I couldn’t help myself. It was a fish. It swam up from the clear depths to chase my fly. I saw the whole thing unfold before my eyes. I trout set the snot out of that striper. And, of course, that means that the striped bass pictured above is not the fish that I just …
Want to know a good problem to have? Catching so many fish that you’re struggling to keep your fly afloat. While that might sound a little bit like humble bragging, it is something that happens to all anglers from time to time. The reality is that it can be problematic. If you’re catching a lot …
You know something that everyone who fly fishes is able to do? Smile. Sure, in fly fishing some people like to be super serious. Go to a fly fishing show or Trout Unlimited meeting and you’ll inevitably see a guy who looks like he’s just broken the tip of his favorite rod. There are always …
Although taking your time while fly fishing is important, there isn’t any reason you need to be slow getting to that point. If you like to show up to the river with rods assembled and lined, have multiple rods, or plan on fishing over the course of a few days, it can be really beneficial …
The more I fly fish, the more convinced I am that success comes down to only a few simple variables. For example: The fly pattern you use is important. Of course it is. However, how the fly is fished might be even more important. There are exceptions. You shouldn’t fish a size 10 green drake …
After threatening to do it for over a year, I finally did it. I bought a pair of high-end, premium, expensive fly fishing nippers. For years I’ve used whatever. Usually this meant cheaply made, free, serviceable nippers. They performed well in the context of their primary function: they nipped tippet material. Even the dodgiest pair …
You’re not going to catch it. Wait. Let me make it even more plain and simple: you’re not even going to be able to get your fly in front of it. I know you can see the fish. I know that you haven’t spooked it, that you’ve been catching trout all day, and that all …
The last thing any fly fisher wants to think about in the early spring is Christmas and the weather that generally accompanies it. But really, is there any time where Will Ferrell, dressed up like an elf, isn’t funny? I’d say “no.” More than his trademark humor, I think there is something that the fly …
You know how every parent thinks that their baby is the most beautiful thing in the world? I feel that way about my children, too. But I certainly don’t feel that way about everything I write. Sometimes posts go up and I think to myself, “there it is – the post that will remove all …
The river was wide. Wider than any eastern trout river I had ever been in. It was so wide, that I had to turn my brain off to the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to fish every pool. Not every pool in an upstream/downstream manner, mind you: I wasn’t going to be …
