It’s OK to have a few secret spots
Seth Green chapter seeking to restore a paradise lost
By Cal Curtice “This is probably the last generation of trout fishers.” — Forest and Stream Magazine 1879 In 1620, virgin forest covered the United States from the tip of northern Maine, south to central Florida, and west beyond the Mississippi River. Native brook trout swam throughout their cool, clean waters, including those in the Finger … Read more
Spring Creek Trout Camp is a Pennsylvania legend
Pennsylvanians know trout fishing. And no wonder. With legendary fly anglers like Joe Humphreys, George Harvey and Charlie Meck to tell the tales, the reputation of trout streams in the Keystone State has been the stuff of dreams. At the heart of those tales is Spring Creek, near State College. Spring Creek is Pennsylvania’s premier … Read more
An ode to Doug Rohrer
By Rob Shane Doug Rohrer came into my life about a year and a half ago, on a Friday afternoon in June, on the side of a dirt road in the Poconos. I was on my way to Hancock, N.Y., for another weekend of fishing the Delaware River when I slammed on my brakes, threw … Read more
No shame
A couple weeks ago a buddy posted on social media a picture of himself holding a large brown trout with a brief caption: “No shame.” No additional information was necessary. The other prop in the photo, the one in addition to the gorgeous 22-inch brown, was a spinning rod. The fish hit a large Rapala, … Read more
The hype is real: A day on the Upper Delaware
“Wait? What? You’ve never fished the Delaware River?” If you live in the East and are an avid (borderline obsessed) trout angler, this is the kind of thing you will hear from peers if you admit that you’ve never wet a line in one of the East’s most famous trout rivers. I got it again … Read more
Conehead Bunny Leach
Brown trout across the nation are on the move—fall is when they’re most active and most aggressive as they’re preparing to spawn or defending redds. And, often, the best way to elicit strikes from big browns is to chase them with streamers. And there might not be a better leach pattern than the Conehead Bunny … Read more
Tierra del Fuego’s Rio Grande
So you like brown trout? Nahuel Stauch has the fish for you. And thanks to Todd Moen at Catch Magazine, you can get a look at what is likely the largest population of sea-run brown trout on the planet in the Rio Grande of Tierra del Fuego. Stauch, the guide for Scottish angler Gordon Armstrong, … Read more
Coaching an elder to success
“One more cast,” I say to my brother from the bank above the Frying Pan River. A monster trout is rising with regularity and taunting my brother’s last nerve. I’ve been coaching him to place his fly in the exact spot from his perch on the opposite side of the run for what seems like forever. … Read more
Small-stream tactics in the age of non-native invasives
Native Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Contrary to many conservation-minded anglers, I am one who believes that, along with cockroaches, coyotes and Siberian elm trees, brown trout will survive the apocalypse. They possess many of the traits we Americans admire most: they are intelligent, confident, adaptable, rugged, ambitious and breathtakingly handsome. And for the time being … Read more