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 …
Driving. Folding laundry. Grocery shopping. Mowing the lawn. Waiting for the doctor. All of these monotonous intervals could very well be time for you to be alone with your thoughts. Or, you could tap on your smartphone and listen to something entertaining. And if it just so happens that you are into this whole fly …
Most Fridays on Casting Across are devoted to other people’s contributions in the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on The Last Cast of the Week. Today, I’m sharing items from Trout & Feather, Windknots & Tangled Lines, and Small Stream Reflections If you’d like …
Casting Across is two years old. For two years, there have been three posts a week covering all manner of fly fishing topics. Some technique, a few humorous anecdotes, and a handful of takes on the people, places, and things that make fly fishing culture what it is. In reality, it is those people, places, …
New England has been experiencing a spectacular fall. Mornings are in the 40’s and the days are getting up to the high 60’s. The air is crisp, the leaves are bright, and the conditions could not be better for chasing fish all over the region. Whether you are in New England, the Midatlantic, the Midwest, …
Manchester, Vermont isn’t a premier fly fishing destination. That isn’t to say that is a bad place to go if you want to catch trout. In fact, it is home to a solid, historic brown trout fishery in the Battenkill. The smaller streams in the mountains teem with native brookies, and bass or musky can …
