For most anglers, fly fishing is an activity reserved for the margins of life. It is fit it in when it can be: between work, family obligations, school, and all the other obligations that rightly get top billing. Fly fishing might get penciled in for a day or weekend now and again, but mostly it’s …
This is about as late in the day as I’ve ever posted on the site. But it’s happening because the family and I have been in the woods of New Hampshire since this morning. It’s a remarkably mild fall, and we were able to enjoy a beautiful White Mountain autumn without jackets or mittens. Similarly, …
What do you have planned for three months from now? I can assure you that you have a lot planned for the time between today and three months from now. The last major fall fishing trips, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and everything that goes along with the holiday season is coming up in the next 90 days. After …
Back in the spring I was paddling the shallows, casting into likely spots to see what kind of fish I could get into. This pond – a slow part of a river, actually – holds largemouth, smallmouth, chain pickerel, yellow perch, stocked trout and salmon, and a handful of other species. I had already landed …
There is an inherent symmetry in the fall run of steelhead within the Great Lakes system. There is cool rain, and the fish move from the lakes into the tributaries. There is a run of fish, and the anglers move from the trout streams into the tributaries. The fish shed their silvery sheen, and the …
I love fishing small streams, and I am not alone. The pay off from the whole experience of fly fishing on a small stream equates to a lot more than just catching fish. Usually you are alone, in beautiful places, and away from it all. Usually, you are only catching small fish. But, there is …
If their first fly patch caught your eye on social media because of the vivid colors of the brown trout pattern, the brook trout design of the new First Mate probably had you following links to learn more about Pirate Fly Fishing. Back in March I spoke with Justin West of Pirate Fly Fishing about …
Ah, technology. Today I went fishing and live streamed it across the universe. Using Instagram, I recorded myself on my cell phone and allowed the public to join me on my adventure. As you may be aware, I hadn’t caught a fish in the month of September. Trying times, these. I saw an opportunity in …
This brook trout was caught within its species’ historic range. You might respond with very little excitement, as that is precisely where one would expect to find any animal. Or, you could appreciate the fact that the historic distribution of char up and down the East Coast has been greatly diminished to the point where …
Gimmicky. Bananas. Unnatural. And worst of all: stockers. Those are some of the pejorative terms used by anglers to describe a particular flavor of rainbow trout. The fish in question is, of course, the Palomino. Otherwise known as the golden rainbow, and sometimes improperly (and abhorrently, to the chagrin of west coast anglers) referred to …
