If you own a bamboo fly rod, you’ve probably spent a good amount of time reading various approaches to maintenance. The nature of the grass blanks and metal ferrules leads to some necessary, extra attention. If you own graphite or fiberglass fly rods, hopefully you’ve also put some effort into keeping your fishing gear clean. …
“No one knows what tomorrow holds.” …but the sun is going to rise. There will be a long line at the popular coffee shop. Deadlines at work and school will come and go. Children will still require bedtime routines, and the same sitcom reruns will minister to worn-out parents. We know a lot of what …
Always talk about religion and politics when you go fly fishing. And why wouldn’t you? Perhaps you have been told that such subjects are taboo for the dinner table, the break room, or the morning train. But maybe that is part of what is wrong with society. We can’t handle a difference of opinion. Furthermore, …
Can you spot the steelhead in the image above? There are three fish, each over 20 inches… There is a certain rush in the fall when the days get cooler, the leaves change, and 20 pound trout begin to show up where there was once only suckers and smallmouth. There is a culture, an industry, …
If you fish enough to wear out a fly line over the course of a season, you should absolutely tie a leader to your fly line with a nail knot. The result is a smooth connection that will not only slide through your guides with ease, but also facilitate the best transfer of energy. In …
Okay, okay, okay. Lake-run rainbow trout. There. I said it. Now, on to the article: When I lived in the Mid-Atlantic, fall meant trips up to the shores of Lake Erie. After my first time up, it became one of my favorite annual pilgrimages. The fish are great. But there is so much more to …
After hundreds of casts, dozens of holes, and double-digit miles, I caught the best trout right next to the parking lot. Add to all that the fact that I had no business being ready to fish. Why did it happen the way that it did? I don’t know. But I’ve caught enough fish in quasi-ironic …
Some fish are hard to catch because they are spooky. Others are just too far away. Others still have a chronic case of lockjaw. Then, there are fish that are perfectly willing to see and take your fly… you just can’t get to them. Because they’re under things. Rocks. Logs. Culverts. Rhododendron tunnels. If there …
This was probably my last New England brook trout of the season. The conditions were right on an unseasonably fall weekend and I got out after them. The water was warm and the fish were willing to play ball. I caught almost every one out of deep, slow water. I avoided riffles and runs – …
Two years ago I wrote an article on one of my favorite ways to experience nature and fly fishing: trail running. Along with the exercise and the challenge, it gets me deeper into unfished and wild places quickly. That post generated a lot of interest, and there is a link below. Running into the woods …
