Virtually anyone who looks at the big picture of our nation’s waterways will see that the infatuation with dams of all shapes and sizes was significantly inflated. Whether it be giant structures that cut salmon off from hundreds of miles of spawning habitat or a small concrete abutment that led to flooding, the overuse of …
Author: Matthew
Podcast Ep. 278: [Cast1] The Culture of Fly Fishing
Is fly fishing just you, a rod, and a fish? In one sense, it is. But in a much broader, more realistic way of thinking about things it certainly is not. There are a lot more people doing what you do, and being a part of that culture is not only unavoidable but enriching. Today …
Rusty Flybox: Staying Alive
Maybe you’ve never had a fly fishing injury. But there is a good chance that if you’ve had an injury, it has impacted your fly fishing. Today I’m sharing three articles that deal with a relatively obscure, but certainly important, aspect of fly fishing. Physical health is a necessary part of fly fishing. While you …
3 Reasons to Take a Casting Lesson (Even if You’re Good)
I can cast just fine. Why would I need a lesson from someone else? Professional golfers have swing coaches. Veteran quarterbacks go to training camp. World-class marathon runners get input on their stride dynamics. So even if you’re not fly fishing with the hopes of ending up on a Wheaties box, you can’t say that …
Podcast Ep. 277: [Cast1] Warm Water Fly Fishing
Yes: you can fly fish for panfish and bass. Before the seasoned and refined fly fisher scoffs at this question, it is important to realize that this is actually a very common query among new anglers. In an incredibly cursory manner in today’s show, I go over how and why the trout angler can and …
Casting Across on the Untangled Podcast
Even though I talk about fly fishing into a microphone for about half an hour every week already, it is always a great experience to hop on to someone else’s podcast. A few weeks back, I recorded with Spencer Durrant of the Untangled Podcast from Ventures Fly Co. We talked Casting Across and fly fishing …
Why Fly Fishing Means Something
Fly fishing means a lot to me. I genuinely, truly enjoy being outdoors chasing fish with a fly rod. Make no mistake about that. And I am so appreciative of the experiences and opportunities that fly fishing has afforded me. Most recently, with Casting Across. But over the past 25 years I have met remarkable …
Podcast Ep. 276: [Cast1] The Seasons of Trout
If you fly fish for trout, you can fish 12 months out of the year. There are a handful of very important caveats to that statement, but it is true nonetheless. Exceptions aside, it is key to understanding some of the reasons why fishing changes throughout the year and why. In another surface-level introduction, I …
River Apollo, VII
The world of fly fishing has come a long way. The tweed and wicker creel, old white guy image represents vintage advertisements more than present reality. Paul, while white, a guy, and older, never really fit the prototype for the angling catalog model. Truth be told, he had never owned a wicker creel. Two of …
Healing Waters: An Important Fly Fishing Book
While there are countless fly fishing books, only a handful are truly important. Some novels are important because they capture the whole of fly fishing so well, in turn captivating audiences generation after generation. Books that explore technique can be important if they perfectly articulate an aspect of angling or pioneer a new paradigm. Such …