Belgian Flats by Chris Santella

Belgian Flats is the story of Cody, a fly-fishing guide whose career has hit a dead end after a dozen years guiding on a famed western trout stream. Cody’s mentor suggests that he take a job as a lodge manager at a prestigious Atlantic salmon lodge in northwestern Russia. The story follows Cody’s travels to the Kola Peninsula and his encounters with the characters who filter through—from philosophizing oligarchs to Samí herdsmen who are not above kidnapping lodge staff to maintain control of their historic lands. There’s even a love interest. Belgian Flats provides an offbeat and humorous insider’s view of the fly-fishing world that angling aficionados will appreciate.