Learning solid fishing skills on small water helps you with all angling situations
Blue lines and social distancing
Hope for the Everglades
No, southern Florida isn’t a trout fishery (at least not of the salmonid variety). But we’re all connected by water, and the Everglades might be the best living laboratory in the country that explains the virtues of water, not just to people, but to every living thing. Our friends at Orvis took to the Everglades … Read more
New TU film on Elwha River wild steelhead recovery premieres April 17
Summer run steelhead were thought to be extirpated in Washington’s Elwha River, after two dams blocked fish passage for a century. Both dams were removed by 2014. How wild summer steelhead responded amazed scientists and steelhead advocates. Check out the new film from Trout Unlimited and North Fork Studios on the remarkable recovery of summer steelhead in the Elwha on TU’s YouTube channel APRIL 17 AT 6 PM Pacific Time.
Surf candy
Fly fishing on both coasts for striped bass wouldn’t be the same without Bob Popovic’s Surf Candy. It’s one of the best patterns anglers can use for stripers that are crushing bait in the salt, and even for fish that are migrating upriver en route to spawning water. Above, Tim Flagler ties up a new, … Read more
The spey cast, part two
On the whole, the spey cast looks a lot harder than it really is. But there is an art to it, and RIO’s Simon Gawesworth has mastered that art. For a good spey cast to occur, a lot of little things have to come together, and if you’ve never spey casted before, it likely looks … Read more
The Michigan Arctic grayling
Grayling are a tough fish to reintroduce to former habitat. For a long time, it was assumed that once the sailfish of the north winked out of a certain watershed, they were gone for good. Over the last 20 years, though, grayling reintroduction in Montana has shown promise. And, in just the last five years, … Read more
Phat and Phunky Pheasant Tail Nymph
If you nymph at all, chances are you have a few Pheasant Tail Nymphs already in your fly box. The venerable fly is a nymphing staple—it works, and it’s an excellent all-around mayfly nymph indicator pattern that can work throughout the year in virtually any conditions. Above, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions puts a slightly … Read more
Mousing the Aniak
Oh, to be Brian O’Keefe for a day last summer in western Alaska. O’Keefe served as Todd Moen’s fishing subject in Moen’s new short film, “Alaska Fly Fishing with a Mouse,” that’s been crawling the interwebs with a vengeance over the last few days. And rightly so—the footage of massive Alaskan rainbows erupting beneath mouse … Read more
Going to the birds
The fishing had been ok that morning years ago when Corey Fisher and I waded up a small creek in Utah trying not to scare fish — or rattlesnakes. We had each caught a couple, but nothing like the fish we had heard about coming from this remote destination. That, however, was about to … Read more
The Leisenring Spider
There are few classic wet flies that I like to have in my fly box, particularly when I’m fishing some of the fabled waters of Yellowstone National Park. If I were to open my fly box, buried somewhere in the store room under all holiday detritus that has built up since I last visited the … Read more