You can’t feel your fingers. Your breath is fogging up your sunglasses. Your waders are just a little bit frozen. Obviously, it is the perfect time to tie on a dry fly… in the size 22-28 range. Even when bigger bugs aren’t fluttering around the stream, smaller insects are probably hatching. In long runs, glassy …
I broke my net. The net broke my fall. The wooden handle took my full weight as I hit the granite boulder. Shiny rocks looked like icy rocks, so I let my guard down. One of those shiny rocks was actually an icy rock. My feet went out from underneath me so fast that I …
Opening day. The annual trip to the cabin. A first fish. Within these experiences is the opportunity for ritual. And rituals simply consist of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. Maybe there is something that you’ve always done. Perhaps there is something that you’ve always done because it was what your …
Earlier this week I put out a piece called “Fishing the Gray.” In short, it is a quasi-autobiographical encouragement to get out and fly fish in even the ugliest weather. A good number of people read it. Hopefully, if you were one of those people, you appreciated it. Still, I can’t help but think that …
The streambanks, even the stream bottoms, are mostly bare. There might be snow and ice. Days are short but the cold weather lasts for a long time. Overall, things are gray, It isn’t the same as fishing in the spring, summer, or fall. But it is still fishing. Guides and fingers freeze. Fish, and most …
Today I talk about two topics related to fly procurement: If you buy them, where should you buy them from? Is tying flies economical? There are as many opinions on both of these questions as there are fly patterns. I don’t pretend to be the expert. But I do have a few simple data points …
These nine photographs aren’t terribly exciting. What they represent is what I did in 2021. They also represent what you “liked” the most about Casting Across last year. I don’t obsess over the analytic side of Casting Across. But it can be interesting. One of the things that interests me is what interests you. I …
Less than two weeks ago I wrote “The Last Time You’ll Fish.” I’ve included a link to the article below, but here’s the gist of it: There are places that you have gone fishing that you will never fish again. Some of these places aren’t anything special. Others, when framed in this manner, are the …
How was your year in general? Okay. Now: How was your year in fly fishing? You don’t need to keep a journal or go on some sort of self-discovery session to think about your year on and around the water. Just consider your successes and (relative) failures. Take quick inventory of how you did and …
Did you get cash for Christmas? How about a gift card to Cabela’s or Bass Pro? Or, perhaps you were the lucky recipient of store credit to a local fly shop. Do you feel like you have to spend it ASAP? At least go into it with a little bit of a plan. Even if …
