Can you spot the steelhead in the image above? There are three fish, each over 20 inches… There is a certain rush in the fall when the days get cooler, the leaves change, and 20 pound trout begin to show up where there was once only suckers and smallmouth. There is a culture, an industry, …
Okay, okay, okay. Lake-run rainbow trout. There. I said it. Now, on to the article: When I lived in the Mid-Atlantic, fall meant trips up to the shores of Lake Erie. After my first time up, it became one of my favorite annual pilgrimages. The fish are great. But there is so much more to …
Where do you fish? I field this question a lot. Recently, when I solicited ideas on social media, this was asked even more. So while I won’t necessarily be spot burning, I do want to highlight some rivers and regions that I’ve enjoyed. This week I talk about three places that I’ve really enjoyed fishing. …
In a time when “non-essential” businesses have to close, fly shops certainly make the cut. And while fly shops aren’t essential for our daily lives, we are absolutely essential for the lives of those who own or work in fly shops. A good fly shop will sell you a rod, some tying thread, or a …
A San Juan Worm on the San Juan River. An Ausable Wulff on the Ausable (not the Au Sable… but that might work, too). An RS-2 on the South Platte. A Letort Hopper on the Letort… during hopper season. It all seems too neat and tidy, too conventional and stereotypical. At this point, haven’t these …
Ah, vacation. I don’t vacation often. “But, Matthew,” you say, “you’re always talking about amazing fly fishing exploits.” Well, then I have used the power of the pen to sufficiently fool you into thinking I get out more than I do. It isn’t deception, per se, I just optimize those few chances I get. Pay …
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I’d like to think that I’m still relatively young. However, I am of an age where there are certain benchmarks that separate me from the younger generation. When I was a teenager, and I wanted information on fly fishing tactics or a region, it meant a trip to the library. I’d have to find actual …
I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago. Fishing consisted of bait under a bobber for whatever happened to be nearby. I can’t remember a point in my childhood where I became aware of fly fishing. There really wasn’t any reason for me to. No fisheries capable of sustaining trout longer than the cooler …
This may very well be where I caught my first fish. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I wasn’t necessarily born into a hotbed of angling. My family wasn’t a fly fishing family. However, like so many kids in middle America, my dad and grandpa did take me fishing. And this might have been that …
