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 …
The Potomac is a big river. Flowing from the steep hollows of western Maryland and West Virginia down into the tidal portions of Washington, DC, it is big. There are diverse sections of river, each with it’s own composition and angling opportunities. Downstream of historic Harpers Ferry, there are bass and musky hiding in waving …
This week I found out that a man who was instrumental in my taking up fly fishing passed away. I can say that he played a big part in my appreciation for fishing even though he and I never were on the water together once. He mentored and helped along one of my best friends, …
Minnows rarely make the news. Yet a quick search for “Virginia fallfish” turns up what seems to be a relentless pursuit among anglers of the commonwealth to find bigger and bigger examples of Semotilus corporalis. Josh Dolin is the latest fisherman to get his name attached to this underrepresented species. Yes. Fallfish are underrepresented. They …
We’ve got four topics to cover this time on the audience Q&A podcast. And the Qs are good! Hopefully the As are as well. This week I’m talking about the hook barb debate, fly suggestions, John Gierach, and what to do with the silica packets that you get with a new pair of shoes. I’m …
