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The Phoenix in the Elwha River
Editors note: This piece originally appeared in the opinion section of the Spokesman-Review. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to restore wild places to their former ecological and aesthetic glory once human development has altered them. But in some cases, the vitality of wild places can be recovered. The Elwha River on Washington state’s…
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Fly fishing’s trade association on the rise
As Ben Bulis stepped up to the podium at the annual industry breakfast, the opening event of the International Fly Tackle Dealer show, he looked out at a ballroom full of people. As the president of the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, Bulis had to grin. "There are more people in this room today than…
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Act, then put the Tongass on your bucket list
If you want to catch a very large steelhead in a very small stream, there’s probably no better place on the planet to do so than Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. The Tongass is almost 17 million acres of mountains, fjords, massive glaciers and wild rivers and creeks. With 18,000 miles of public waters that…
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Casting into the wind
[et_pb_section admin_label="section"] [et_pb_row admin_label="row"] [et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"] The wind is considered by many to be among the biggest challenges fly fishers face on a consistent basis. And, to some extent, that's entirely accurate. A strong headwind can turn an otherwise perfect day on the water into something significantly less enjoyable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsHkGduGeqk Simon Gawesworth of RIO…
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Hanging with the pros
Dave Kielar felt like he had to pinch himself. There he sat, surrounded by what amounted to fly fishing glitterati, at a dinner table at TroutHunter in Island Park, Idaho. Earlier in the week, he got to rub elbows with the venerable Craig Mathews, who for years owned and operated Blue Ribbon Flies in nearby…
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Everyone needs a tune-up
Most of us who have fly fished for years--decades, even--are likely self-taught casters who have learned the craft over many moons of trial and error. Casting becomes an intuitive activity, with alterations done to meet certain requirements on the water. Over time, it becomes much easier to get that caddis fly to drift right under…
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Set your fantasy fly lineup
‘Tis the season. Over the weekend, my buddy and fellow TU-er Kirk Deeter and I faced off in fantasy football. We’re both underachieving this year--it seems we both have the bad fortune to play the highest-scoring opponents in the league every week this season, so we both find ourselves in the middle of the standings,…
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