Fly Fisherman's Loop to Loop Podcast, Season 1, Episode 11: Monte Burke

World-record quests, fishing "blind" (literally), and the denizens of NYC jetties.

September 23, 2025 By Fly Fisherman Staff

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Monte Burke is one of the leading writers of this century and author of the new book, Rivers Always Reach the Sea. Monte has fished all around the world with some of the most eclectic and influential people in the sport of fly fishing, like Yvon Chouinard, Andy Mill, and Lefty Kreh—but he says one of his greatest privileges in life is spending a day each year fishing with “the greatest guide who ever lived” Capt. Steve Huff. In this episode of Loop to Loop, Monte spins fishing tales that range from midnight excursions with the denizens of a New York City jetty to fishing the tundra rivers of Russia's Kola Peninsula. Burke is also the author of Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World Record Tarpon; Sowbelly: The Obsessive Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass; and the New York Times bestseller, Saban: The Making of a Coach, a biography of Alabama head coach, Nick Saban. After a 14-year stint as a reporter, staff writer and editor at Forbes, he is now a contributing editor at the magazine. He is also a contributing editor at Garden & Gun and The Drake.

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Truncated transcript:

00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:52.320 : Hi, I'm Ross Purnell, editor and publisher of Fly Fisherman magazine. Welcome to Loop to Loop, where we make deeper connections with the people behind the magazine. Our sponsors today are Patagonia. Patagonia's making a kick ass pair of waders. A couple of 'em actually. The Expedition waders and the Traverse, both zip fronts. I've been using 'em for about six months, crawling on my hands and knees, scrambling over rocks, bush whacking through thorns, and still no leaks. Patagonia has redesigned the waders so that when they do leak, it's easier to repair them and they've got a ton of functionality, so check them out.

00:00:52.320 --> 00:01:17.160: We're also sponsored by G. Loomis, American-made rods made in Woodland, Washington. I've been using G. Loomis rods since Steve Rajeff got me onto them 20 plus years ago. Fantastic tools, and I've got some Asquith rods and NRX and NRX Plus and IMX Pros for different situations, and they're an amazing rod.

00:01:17.160 --> 00:01:52.680: If you enjoy this podcast, you can support our sponsors. And you can support us by subscribing to Fly Fisherman magazine. Please support our sponsors, and you can support us by subscribing to the magazine. It's quick and easy. Go to flyfisherman.com. There's a little subscribe button in the top right-hand corner, and you can subscribe to the leading magazine of fly fishing. You can also follow us on social media. On Instagram, we are @flyfishermanmagazine, on Facebook @flyfisherman. And hopefully you are watching this podcast in its YouTube format on our YouTube channel it's @flyfisherman magazine. Please subscribe and follow us there.

00:01:52.680 --> 00:02:17.130: It is our great pleasure today to have Monte Burke with us in the studio. Monte has is one of the leading writers of this century. I'd say. I, I follow his writings extensively. He's been staff writer for Forbes, writes for Garden Gun, Garden and Gun. The Drake. Yeah, the Drake, bunch of publications.

00:02:17.130 --> 00:02:38.520: You guys occasionally. Yes. Well, many times I have asked you and occasionally I can get you. He is also written some amazing books recently. Some of them fly fishing books, Lords of the Fly, and most recently, Rivers Always Run to the Sea. Reach the Sea. Yep. Rivers Always Reach the Sea.

00:02:39.870 --> 00:03:03.580: And that's his, you know, just some of his fly fishing books. He's also written a book called Leaper on Atlantic salmon. You have extensive history with Atlantic salmon. I do. We're gonna dive into that Sow Belly, which is about the chase for world record, largemouth bass, and then non fly-fishing books.

00:03:03.580 --> 00:03:15.550: Fly fishing is not your whole world. Nope. You've had some very popular football books too. Yep. You tell me a little bit about the Nick Saban book. Yeah, so that was, that was a really fun one…

For 2026, G. Loomis has introduced updated versions of its flagship Asquith Freshwater and Saltwater fly rod families. Both are built on Spiral X Core blanks rolled at Shimano's facility in Kumamoto, Japan, and finished by hand in Woodland, Washington. Check out editor and publisher Ross Purnell's take on their performance after putting them to the test against the bonefish, permit, and giant trevally of St. Brandon Atoll.

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