My Father’s Day gift this year is a new chainsaw. At the time of writing, I do not have a new chainsaw. This has nothing to do with my wife or children and everything to do with my unrelenting hope that I can fix my old chainsaw. A part has been ordered. For all the …
Everybody knows largemouth bass. Tournaments tie heavy purses to them. Kitschy wall decor celebrates them. They’re America’s fish. And even though catching one can be as easy as putting a worm on a hook under a bobber, tangling with the biggest specimens takes some real know-how. Understanding behavior and seasonality is essential for quality and …
This issue of Dark Skies Fly Fishing makes a dozen in this magazine’s catalog. I’m continually impressed by the caliber of writing featured in the periodical, as well as the diversity of angling topics that are represented. I have two articles in this summer issue. The first is a book review on fishing pressured waters. …
There are plenty of “how-to” fly fishing books out there for beginners. Nearly all of them are informative. Many of them are a bit dry, which isn’t a surprise given the fact that they are essentially textbooks. Michael Klimkos’ Introduction to Fly Fishing is hardly tedious. It is written in an engaging style, lending itself …
At the time of writing, I have no plans to fish in Pennsylvania in June. However, I’ll be in and around some of my favorite trout water for a handful of days. And, as the second leg of my road trip does include fishing, I’ll have a few fly rods in my car. So you …
My kids get excited about southern panfish. They talk about the brook trout and the largemouth bass, but it is the sunfish, bluegill, and pumpkinseed that they look forward to when we get close to our annual summer trip to Virginia. We have plenty of panfish in New England. They are as willing to eat …
No one has ever seen a body builder and thought, “I bet he’d make an excellent angler.” Similarly, there is no inherent association between the physique of marathon runners and fly casting ability. Why is that? Because while there is absolutely nothing wrong with being in shape, athletic prowess and fly fishing success only share …
Once more, we are turning to a title that finds its origin in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley. While not his seminal fly fishing work, Rising Trout by Charles Fox is a fantastic addition to any angler’s library. This is also an interesting example of where a reprint is of different value than a first edition. The …
Recently I released a podcast episode entitled “3 Lies that Keep People from Fly Fishing.” (You can listen to it here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.) The first lie that I addressed was one of the most inaccurate assumptions people hold about fly fishing. It is an unnecessary perspective that unfortunately keeps people from …
I am not anti-AI. I also grew up with the Terminator series and, therefore, have a healthy fear of giving robots too much autonomy. One of my favorite ways to interact with large language models is to ask them what other people are asking them. Or, I see what kinds of questions are on people’s …
