Scents of Water

I parked my car at the familiar gravel pull off. Without waders or fly rod, I walked up the road to a low bridge that crossed the stream. I had plans to write a number of articles featuring the spring creeks I fished so often when I lived in Pennsylvania. Standing on top of the bridge, I took some pictures facing downstream. I crossed the one lane road and took more pictures looking upstream. The photos looked good. But I had a particular shot in mind: a good shot of the creek meandering up through a willow-lined meadow.

This required me to climb down  the side of the bridge and get positioned on the ground, at creek level. Jumped over the guardrail put me right where I wanted to be. It also put me someplace I didn’t expect.

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Cold Weather Fishing Comfort: Beyond Layering

It is easy to stay warm when you’re fishing in the winter. Layer, layer, layer. You can always add another pair of long underwear bottoms or an additional fleece top. This will keep your core toasty in the most brutal conditions.

But the fact of the matter is that regardless of how warm you core is, cold fingers and toes make fishing miserable.

You can’t layer, layer, layer gloves and still tie flies on or feel a rod grip well. You can’t pile on socks and still fit your feet in wading boots. The solution is to fish with better gear. And that doesn’t mean $150 yak wool balaclavas or  battery operated copper-infused beanies. It means picking gear designed for use in the outdoors that is built to mitigate the unavoidable cold of winter.

Here are four pieces of gear that will immediately keep you warmer, which will keep you fishing happier and longer, for under $40 each:

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Podcast Ep. 213: 4 Winter Confidence Flies

Today I talk through four flies that work for me in the winter. Notice I said for me. That doesn’t mean that they won’t work for you. In fact, I think that they will work for you. But I have a lot of confidence in these four patterns.

And confidence matters, because there is no silver bullet fly that you can use for trout in the cold months. But there are certain facets of some popular flies that will appeal to fish that aren’t as active or aggressive in the winter.

Hear what the four flies are, hear why I choose them, and hear how to fish them in this episode.

Also, use code CASTING right now to save 20% and get free shipping at manscaped.com.

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

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Firsts They’ll Remember

I shot  my first duck just over a year ago. I can still remember the anticipation, the excitement, and the moment. The freshness of that memory made watching him shoot his first duck all the more special.

He’s 10. All my boys caught their first fish as toddlers. All my boys caught their first fish on a fly rod as toddlers. Those are fun moments and great memories. But the moment is fun for them like pretty much any exciting moment is fun. That is the joy of being a toddler. And the memories are great for me. For them? The memories exist only as far as they are stories I tell them and pictures they see.

But for him, at 10, there was that anticipation. I didn’t have my license in a state in which he could hunt last season. He watched as friends got their first duck earlier this season. He sat through some early, cold mornings with high flying birds. He watched YouTube videos, helped my process birds I took, and practiced calling in the basement.

That big mallard drake represented something of a unique accomplishment in his decade of life. And it was great, as his dad, to watch it happen.

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Catch, Release, & Tip: Guides & Gratuity

In fly fishing, and in our culture in general, tipping is expected for many direct services. On top of payment, gratuity is part of the transaction. It is a way to thank the professional. It is a way to compliment quality service. And it is a way to round out that person’s compensation.

However, a  new angler may balk at the idea of tipping after he has the sticker shock that comes with seeing how much a guided trip costs. Yet the very same person wouldn’t object to tipping on a very expensive steak and bottle of wine.

So how much should a tip on a guided trip be?

Generally speaking, 15 to 20 percent is a good place to start. But why? And what about a trip that doesn’t yield many (or any) fish? But aren’t guides already expensive?

Here are five ways to think about tipping your fly fishing guide:

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Podcast Ep. 212: Tailwaters, part I

Tailwaters are a big part of fly fishing. So big, in fact, that this episode organically became a two-parter.

Today I talk about what a tailwater is, where you can find them, and why they are so important for fly fishers. More appropriately: why they are so important for trout. Of course, there is another side of tailwaters that is worth discussing as well.

