Tug Is the Drug

Chris Santella is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, where he resides with his wife and two daughters.  He is the author of 19 books, including Fifty Places To Fly Fish Before You Die, Fifty Places To Play Golf Before You Die, Why I Fly Fish and Fifty Places To Drink Beer Before You Die (all Abrams), and Cat Wars:  The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer (Princeton University Press, with Dr. Peter Marra).  The Fifty Places series has sold over 500,000 copies.  Santella is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, Trout, Fly Rod & Reel, The Drake, American Angler, and Fly Fish Journal.  His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, and Links, among many other publications.  When he’s not at his desk, Santella loves to swing flies for steelhead on the Deschutes, Sandy, and North Umpqua Rivers, and to front Catch & Release, a four-piece rock band that plays original compositions…including a tune called “The Tug is the Drug.”

Some fly-fishing books are not meant to be technical but rather to entertain and delight. Santella’s well-written short stories are about our passion: its anglers and fascinating essays. You will enjoy this one.

• AcknowledgementsA Ferocious Gift Lures Anglers to Christmas IslandThe Karma of Broken TrailersTraveling LightCalgary — A City Where Trout Fishing Does Not Go to DieChasing Juvenile Tarpon through Yucatán MangrovesOff the Links, Onto the StreamFrank Moore, Dean of the North UmpquaWhen the Roosterfish start to Run, Anglers Just Try to Keep UpOnce Considered 'Trash', Carp Become Worthy Fly Rod TargetSeeking Stripers in the Shallows of Maine's Casco BayNato and the Human AnchorPostcard from HomosassaIn Ireland, Fishing for Salmon that Like a CrowdOn Our Own on Alaska's Kanektok RiverCasting with a MasterSalmonflies Awaken Western Trout, AnglersThe Fish Whose Bite Is as Fierce as Its NameWhite Nights of SalmonFly Anglers Are Drawn to a Toothy AdversaryThe Addictive Allure of the Steelhead's TugMojitos, Muchachas, y SábaloLobstermen Turn to Guiding in the YucatánHow to Get Skunked on the Bulkley and Threaten Your Marriage at the Same TimeMakos on the FlySize Does Matter When Spey CastingThe Man Who Brought Trout to a Valley of GravelFishing with Lewis and ClarkThe Greedy Beady Egg ManDylan: The Fly Fishing YearsFeed your Fish HeadAmong the Hobbit TroutRainbows AllThe Rainbows of Crater LakeIt was Epic, DudeThe PledgeNo Good Deed Goes UnpunishedSmallmouth in Greater PortlandAbout the Author