Most nights I’d time leaving home so I could gear up right as the frogs began to sing in earnest. That wasn’t the event I was targeting, but the amphibian chorus corresponded with the evening hatch. Trout could be taken all evening long. But the action intensified once the sulphurs started hitting the water. Seeing …
Minor league baseball is all about fun. Sure, the players are doing everything they can to succeed at the lower levels of professional baseball with the hopes of getting to the majors. But while they’re giving it their all on the field, there is a whole lot more going on around them. T-shirt cannons, “bring …
I really like hunting. I enjoy the hunt itself, including the animals I do or don’t pursue. A hunt might have equal parts camaraderie and solitude, which I appreciate in equal measure. And then there’s being outside. It’s hard to have a bad day when I’m in the woods. Hunting the right way, you get …
Scientifically speaking, the eye can’t see cold. Ice and snow and the moisture in breath that turns into condensation can be seen. But what is being seen isn’t cold. Yet the eye can see when it is cold out. Aesthetics accomplish what science cannot. Everything looks more still. The entire world looks as if a …
Five years ago I switched reels on a 6-weight rod. The large arbor reel that had been paired with the rod was it’s mate for going on 15 years. I acquired a new reel, and made the decision to use it primarily on that same 6-weight. The rod felt very different, and in a good …
Never judge a book buy its cover. Unless that book is a fly fisher and that cover happens to have a ventilated back cape. In that case, judge away. Because the only reasonable judgement that you could come to is this: that person knows how how to freaking fish. Anyone who is anyone knows that …
When was the last time you just casted? Golfers go to the driving range. Not just professionals, either. Once-a-month golfers might stop by the range a few times to hit a bucket of balls. Swing after swing, you can deliberately work out kinks in your technique. It is practice, but it is also fun. Fly …
More often than not, the trout sipping midges in the winter are not going to take you into your backing. But these fish offer a great change of pace from normal cold weather techniques. Instead of bouncing nymphs along the bottoms of the deepest holes in the river and methodically targeting every hole in the …
Getting rid of the Coca-Cola vending machine was a terrible decision for the fly shop. I can’t say I ever bought a soda there. But I know that I wasn’t the only one who would swing into the parking lot to look at the thing. I could pull right up, roll down my window, and …
May it never be said that trout are the only species that demand fly fishing nuance. Whether it be due to location or preference, some anglers routinely pursue species like bass. Additionally, the waters they frequent aren’t the typical wide smallmouth rivers or vast largemouth lakes. Our nation is covered with small steams that contain …
