New Book “Fish On, Fish Off,” from Stephen Saunter

The new book, Fish On, Fish Off, from former New York Times “Outdoors” columnist Stephen Sautner chronicles his experiences, beginning as a self-taught fish-obsessed teenager in the early 1980s to the present, taking readers through every imaginable pitfall and odd-ball encounter along the way.

Read more in the press release below.  

From Charging Elephants to Surfcasting on a Nude Beach, New Book Chronicles a DIY Angler’s Insane Encounters

(October 3, 2016) Dodging five-ton bull elephants, bullies brandishing fillet knives, and beach-going nudists, former New York Times “Outdoors” columnist Stephen Sautner has experienced the perils of fishing in ways many of us never will.

In his first book, Fish On, Fish Off, Sautner chronicles his experiences, beginning as a self-taught fish-obsessed teenager in the early 1980s to the present, taking readers through every imaginable pitfall and odd-ball encounter along the way. These include: rogue waves, menacing grizzly bears, a terrifying helicopter ride over the Straits of Magellan, and the dangers of “combat fishing” in his crowded home state of New Jersey.

Sautner fishes for anything with fins. He fly casts for Atlantic salmon, dangles off bridges for giant tarpon, and fishes with “GI Joe-sized” tackle through the ice for diminutive panfish.

Each story in Fish On, Fish Off reads like its own “Moth” episode with a distinct campfire storytelling style full of wit, color, and keen observation of the natural world (Sautner is the Communications Director for the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society).

Some stories transport readers to remote outposts like the Falkland Islands to fly cast for a strange fish no one has ever heard of, or Cuba’s Bay of Pigs where his only fishing rod breaks on the second cast. Other stories cover more familiar themes such as trying to find the balance between family and a full-blown addiction to pursuing one’s passion.

Author and television host Steven Rinella says of Sautner’s book: “Fish On, Fish Off has everything you’d want to find in a book about the outdoors: adventure, humor, pathos, suffering, triumph, and plenty of fish. This book of essays proves once and for all that poetry is as much a part of fishing as a rod and reel.”

To see a promotional video click here.

CONTACT: STEPHEN SAUTNER 908-247-2585; [email protected]