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 …
Destination angling is the thing that dreams are made of. Like Clark Griswold, fly fishers sit in their cubicles and fantasize about premier trout rivers or bonefish flats. These legendary locales are built up such that the fish, the lodges, and the guides are placed in an entirely different piscatorial plane. Often, it is true. …
One should carefully approach the trout stream and objectively read the water before tying on a fly, stepping into the current, or making a cast. The alternative is to assume that what has worked for you before will work again this time. The latter is my inevitable default. Particularly when I’m feeling pressured to catch …
The stream was crowded. Walking from my car to the water, I had to tell myself that I can’t control the fish and I can’t control the fishermen. I can only control my cast, my fly selection, and my attitude. It didn’t help that I had a pounding headache and an increasingly damp shirt from …
I caught my first trout on a fly rod in south central Pennsylvania. The lush valley with its limestone streams was different enough from suburban Virginia to be aesthetically enchanting to an otherwise distracted teenager. Closer streams with less challenging trout were an option. But I was smitten. Without any ties aside from a few …
I usually don’t produce a full-sized article around holidays, as I am often busy with various and sundry celebrations. But I do want to put out something. Part of it is maintaining consistency. Part of it is that I am a little nuts about the idea of a schedule. Another website I frequent put up …
Every other fly rod was on the vertical rack. Sage, Orvis, Winston: all the names I knew and aspired to collect. But this rod was hung up horizontally. It was a bright amber with deep red wraps. The most striking aspect of the rod was that it was shorter than all the other fly rods …
Take a look at the photo above. On the surface, it isn’t that remarkable. The trout is pretty enough… but it isn’t particularly large. The tackle in the background, on first glance, is standard fare. And there is nothing immediately distinctive about the scenery. The perceptive observer might notice something about each of the subjects …
