If you Google something to the effect of “dying in a national park,” you’ll get quite a few nifty infographics. Each one will show you that bears are not going to be the way you meet an untimely end if you do end up shuffling off this mortal coil while recreating on NPS property. Bears, …
Today you’re seeing part 4 of a series. Read the beginning of River Apollo here. Paul wasn’t an off the rack kind of guy. His rocky past and idyllic present were each a few standard deviations away from the middle of society’s bell curve. He knew this. He was thankful for this – even for …
They’re not the biggest or most technically-challenging fish, but there is something special about a wild trout caught high up in the mountains. And while those who spend a lot of time walking trails with fly rod in hand know that it is possible to catch dozens of feisty trout in these secluded creeks, this …
June. July. August. Summer means bass chasing poppers, stripers crashing in the surf, and long hikes to still-chilly mountain trout creeks. These three months have a lot going for them. I’m not too fond of the heat, but I’m quite partial to the fishing… and the vacations, the evenings on the deck, and the ever-so-subtle …
Decoration Day was the forerunner to the modern celebration of Memorial Day. A reunifying United States formally and corporately acknowledged the fallen. In steps through the decades and through other wars, Memorial Day as we know it came to be. Thaddeus Norris’ The American Angler’s Book was published in 1864. Although the war was still …
Bamboo might be what your great grandpa’s rod was made out of. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t fish with it too. And maybe, that means fishing with grandpa’s clunky five-and-dime bamboo fly rod. Why fish with a rod material that is now three generations old? Today I talk through three reasons why you …
This is, as the title says, the 3rd part of the story. Read the beginning of River Apollo here. Paul never wanted to be a mascot for anything. One time he came close. (That is, in fact, a significant part of his life. But it is significant enough to wait for a more opportune time. …
Anthropologists believe that a cave painting in the Czech Republic is the earliest example of a map that we have. The markings seem to represent local mountains, valleys, and rivers. The features on the map pointed to the fields they farmed and the forests they hunted. There was time, care, and investment represented on that …
Dry flies, nymphs, and streamers. They work just fine, but there are plenty of ways to fish these flies. One of the most effective ways to fish dries and nymphs is in the surface film or just below the surface. While a high-floating dry is romantic and bottom-ticking nymphs get a lot of hype, fish …
Read part I of River Apollo here. Only once had Paul encountered a bear on the little creek that ran in front of his property. It was years ago and well upstream from his house. The gentle valley that the stream flows through intensifies ever so slightly; enough that things feel close and tight in …