Most of all, I hope that the 20 minutes of content in this episode get you thinking about dams, rivers, and some of the fishing opportunities that these interesting ecosystems provide.

Also, use code CASTING right now to save 20% and get free shipping at manscaped.com.

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

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Giving Tuesday is Never Over

On the heels of a long weekend of spending, Giving Tuesday has become a charitable foil to the post-Thanksgiving commercialism. Nonprofits of all stripes capitalize on the awareness that comes along with what has become an internet phenomenon. Initiatives backed with promotions, matching donations, and particular goals seek to bolster funding.

Nonprofit organizations within the outdoors community are no exception.

If you are interested in supporting a program that protects trout or natural resources, great. But you might also want to consider investing in an organization that is raising up the next generation to protect trout or natural resources.

Here are four great fly fishing and outdoors-related nonprofits that are helping kids get outside and learn to steward the world around them:

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Angler’s Coffee: Blending Beans & Fly Fishing

“Last summer I headed out to do something that has been on my bucket list.” Joe Monaghan  continued: “I rented a little Sprinter decked out for camping. I was all by myself and I had no agenda whatsoever. I drove east and started fishing; I started fishing all of western Montana. It was great. I went all over the place, fishing with different people wherever I went.  The fishing was great, but so was sharing that cup of coffee with them in the morning. Even if I was meeting a guide I’d insist we stop and have a cup of coffee. That way we could get to know each other, and talk about what we’d be using and how we’d be fishing.

“Great fishing and great coffee. It’s a good memory.”

Between fishing and coffee, Monaghan has a significant bank of memories to pull from. His home waters are some of the premier steelhead fisheries of the Pacific Northwest. His background is four decades with one of the premier espresso machine companies. “But,” Monaghan said, “I retired from ‘big coffee,’ moved to rural Washington, and made more time for family and fishing.”

That retirement only paved the way to his next pursuit: Angler’s Coffee.

“Angler’s Coffee is  first and foremost about what is in the bag,” Monaghan  explained. “Our coffee is top notch. We’re super dedicated to  coffee. Good coffee isn’t rocket science but isn’t easy, either.  You need to find good green coffee, know how to roast, and process it correctly. From that point its up to the brewer. We ship within a few days from roasting to make it as simple as possible for the person at home. As far as the branding goes? We know the culture of fly fishing.”

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Podcast Ep. 211: Thanksgiving & Fly Fishing

Happy Thanksgiving from Casting Across!

This episode was recorded around noon on Thanksgiving. Consequently, I talk about turkey and what I am thankful for.

We all have a lot to be thankful for. Regardless of your lot in life or how many fish you catch, we all have so much for which we can express gratitude. My advice is that you make that known. True thanksgiving occurs when you share  a genuine “thank you” with someone else.

So after football, pie, and a nap, think about sending a quick text saying “thank you.”

Also, use code CASTING right now to save 20% and get free shipping at manscaped.com.

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

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I am Thankful

I am thankful for fly fishing.

This means I am thankful to people; not just thankful with some nebulous sentiment. That isn’t true thankfulness. True thankfulness has  a person as the object. True thankfulness can be given and received.

I am thankful to Alan, who introduced me to the sport. As a teenager, he needed to learn how to use a fly rod to fish on a stream with special regulations. He brought me along and here I am over 20 years later.

I am thankful to Jeff. We drove all over creation (Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, at least) together looking for one more trout stream and one more quirky little rural town in which to spend time.

I am thankful to Rod and Mike. They ran the camp that taught me that fly fishing was about more than fly fishing. I learned history, conservation, and the value of seeing the big picture.

I am thankful to my parents. In different ways, they facilitated my burgeoning fascination with getting outside and going to far off places with little else of interest aside from trout.

I am thankful to Amanda. She doesn’t allow me to fish. She encourages me to fish, because she knows it is important. And she knew that over 20 years ago when I asked her to marry me.

I am thankful to my boys. They’re better than fly fishing. But they  like it, too.

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