When angler and author Stephen Sautner bought a streamside cabin and some land in the heart of fly fishing country in the Catskill Mountains, he thought he had finally reached angling nirvana. Little did he know what loomed: a series of historical floods, a land rush over fracking for natural gas, and constant battles with invasive species, plagues of insects, and other pests. He takes on all of these threats - between casts for wild trout and other gamefish - and along the way gains a better understanding of stewardship and the interconnectedness between angling and the natural world. Praise for A Cast in the Woods: "New York State's ban on fracking was one of the great triumphs of modern environmentalism, and behind it lay a thousand individual stories of resistance. None has been better told than this one, by a worthy Catskills heir to the literary tradition of John Burroughs and a man who has earned his fishing."--Bill McKibben, author Radio Free Vermont "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." --Ted Williams, outdoor writer and environmental journalist

About the Author
Ever since he saw his older brother lose an enormous summer flounder off a dock at the New Jersey Shore when he was 12 years old, Stephen Sautner has been trying to catch fish. Any fish. In 2007, he edited Upriver and Downstream, an anthology of fishing stories from the "Outdoors" column of The New York Times, and has been an active contributor to the column since 1994. His stories have also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Fly Rod & Reel, Wildlife Conservation, and Underwater Naturalist. Along with Sautner's 15 years of contributing to the NY Times, he is also the director of communications for the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo, where he publicizes the Society's conservation programs. He lives in Scotch Plains, NJ.

Reviews
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. -- Ted Williams, outdoor writer and environmental journalist
New York State's ban on fracking was one of the great triumphs of modern environmentalism, and behind it lay a thousand individual stories of resistance. None has been better told than this one, by a worthy Catskills heir to the literary tradition of John Burroughs and a man who has earned his fishing. -- Bill McKibben, author Radio Free Vermont
It's one thing to experience a river, and another level entirely to feel connected to a river. For the connected angler, the water is sacred... lifeblood for the soul, worth defending at all costs. A Cast in the Woods is an eloquent, honest, and beautifully written book that cuts to the conscience, and pays homage to a tiny, yet magnificent, stream that weaves into one of the most storied (yet fragile) river systems on the planet. -- --Kirk Deeter, Vice President/Editor-in-Chief, Trout Unlimited/TROUT magazine
I'm a sucker for cabin memoirs (Walden, A Family Place, etc.). Sautner's book is a worthy standard-bearer of the genre. -- Monte Burke, Forbes
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. -- Matthew L. Miller, The Nature Conservancy's Cool Green Science blog



Book Information
ISBN 9781493032082
Author Stephen Sautner
Format Hardback
Page Count 192
Imprint The Lyons Press
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 431g
Dimensions(mm) 223mm * 146mm * 21mm