Sunfish Synchronicity

Some folks are convinced that the Loch Ness monster  is just a sturgeon or a catfish. Such people are plagued by the chronic condition of being unimaginative. Devoid of whimsy or wonder, they suffer from the kind of hyperrealism that leads them to tell children that Santa is made up. And, I’m confident they begin their statement with a condescending “actually…”

That said, if Nessie was and is a catfish I’d want to catch it.

This  ambition has nothing to do with busting myths or slaying dragons like a 21st century St. George. It is all about catching that fish. The outlier. The exception. The anomaly. I’m all in on catching the fish with the reputation.  There are certainly larger catfish elsewhere. There are plenty of larger and harder fighting fish, for that matter. But catching the (a?) Loch Ness monster on a fly? There is something about pursuing the eccentric that aligns so well with the enterprise of fly fishing.

Case in point: I’ll spend an inordinate amount of time targeting certain panfish.

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Podcast Ep. 343: Panfish Fly Gear, Part I

You absolutely can (and should) fish for panfish with whatever gear you own. Fish for trout, stripers, and peacock bass  with whatever gear you already own, for that matter.

Of course, you’ll have a slightly easier and more enjoyable time if you have equipment that is either specifically designed for the particular pursuit or within a relatively appropriate spectrum. And while panfish  have a low bar for angling entry, a focused effort benefits from some wise gear choices.

In this first part of a two-part  podcast, I explore what some of the considerations should be as you pick fly fishing gear for bluegill, sunfish, and their friends.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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VIDEO: The Two Fly Fishing Books You’ve Seen Everywhere

Coffee table books have a reputation; so too do books that are ubiquitous. How could something so popular and so prevalent be that good?

Well, the late Chris Santella did some great work in his 50 Places to Fly Fish Before You Die series. The two books, which respectively came out in 2004 and 2011, catalog 100 locations from around the globe into which anyone would gladly wade. As you read these titles, you’ll realize that the information is not a copy/paste from Wikipedia. The intel comes right from some of the most well respected voices in angling over the last 50 years.

Both books are worth reading, either in long sessions or in 100 bits and pieces.

Watch what else I have to say about the books, and find out where you can pick it up, below:

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Dark Skies Fly Fishing: Summer 25

When I was asked if I would be willing to contribute to a Mid-Atlantic based fly fishing magazine it was a quick yes.

Growing up fishing Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, I ravenously consumed every page of region-specific periodicals. These free magazines were an essential part of any stop at the fly shop. It was encouraging and exciting to read about waters that I fished and waters that I could fish. The advertisers were largely local, as were the contributors.  The big, glossy fly fishing publications in the rack were great. The stacks of angling “zines” next to the door or the checkout counter were better.

Dark Skies Fly Fishing is an online magazine that carries on the tradition of these great titles. But there are some 21st century perks: ads have links, it fits on your phone or tablet, and rising material costs aren’t a limiting factor. By being primarily digital, their costs are drastically reduced (you can pay for a print version if you choose).

I’m glad to be slated for  a number of their 2025 issues alongside a pool of talented writers. In the summer edition, you can read their words on fishing historical spots in New York, chasing trophy stripers, and tying the spectacular Shenk’s Minnow. Also, you can read what I have to say about fishing in Boston and a recent book on Leonardo Da Vinci.

Interested? See it all below:

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Podcast Ep. 342: Retrieve the Fly… Slower

This episode drifted. And while I’d like to say that is a clever fly fishing pun, it wouldn’t be super appropriate because this week we’re talking about retrieving flies.

The original outline was about all kinds of retrieves, but as I talked about what was most effective I kept returning to one simple truth: slower retrieves usually catch more trout.

Fast retrieves do have a place in the skill set of the angler. But when you’re fishing to animals that are used to seeing frogs, minnows, and crayfish do one thing over and over again there is wisdom in sticking with the routine. I discuss that, along with some tips on what to do with your hands and what not to do with your fly rod.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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VIDEO: Do You Know How & Why Trout Rise?

Trout are  essentially simple creatures. They look for food, they look for security, and (once a year) they look for love.

