I read a lot of fly fishing writing. I enjoy the vast majority of it. Honestly, there is some fly fishing writing that I enjoy that is not objectively good. It might have some personal, nostalgic appeal that overshadows its technical flaws. It could be from a friend or acquaintance, allowing me to read a …
Monday I first saw the trout while I was making a cast to a much smaller fish. The brown I had been targeting was probably twelve inches or so. It was steadily rising to imperceptible midges that were apparently floating by with regularity. There was no pattern or cadence to its feeding. After what must …
The last cast. Anglers of all stripes are familiar with the phenomenon. It is the last attempt at a fish. It comes after “I should get going soon” and “just a few more.” It is the nail in the coffin before the streamside post mortem. It is the last cast. But anglers are also well …
This week I’ll be spending a few days in southern Vermont. This region isn’t as well known as the more northernly section; the part with all the cheese, skiing, and Bernie Sanders. But there are plenty of reasons to poke around Manchester, Vermont. Along with fly fishing itself, there are two significant fly fishing “attractions.” …
In one way or another, I’ve been teaching fly casting for over 20 years. I’ve taught it on river with clients I’ve guided. I’ve taught it with classes of 20 students. I’ve taught it with friends and family. I’ve taught my own boys. I’ve personally taken classes, read books on the subject, and watched plenty …
If I had more time, energy, and effort, I’m sure that I could make the thousands of posts on Casting Across more accessible and attractive. There are tweaks that I could make to the website and optimization tools I could utilize. But that is not how I want to fill my hours. All that said, …
With all the high-tech, high-priced modern fly rods out there, no fly fisher is immune from the allure of the upgrade. However, the small stream fly fisher might just be the most resistant to the contagion. An old fly rod will do just fine on a small stream. After all, in that description the “fly …
“But why?” This can be a very obnoxious question. Or, it could be a very revealing question. Do you know why we do what we do when we fly fish? One of this week’s questions was posed to me by a student in a casting class that I am teaching. Innocently, he asked why we …
Dark Skies Fly Fishing continues to grow! The content is more diverse. More people are reading this magazine. The look of the publication is being refined, too. There’s no time like now to read and to subscribe. In this issue, I have an article entitled “Better Blue Lining.” I distill some of my most productive …
The last article I published on other fly fishing podcasts was back in 2020. There was a time when these posts were some of the most popular content on the website. But that was during the COVID times. It was prior to the hordes of AI lists that you’ll find today. It was before …
