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Unfishing Season
Abstaining from fishing doesn’t just happen. There must be a reason. As New Mexico swims through its third fat month of monsoon season, I’ve barely noticed how much water is in our streams. Winter was scary dry, then our shirt-sleeve spring collided with New Mexico’s largest-ever wildfire. Every morning from April to July, I stepped…
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Is it time to ‘break up’ with fly rod warranties?
Be careful out there. If you smash your rod, repairs will take a while. This just in… fly rod companies have reached consensus on a new industry-wide warranty policy. From now on, any broken rod will be replaced, regardless what caused the damage, no questions asked, for a flat fee of $900. That’s actually a…
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An angler’s bucket list
Later in life, a new credo beckons: Get out, before you can't.
Later in life, a new credo beckons: Get out early and often When I ran a fly shop long ago, I fell into the habit of buying flies on the store discount instead of tying my own. Perhaps not a bad move for someone with my ham-handed tying skills, but since my favorite patterns don’t…
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For a change, try the ‘Technique Slam’
Forget about 'how many?' and 'how big?' Instead, try this antidote to the tired pursuit of same ol', same ol'.
Two weeks on sabbatical, and I’ve been, well, fishing my butt off. I’ll be honest. I embarked on this break with the goal of hoping to reconnect with the feelings of why I so deeply love this fly-fishing fascination in the first place. Been a little jaded by the crowds, the commercialism, and all that…
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Five degrees of stupid
How not to catch trout while fly fishing.
How not to catch trout while fly fishing The other day, I started a three-month sabbatical, which is a super-cool benefit of being a Trout Unlimited employee for 10 or more years, but what it really means is I’m planning on fishing my butt off for several weeks (and maybe writing another book in the…
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They don’t make fly guides like this anymore
A warm farewell to Terry Gunn, the guru of Lees Ferry, Arizona The other day, my good friend, Terry Gunn, announced that he was officially retiring from guiding. For those of you who do not know Terry Gunn, he has, since the early 1980s, been the guy (the guru) at Lees Ferry, Arizona, which is…
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All Anglers Out
The flood in the nation’s first national park is making huge waves, the ripple effect feeling like a tsunami for surrounding places, including towns flush with fly shops.
Park’s Closed The first call I make is to Henry’s Fork Anglers in Island Park, Idaho. Todd Lanning answers. He’s cheery as always. I ask him if anything has changed at the shop this week. He’s blunt as usual. “A ton of people are calling worried they can’t get here, says Lanning, the shop’s assistant…
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