I don’t throw around the word “essential” flippantly. But if you fish spring creeks in places like Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Wisconsin, Mike Heck’s Spring Creek Strategies is essential reading. There are other excellent books out there covering spring creek fly fishing from a broader perspective, often including the famous, sprawling western rivers. Heck’s writing addresses …
If you have ever spent a life, a year, a season, or even a long trip on one particular stretch of water, you know how there is a lot more than fishing going on. The holistic aspect of being on a river makes you a better angler. More than that, it adds to the appreciation …
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But come on… a glassy spring creek flowing through a picturesque meadow? You can’t say that isn’t a stunning sight. Especially if you are a fly fisher who likes challenging trout and year-round opportunities to catch them. Mike Lawson’s Spring Creeks came out in 2003. There were …
His first groggy words of the morning expressed his desire to fish the Letort. He knew what he was getting into. An avid reader, he had been picking random volumes out of my fly fishing library for years. He had seen the pictures of the weeds and read the dour words of those recalling the …
One of the most important facets of anything done for fun or profit is the individuals who will dive deep into the minutiae of things. While the quantity or specificity might not be for everyone, the consequential byproducts usually benefit everyone. While I personally love the intricate detail of A. Joseph Armstrong’s Trout Unlimited Guide …
Every other fly rod was on the vertical rack. Sage, Orvis, Winston: all the names I knew and aspired to collect. But this rod was hung up horizontally. It was a bright amber with deep red wraps. The most striking aspect of the rod was that it was shorter than all the other fly rods …
Take a look at the photo above. On the surface, it isn’t that remarkable. The trout is pretty enough… but it isn’t particularly large. The tackle in the background, on first glance, is standard fare. And there is nothing immediately distinctive about the scenery. The perceptive observer might notice something about each of the subjects …
This is part 5 of the story. Read the beginning of River Apollo here. Paul had stepped out onto his slate front porch and closed the door behind him as Gerry talked to him about the potential habitat improvement. Practically, it was to keep the bugs out. At a deeper level, Paul was subconsciously moving …
Read part I of River Apollo here. Only once had Paul encountered a bear on the little creek that ran in front of his property. It was years ago and well upstream from his house. The gentle valley that the stream flows through intensifies ever so slightly; enough that things feel close and tight in …
I parked my car at the familiar gravel pull off. Without waders or fly rod, I walked up the road to a low bridge that crossed the stream. I had plans to write a number of articles featuring the spring creeks I fished so often when I lived in Pennsylvania. Standing on top of the …
