Inevitably, you’ve heard about the “four stages of the angler.” I don’t know who first came up with this timeline, but I do think it holds true. That being said, I don’t necessarily agree that it is as linear as is often implied. Often times progress means building upon the foundations you have already laid …
I went to where I fished. But I didn’t fish. Recently I spent a long weekend in Virginia. I was in the mountains. I was in the hollows. I was on the Shenandoah and the Potomac Rivers. However, I didn’t cast a single fly. I hiked, ate, toured, and drove across some of my most …
Less than a decade after he accepted Robert E, Lee’s surrender at Appomatox, Ulysses S. Grant signed a law making Yellowstone the first national park in the United States. In the following decades, more landmarks and wild places were protected by the federal government. In 1916, Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Organic Service Act. …
If you’ve been fly fishing for any amount of time, I hope you’ve come to the realization that most outings aren’t going to look like the centerfold of Gray’s Sporting Journal. There’s a few reasons for this: the fish the river and you Let’s start with you. Never, ever do you fantasize about untangling the …
Fly fishing is treasured by so many because it is a multifaceted activity. On one hand, it is a solitary pursuit. Yet it always takes place within some sort of community. Today’s contemporaries follow old paths walked by countless anglers that have come and fished before. Some were remarkable because of their contributions in conservation, …
For two weeks, the world comes together to witness the athletic prowess of the best among us. We watch gymnasts contort, fly, and balance with exquisite muscle control. Runners sprint at speeds that defy our expectations of human physiology. And then there are a bunch of random sports that don’t seem particularly athletic, but do …
Where and how do you get your fly fishing content online? That might sound like a loaded question. A dozen anglers might give you thirteen different answers. Just like the last generation had allegiences to authors or magazines, today’s anglers swipe to the same digital providers with devoted thumbs. And there are a lot of …
I was 14 years old the first time I went fly fishing. This means that I’ve been fly fishing for well over half my life. Also, fly fishing has been something that has been part of my life more, from a cumulative perspective, than I lived with my parents, that I’ve known my wife, or …
I’ve never carried a scale or a tape measure on the river. At one point in my life, when I fished primarily with a single fly rod, I knew the length of the rod butt to the cork and to the stripping guide. Even then, the inconvenience of laying a trout alongside my rod made …
Once, as a younger man, I got into an argument. This isn’t to say that I hadn’t quarreled prior to or since. That has happened plenty of times. This particular squabble has pertinence to our discussion today: fly fishing. An opinionated fellow was trying to say that there was one way to cast a fly. …
