lives.