When I caught up with Monte Burke, he was walking the beaches of Cape Cod, rod in hand, searching for stripers during slack tide. It was a fitting backdrop. Fishing isn’t just a pastime for Burke, it’s the common thread that runs through his life, as well as a good percentage of his writing.

Burke’s byline is a familiar one to anglers, appearing everywhere from The Drake to Garden & Gun. But what sets him apart is his uncanny ability to bring fishing stories into the pages of Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Esquire, and other mainstream outlets. Few writers have managed to so seamlessly “weasel in” fishing to audiences that might otherwise never give the sport a second thought.

“Fishing is the perfect way to interview people,” Burke told me. “They’re relaxed, they’re doing something physical, and you learn a lot by just watching how they cast, how they interact with a guide, how they approach the water. It reveals a lot about who they are.”

That curiosity for people and their obsessions has fueled Burke’s career. He’s written about world-record bass hunters (Sowbelly), the obsessive tarpon chasers of Homosassa (Lords of the Fly), and even college football coaches whose dedication rivals that of the most relentless fishing guides.

Now, Burke turns his lens inward with Rivers Always Meet the Sea, a new collection of fishing stories drawn from the past 25 years.

The book gathers 31 stories—some familiar, some deep cuts—that span species, places, and personalities. “It was a little like putting together an album,” Burke said. “You want the hits, but you also want a few B-sides that surprise people.”

The title itself nods to a Led Zeppelin lyric, but it also speaks to the connective tissue in Burke’s work. Fishing, for him, is about more than fish. It’s about people, places, and the obsession that drives them—an obsession as present in tarpon guides and trout bums as it is in football coaches chasing championships.

“I’ve never liked the old hook-and-bullet ‘I caught 50 fish’ stories,” he said. “For me, it’s about the why, not the how. If I do my job right, these stories resonate with anglers, but also with readers who’ve never picked up a rod.”

With Rivers Always Meet the Sea, Burke reminds us that fishing is a common language—one that can connect anglers across the world, but also bridge the gap between those who fish and those who don’t. Like a cast unrolling on a quiet river, the stories carry further than you might expect.

At Simms, we believe the more you put into fishing, the more it gives back. Rivers Always Meet the Sea is proof of that. Burke’s stories remind us that fishing isn’t measured in numbers or grip-and-grins—it’s measured in the people you meet, the places you find, and the moments that stay with you long after the rod is put away. It’s a book that belongs on every angler’s shelf, not just for the fish within its pages, but for the way it shows how a life spent fishing is a life deeply, and fully, lived.