You don’t have to look to hard to find a fly fishing rant. Somewhere, right now, someone is posting to a blog or a message board or a comments section. They’re calling out the local fish commission. They’re venting about the guys down at the fly shop. They’re berating a fellow Instagram user. They’re angry …
Being such a tactile activity, taking up fly fishing is served well by a “watch and learn” approach. A father will teach a son. Someone with means can hire a guide or instructor. The ambitious novice will simply approach a fellow angler on the stream, and the fly fisher will gladly consent. For ages, the …
Most of the content for this article appeared in January 2017 – but details have been updated to reflect the 2018 season of The Fly Fishing Show. Do you plan on attending? Let me know! Starting in early January, fly fishers from across the country will venture out, drive for hours, and all while braving …
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. – Benjamin Franklin From what I know about Benjamin Franklin, I have to assume that his use of “war” allowed for a pretty wide range of interpretations. I also can’t find any record of …
I’ve frequently written about how outdoor shows can be “the most fun fly fishing thing you can do while not actually fly fishing.” These expos often encompass the best of the off-the-water elements of fly fishing: the people, places, and things that go into the pursuit of fish. As we head into the winter months …
The reality is that most fly fishers are not full time, professional fly fishers. We have office jobs, we go to school, and we fill our days with various important responsibilities. Time on the river is so special because it is the exception, not the rule. That doesn’t mean that the part of us that …
Stop! Before you start copying and pasting Amazon links and fly shop web pages, hear me out. It is wish list season. The holidays are approaching. Christmas music and decor are taking over like some abominable mistletoe/tinsel/kudzu hybrid. Everyone from your spouse to your parents to your kids to your aunt Myrtle wants to know …
Trout are creatures with paper-thin fins and gossamer bones. Their optimal temperature and dissolved oxygen thresholds are relatively narrow. Touching their scales with dry hands or laying them upon the bank can render them susceptible to deadly infection. Trout are survivors, but they are fragile. It isn’t just fish, though: A creek, sustaining all manner …
One year ago this Sunday, I shaved. Like any other morning when I’d have to get up and go to work or appear in some sort of formal capacity in front of civilized people, I showered, dressed, and shaved. All was normal. Things were smooth. Later that day I headed down to a conference in …
There are places that respectable anglers don’t venture near. These forbidden locations are just on the edge of everyday life. The normal places that one might pass on the way to go fly fishing. What keeps grown men and women away is fear. The kind of fear that stems from the oh-so-familiar knowledge that what …
