It takes quite a skilled pen to write a famous crime novel and famous fly fishing books. But John Voelker (aka Robert Traver) accomplished just that. His Trout Madness deserves every bit of the prominence it holds in 20th century fly fishing writing. It is a wonderful example of the subgenre of angling account anthologies. …
Walking the exhibition hall at The Fly Fishing Show is a great example of the diversity of interests within fly fishing. Saltwater and freshwater, tied flies and materials for tying, established companies and small businesses are all represented. There are also nonprofits, antique dealers, booksellers, and artists. Fly fishing is certainly about catching fish utilizing …
Today’s episode is a snippet from one of the presentations that I give at The Fly Fishing Show. It is about a third shorter and you don’t get the benefit of PowerPoint slides, but the content promises to be quite helpful for the small stream angler. Why? If you primarily fish small streams, there might …
Conservation books are often written after the fact. Articles and blogs can talk about what is happening, but the real what happened of any conservation initiative has a certain longitudinal quality about it. The Forgotten Salmon of the Merrimack, by Lawrence Stolte, chronicles a century of restoration and protection on the eve of an early-1980’s …
I love my lightweight bamboo fly rods. I truly enjoy fishing with my older, wispy fiberglass fly rods. And one of my favorite graphite fly rods is a decidedly slow action 2-weight. This lines up with a common approach to fly fishing small steams. Since the water is small and the fish are small, many …
What if I told you that if you think that outdoor shows are all about spending money that you’ve got it all wrong? Sure, there are opportunities to shell out wads of cash. But you can also support small businesses. In fact, some of them are so small that they might not even technically be …
If you have ever spent a life, a year, a season, or even a long trip on one particular stretch of water, you know how there is a lot more than fishing going on. The holistic aspect of being on a river makes you a better angler. More than that, it adds to the appreciation …
It wouldn’t be a bad shirt, once it went through the wash. I found it on an island in the middle of the river. The college featured on the front wasn’t far from the western Massachusetts river I was fishing. I wouldn’t dumpster dive or pick up clothes off the side of the road. But …
Hear me out: I am not saying everyone can or should practice fly casting indoors. But if you can, why not? In today’s episode I am really discussing how a lot of us would benefit from more and more diverse fly casting practice. Although it is essential to practice casting under ideal circumstances, it makes …
“It is definitely a bear.” We stood over the track. Shoulder-to-shoulder, strung fly rods in hand, we blocked the trail as we observed the depressions in the mud. It was most certainly a bear. Or someone had taken their very large and very ill-proportioned dog on a walk in the mountains. “Well, it is also …
