I was blessed to get a week and a half of vacation in one of my favorite places in this world: Virginia’s Blue Ridge. Along with general rest and a lot of family time, I was able to get out and do a little bit of fishing. In this week’s episode I talk through why …
I only lived in Pennsylvania for seven years. But the quantity and quality of the angling I squeezed in during grad school and my first career was remarkable. Primarily focusing on spring creeks, with the overwhelming majority of the time on three in particular, I can’t fathom how many days of my life were spent …
Luray, VA – Effective immediately, Shenandoah National Park officials have lifted a parkwide fishing closure. Extremely dry conditions and low stream flows prompted the ban on August 31. Recent rainfall has improved conditions resulting in lifting the fishing ban. However, Evan Childress, fish biologist, added, “Be gentle with the fish and the fragile environment they …
Luray, Virginia: Effective immediately, Shenandoah National Park’s streams and rivers are closed to fishing due to low stream flows and high water temperatures. This closure is being implemented to ensure the long term health of the fish populations in the park. Dry conditions have led to extremely low stream flows throughout the Park, including some …
I am a few nights away from wrapping up the *checks notes* longest vacation I’ve taken since 2009. It came at a great time. Life is in a good, but busy, season. I didn’t feel like I was dragging myself to the day of departure. Even as I was loading the car I was reminding …
Destination angling is the thing that dreams are made of. Like Clark Griswold, fly fishers sit in their cubicles and fantasize about premier trout rivers or bonefish flats. These legendary locales are built up such that the fish, the lodges, and the guides are placed in an entirely different piscatorial plane. Often, it is true. …
Once again I’m spending the holidays in Virginia. I’m from the Midwest. I root for the Bears, love a good relish tray at family gatherings, and don’t think ketchup belongs on a hot dog. Illinois is where I’m from. But Virginia is home. It is where I spent my formative, teenage years. It is where …
A park like Shenandoah has everything going for it. …everything that could lull you into a state of lackadaisical passivity. Countless amenities with ample signage, easy highway access, and throngs of tourists make a popular east coast park seem overwhelmingly safe. Shenandoah National Park is a place where your grandparents picnic. It is a place …
We’re all creatures of habit. If, like me, you happen to be a fly fishing creature, you probably possess a certain set of idiosyncratic habits. One of my bad habits involves lacking the self control to break habits. For example: I often talk a big game about exploring new water. It’s fun, I say. It’s …
It is impossible to capture the experience of being outdoors in words. Well-written prose will communicate a lot. However there will always be moments that get left out, or, more likely, moments that words can’t adequately describe. Similarly, photographs are good but limited. While a picture might be worth 1,000 words, an image devoid of …