That said, there is some nuance in how and why they do what they do. Even something as seemingly straightforward as a rise tells the angler a lot more than “the fish is feeding on the surface.”

Vincent Marinaro’s In the Ring of the Rise is many things. Foremost, it served as a deep-dive into the particulars of surface feeding behaviors of fish. The research he conducted in the mid-70’s was remarkable, and the lessons learned have been helping anglers for half a century.

Watch what else I have to say about the book, and find out where you can pick it up, below:

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A Memorial, 2025

For nearly  250 years Americans have fought to gain or maintain the ground of liberty. For the first handful of conflicts that our nation faced, men laid down their lives inch after inch with the prospect of a freedom long in the distance. In our lifetimes, and the lifetimes of our fathers and grandfathers, men died in the breach to prevent the ceding of these precious inches.

This is why Memorial Day is worth observing.

Grilling, baseball, and fly fishing might seem trivial in the grand scheme of things. Then again, these are the joyful pursuits of a civilization benefitting from secured freedom. It is hard to imagine the same figures who made the ultimate sacrifice desiring their descendants living lives characterized by solemnity and austerity.

It is also a great reminder that the trials and conflicts that we are presently enduring within the context of our culture are only  possible because of liberty. Hyperbole is a well in which we frequently drop our buckets. We would do well to remember that the incessant squabbling and criticism  of doesn’t happen in fascist, communist, or other totalitarian settings. This isn’t to say that there arnen’t causes for concern. It is a reminder that our concerns can be voiced; that they can be considered with hope.

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Podcast Ep. 341: Head to Toe Spring Fly Fishing

Okay, in reality it is presented in more of a “toe to head” fashion.

And, please hear me on this, you can wear all the wrong things and still catch more than anyone dressed in all the finest outdoor clothing available.

All that said, there is wisdom in wearing the clothes that can keep you comfortable as the weather is in a transitory phase. Not only is it relatively simple to source said garments, but it is clear that being properly outfitted does help with comfort and focus.

Hear about everything from socks to hats for spring fly fishing this week.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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What Do You Want in a Book Review?

Book review videos have become a weekly feature of Casting Across. The goal is to share fly fishing books with my audience, exposing you to titles known and unknown; old and new. It has been a lot of fun to put them together and  send them all over the world via YouTube.

Today I’m asking for a little feedback. I want to know what you like about the videos and what you want to see. To encourage as many responses as possible, I’m giving away five Casting Across Fly Fishing sticker packs to those who fill out the survey.

While I really enjoy making the videos simply for the sake of talking about books I like, I want them to be as engaging and impactful to as many people as possible. So I truly do appreciate any feedback you can provide. And if you happen to be or know an author, publisher, or publicist I’d love to talk about that too!

Please fill out the survey and enter to win a Casting Across sticker pack below:

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Fishing Footsteps, II

His first groggy words of the morning expressed his desire to fish the Letort. He knew what he was getting into. An avid reader, he had been picking random volumes out of my fly fishing library for years. He had seen the pictures of the weeds and read the dour words of those recalling the halcyon days. But he had also heard me talking about the hours I spent watching individual trout feed, the weeks of trial and error to make the right cast to a particular fish, and the place the little creek played in my life for a time. And, of course, there were the pictures of the startlingly large brown trout I was able to chance into.

Check out “Part I” here.

The second day of our father and son fly fishing trip in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley had to be on the region’s spring creeks. Four days’ worth of heavy rain had turned the freestone and limestone-influenced creeks into churning chocolate milk. Those waters had been my primary goal. Thankfully there were other options and a flexible teenager at hand.

After a breakfast with enough calories for a party twice our size, we headed to the Letort Spring Run. I’m not sure if it was my anecdotes, the books he read, or simply his adventurous personality, but he was enraptured by the scene. If he said that it was cool once, he said it a hundred times. We walked slowly. I showed him how fish lay and how they feed in relation to weed beds. We discussed the unpredictable and undulating currents, and how no two casts would yield the same presentation. While all of this instruction was happening, a footlong bronze form propelled itself from under a clump of vegetation to slam his fly. None of the three of us expected it.

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