Close up camp. Back to school. Don’t wear white. Labor Day does not sound like a whole lot of fun. But summer is only a short nine months away. And fall is pretty spectacular. Plus there is the fact that you can’t alter the rotation of the earth and the resultant seasons so there is …
A headlamp lives in most of my fly fishing packs. When I’m out for a long time or I’m far from the car, it goes in for emergencies. If I’ll be fishing into the evening, it goes in for safety and out of necessity. I usually have one in the back of the car all …
Earlier this month, hundreds of dead trout floated through the fly fishing only section of Maryland’s Beaver Creek. Authorities have yet to pinpoint the ultimate cause, but heavy rainfall over heavy-use agricultural and industrial lands bordering the stream is likely a significant part of the picture. The same environment that produces fertile spring creeks filled …
So this weekend happens to be my birthday. And it isn’t any birthday. It is one of those birthdays. A big, round number that seemed decades and decades away only a matter of years ago is upon me. But I don’t think it is going to be all that bad. What it does give me …
Wildlife art is something most anglers and hunters appreciate. While the Venn diagram plotting the wader or camo crowd with the art gallery types might only share a slight sliver, there is still a sliver. And although Bass Pro bucks or Guy Harvey sailfish might not be critically acclaimed, they are perfectly at home in …
Orange fins. Blue halos around red dots. Dark parr marks that span the vertical transition of vermiculated olive back to dusty golden sides. That milky white belly. I can not get enough. And I hope I never will. As an eastern angler, and a passionate devotee of all things small stream, I think about juvenile …
I like the orderliness and comprehensiveness of spreadsheets. I use them for work. I use them for home. I use them for fly fishing. Yes. I use spreadsheets for fly fishing. How? I keep track of some pieces of data that I think will be beneficial. Things that aren’t apparent on the surface or necessarily …
Serious panfish anglers know that you do need particular gear to chase the biggest bluegill and sunfish. There are tried and true panfish flies that will consistently produce. But say you’re just taking your trout rod on a walk at the local pond? Or what if your life rhythm has made regular excursions untenable? Panfish …
I am a few nights away from wrapping up the *checks notes* longest vacation I’ve taken since 2009. It came at a great time. Life is in a good, but busy, season. I didn’t feel like I was dragging myself to the day of departure. Even as I was loading the car I was reminding …
“One more cast.” Of all the softly spoken magic spells in fly fishing, this one might be the most frequent incantation. Part desperation, part closure; the idea of a final presentation has a certain hopeful romance to it. The fish can’t tell that you’re about to call it a day. But the thought behind the …
