Trivial mistakes and learning opportunities are a gracious reality of life, aren’t they? With the benefit of time and perspective on our side, we can see where we’ve erred slightly or completely missed the boat. This is true with the big things. It is also true in fly fishing. A year ago I released a …
Full disclosure: Taking kids fly fishing is work. You’re not going to be fishing. You’re going to be untangling monofilament and dodging poppers. The time spent getting ready to go fishing is incredibly disproportional to the time spent actually fishing. And heaven help you if the fish aren’t biting. Taking kids fly fishing is an …
There is one fish that I have been trying to catch for nearly 20 years. It isn’t a specific fish, per se, but any rainbow trout out of a particular stream. This week I caught that fish. It was a little fish. Really little. But that is okay. After numerous failed attempts (some of which …
“What’s wrong with the creek?” It was a legitimate question. We were catching fish. We always caught fish. Not dozens, but a dozen maybe. Although it was a pretty pressured fishery, it consistently produced trout. “We just want to try something different,” I said. The man behind the counter gave us a mildly exasperated look. …
Honestly, I’ve vacillated on what today’s post would be about. This isn’t a website where I expect you to get your cultural commentary. But from where I’ve been and where most of us have been, casting techniques and fly rod reviews just didn’t seem right. Still, I’m going to focus on the outdoors. Instead of …
We’ve all realized a lot of things over the past few months. There are a good chance that some of these revelations have been in the realm of civics. Almost certainly, we’ve realized how good we have had things. To be able to pick up and fly anywhere in the world to go fishing was …
The Fuse – Jackson Browne: The Pretender, 1976 Singer-songwriters hit even better at 5 in the morning. Familiar lyrics accompany familiar highways. Alan and I were accustomed to the meandering route from Northern Virginia to South Central Pennsylvania. 7 to Leesburg, 15 north through Point of Rocks, past Big Hunting Creek in Thurmont, and then …
We all do dumb stuff while we’re fly fishing. …or am I alone in that? In this episode I share a few big and potentially costly blunders I’ve made in my fly fishing life. Perhaps they will be cautionary. Perhaps they will be of entertainment value. Regardless, they’re there and through them I offer a …
Cast after cast; nothing. I added weight, I took weight off. I lengthened my leader, I brought the fly closer to the indicator. I tried just about everything. Everything, except tying on a small cream-yellow caddis nymph. Probing some familiar water in the early spring, a hare’s ear nymph was a pretty safe choice. Fishing …
“There was one 17 year-old boy. When we got there, he was off to the side and disinterested. The staff said that if he liked going out and going fly fishing, they’ll all follow.” Heather laughed, “and right then I made it my personal mission to get him on board!” Heather Sees currently serves as …
