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Going back to the vest
We've all been there — water lapping at the top of our waders, shallower water a few feet distant but the spot directly in front maybe just a few inches too deep. During a recent outing I stood waist-deep in a chilly run, wondering if I needed to turn around and wade back into the…
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Video: Raft Tear Field Repair
Last week Josh posted a piece on valve repair, and I want to take it a little bit further with a very in-depth video from the folks at Rafting Magazine and Sotar rafts about field repair for raft tears using both a traditional repair kit and a handy product called Tear-Aid. Tear-Aid is an indispensable…
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Coveting the split cane
“Tis a poor workman who blames his tools.” Anonymous By Mark Dillow My rod tip bounced like a telegraph key with each head shake—an angry protest from a trout duped by a crane fly nymph. When the rainbow slid into the net, my knees shook with mirrored cadence. The rod was borrowed, the fly donated, and…
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The River Dog
Dogs have their place on a boat, period. Pardon my preference to the canine companions we all love so much but it’s true. When you bring a dog on a boat, or in our case a barge sized raft loaded to the gills with camping equipment, you often spend your day receiving smiles and waves…
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Kids should fish wet flies for a reason
In our family, we had an informal rule about kids fishing on their own—you started out by fishing wet flies downstream, and once you reached a certain age, you got to turn upstream and fish dry flies. It was a tiny, gentle river, really, and there was always an adult looking on, even if we didn’t…
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Caption this photo and you might win a new RIO fly line
Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to fish in a bear costume in Alaska, but if you can sum it up with a witty line or two, you can win an Elite RIO Gold fly line. Made with the new SlickCast coating, it’s durable, it shoots, and rides high. For the record, if you do get…
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Video: Five exercises to get you in shape for rowing season
Then it hit me while working out yesterday, perhaps I should concentrate on some exercises that will help me prepare for not only some big rafting trips I have coming up, but the entire season.
I snuck in my first float of the season two weeks ago. It was a solo affair on a section of the Colorado I know very well. Since then it has proceeded to snow or rain at least every other day in my neck of the woods and really put a damper on boating. I…
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