RYAN Johnston’s first two books A Reel Job (2022) and Reely (2024) helped establish him as a writer who could tell compelling stories from a fishing guide’s point-of-view, from a fearless and humorous perspective that spared no one.

His prior work cultivated his many years of guiding sports on the western rivers in the US, including participating in the One Fly Competition in Wyoming, which resulted in some memorable accounts of anglers at their best and worst, in and out of his boat.

In his latest effort, Johnston takes to the high seas with some salty guides to pursue tarpon, bonefish, permit and billfish in Mexico, the Caribbean, California,Texas, Florida and Hawaii.

He is now a guide being guided by some of the saltier characters on the ocean, and the resulting adventures make for another hilarious guide to human nature, our angling foibles, and the challenges on connecting with some of the seas’ more ornery creatures.

His description of fishing for the elusive permit is epic.Anyone who has fly-fished for permit will find his narrative familiar and cathartic: the endless missed casts, the strained vision after days of fruitless searching on the flats, the sights of permit turning tail in the most humiliating ways; the anger, the agony of defeat – all is there living colour.

Unlike many of the more elitist flyfishers and authors, Johnston is not about to give in and forgive those bastard permit for what they have wrought (he does not forgive and forget). He wallows authentically and completely in his repeated failure. It is such a refreshing take on the fact that some species are jon earth merely to torment.

You will also find the definitive fly-fishing account of a guide hired to fish with a top Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition model.Very hard to make this stuff up. He also manages to relate some harrowing tales of taking marlin on the fly, redfish in Texas and tarpon in Belize, Mexico, Florida and Puerto Rico. His own guide training makes him an excellent observer of technique and what makes saltwater guides tick. His appreciation of the ocean, and respect for the hard work and craft of the captains, is a great counterpoint to the challenges presented by saltwater fly-fishing.

All in all, this is a very entertaining read.You may not laugh at every joke along the way, but as Hank Patterson, the world’s greatest guide, relates in his review: “It’s a good read and damn good time!