Casting Across has been at it for eleven years.
Eleven is no ten. It isn’t a fancy milestone or anything like that. But it has given me an opportunity to think about how I have been writing and talking about fly fishing on this platform for over a decade. And it presents an opportunity for me to share said thoughts with you, dear reader.
Fly fishing has changed in the last eleven years. Not the fish or the pursuit or even fly fishing at the macro level. Yet there have been changes in some of the particulars. Reflecting on this website and the associated forums I use, it has been interesting to consider what has changed and what has stayed the same.
Here are four thoughts and observations on eleven years of Casting Across:
No AI Then, No AI Now
Yes, every once in a while I use an image generator for a banner picture. But you’re never going to wonder if it is real or not. And I’ve also tapped into the hive mind to see what questions people are asking about fly fishing. That is, in a way, so I can offer an alternative to AI.
I’m not opposed to using AI like a cordless drill when you have to hang a lot of sheetrock. There is no virtue in screwing drywall in by hand. It can be a very effective and efficient tool for repetitive tasks or complex computations. But I do think it is lazy at best and deceptive at worst when AI is used instead of a paintbrush when you’re advertising your art exhibit. Maybe I have an art over science bias, but that is where I am presently sitting on the matter.
When my content gets linked to, I get a notification. More and more it has been to websites that look ostensibly human but are, on closer inspection, about as robotic as a Disney World ride. I think it is bad. I don’t worry about how these faux sites siphon away clicks from Casting Across. What I don’t take kindly to is ham-fisted, aggregated information that might not be accurate for the reader.
The world we live in now was only science fiction when Casting Across started. And you’re still not going to find AI-generated content here. It is always me, at my keyboard, typing out imperfect human thoughts.
Endurance & Evolution
Recently I went through a junk drawer. Suffice to say, there was a lot of junk in it. However, I did come across some interesting stickers. They are promoting brands and websites that were quite popular a decade ago. Now? These stickers are all that is left of them. Perhaps they burned bright as they traveled across the angling sky, but today they’re just a little vinyl memory.
I’m not saying that three posts a week for eleven years makes me better or more disciplined or anything like that. Yet I do think a few cultural generations have passed in the lifespan of Casting Across. Influencers and blogs aren’t used like they once were. Style and substance have to rest on a foundation of authenticity. I can even see a change in my writing and overall content that reflect this reality.
Without any quantitative data (maybe I should ask Grok to analyze it for me…), I can’t say for sure how 2026 is different than 2016 on this site. But I do know that it is different. More important, though, is that it still is.
Finding Lanes
I love writing about anything and everything fly fishing. I’m not a salt guy but I do it enough and I know enough to put out an article every once in a while. I am not an expert fly tier but I tie enough functional flies to speak with some competency on the topic. There is a diverse catalog here that ranges from history to dry fly technique, rod selection to taking kids fishing.
Still, small streams and fly fishing books are sort of my bread and butter. It is where my head and heart happen to be more often than not. This is also the kind of post that generates the most buzz.
I like writing about what I want to write about. I have that freedom on Casting Across. If I really want to write about something, I’ll write about whatever that might be. Still, I do enjoy the sharing. And the sharing happens when what I have to say resonates. In that respect, it isn’t a constraint to have a few areas of focus.
Here I Go Again On My Own
Lastly, and I don’t think I’m being repetitive by making this explicit, Casting Across is just me. There is no team, no group, no contributors. Just Matthew. There were some ill-fated attempts to add voices early on, and it has turned me off to the idea. So know that what you get is from me to you. And I hope you like it.
Thanks for reading Casting Across, whether it is just today or for the last eleven years.