Clothes make the man. But do clothes make the fly fisherman? True: fishing is more about reading the water, making the right cast, and matching the hatch. But you can’t do any of this unless you’re dressed for the occasion. (And in most locales, it is probably frowned upon to fish if you’re not dressed.) …
I am not a huge fain of April Fools’ Day. Primarily for the reason that I am already quite skeptical of anything and everything I read online. But I do enjoy the yearly gags that some companies routinely roll out. Orvis’ efforts, with all the marketing power at their disposal, are usually worth a smile. …
“Hey. There are flies on your shirt.” Sometimes it happens in my first meeting of the day. Sometimes it happens as I’m in the checkout line. It even occurs as I walk down the stairs in my own home. Apparently I look like a man who doesn’t know what he’s wearing. At the bare minimum, …
For many children of the past 75 years, there was a certain rhythm to the school year. Field days, D.A.R.E. presentations, and book fairs marked the passage of educational time. Another momentous milestone, loved by some and abhorred by most, was the Presidential Fitness Test. Although there were older iterations, JFK cranked this exercise in …
On a warm, overcast fall morning the fish were jumping all across the pond. With every stroke of the paddle, there was a flash under water or ripples on the surface. Baitfish skittered. Lazy insects disappeared in loud slurps. Fish shot out of the water, presumably for the joy only comprehendible to the simple mind …
The neighbor to one side of you still hasn’t removed all of the fake spiderwebs from her bushes, and the neighbor on the other side is staking illuminated reindeer down in his front yard. Thanksgiving (the superior holiday, mind you) is a turkey and pie speedbump that simply launches our culture headlong over Black Friday …
For over 20 years I’ve been surprised when I open the mailbox on a random day in October. Why? Because sometime in early autumn the next year’s Trout Unlimited calendar shows up. While hardly an informal holiday, it is a pleasant event to receiving mail that doesn’t make an immediate trip to the recycling bin. …
“What do you do in your spare time?” “Ah guh higsing.” “What?” “Uh, I go fishing.” Dentists asking questions while their hands are in patients’ mouths is a well-worn trope. But this comically befuddling stereotype is as sure as a thing as being told to floss more. “Yeah, there is great fly fishing around here. …
The trout was holding just on the far side of a deep cut in the middle of the stream. Flitting back and forth, it would dart into the fast water to quickly eat an insect before returning to the gentler current. I watched the fish range a good eighteen inches into the swifter flow. My …
“What is that screenshot all about?” you might ask. Well, this past weekend someone at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources tweeted it out of the park. Take it in again. That is funny. Especially for a part of the country that is notoriously sensitive to people’s feelings and whatnot, it is incredibly funny. …
