There are a lot of ways that one can ring in the New Year. As a teenager, most of those significant midnight moments involved doing what was most significant to me. And that was fish. My best friend and I would drive up to Southcentral Pennsylvania from Northern Virginia and go to bed around 8:00pm, …
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 …
Yes: Christmas was yesterday. But I don’t publish on Sundays. And Friday was a podcast day, so that wasn’t an appropriate day for greetings either. So here you have it. One day late: Merry Christmas from Casting Across. I do hope that your holiday was filled with all of the things that you desired and …
When I attended college in South Carolina, I was perplexed that locals broke out their winter coats when the weather hit the mid-60’s. Growing up in the Midwest, the only change that the mid-60’s brought about was the addition of long sleeves. Clothing, comfort, and climate in general are all relative. You only have to …
It is easy to stay warm when you’re fishing in the winter. Layer, layer, layer. You can always add another pair of long underwear bottoms or an additional fleece top. This will keep your core toasty in the most brutal conditions. But the fact of the matter is that regardless of how warm you core …
Today I talk through four flies that work for me in the winter. Notice I said for me. That doesn’t mean that they won’t work for you. In fact, I think that they will work for you. But I have a lot of confidence in these four patterns. And confidence matters, because there is no …
Tailwaters are a big part of fly fishing. So big, in fact, that this episode organically became a two-parter. Today I talk about what a tailwater is, where you can find them, and why they are so important for fly fishers. More appropriately: why they are so important for trout. Of course, there is another …
An unparalleled optimism accompanies the evening hours on the night before fishing. Psychologically speaking, one could say that all the potentially negative thoughts become obscure behind the grand promise of a morning filled with trout. Regardless of the previous day’s events, this optimism burrows itself into the brain with an intensity that creates a sense …
Much has been written about the uncomfortable state of a kind of overindulging that results from inebriation. The college comedy film genre relies on this trope. I’m not ashamed to say, nor do I boast in the fact that I have no experience with this situation. However I can’t imagine that the disagreeable sensation that …
This past weekend, thermometers around me hit 90 degrees. It was a one-day aberration from an otherwise mild New England Spring. But for that one day it was hot. The weather, always a topic of conversation, was on the forefront of everyone’s mind. “It’s only May!” “Got your air conditioner on yet?” “Time to get …
