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Honor Float
Paul Zimmerman teaches fly tying to military veterans. At 91 years of age, and as the sole care provider for his wife Patti, he is reluctant to leave her alone. He conducts all of his lessons at his home, an arrangement that’s also convenient for his students, who are often most comfortable with one-on-one engagement and places where calmness and quiet prevail. “Our situation was different from Vietnam,” says Zimmerman, a…
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How to fish a dry fly downstream
The "upstream and dry" approach is a commonly accepted method—and on some European waters, it's required—for fly fishing. Here in the U.S., we're blessed with a lot of trout water, and, thankfully, a lot of public lands on which we can fish at our leisure rather than being forced to pay rod fee, walk a…
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Into the desert
Editor's note: The TU Costa 5 Rivers Program sent a handful of college students to the Columbia River basin to fish and study the challenges facing the drainage. Leaving the coniferous forests of Mt. Rainier, the Odyssey crew traveled to the semi-arid desert region of eastern Oregon where we set out to fish the Owyhee…
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Fishing with the G Man
The first thing to understand about fishing with the G Man is that he likes to combine wetting a line with some form of law enforcement. This is not all that surprising. When you have spent a portion of your career as a deputy sheriff, and all of it dedicated to conservation of habitat and…
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Totally wicked
I was fishing a mouse pattern just for the hell of it.
My natural inclination when excited is an over-the-top enthusiasm that can be, well, a little much for some. So when I got invited on a flyout fishing trip with a few acquaintances, I decided I’d better keep a low profile. It was a perfectly cloudy, little breezy, kinda’ chilly day in Bristol Bay. There were no humans, roads or fences in sight. The small creek we visited, nestled in…
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A giveaway that gives back
By Meghan Barker Now that the Pebble mine comment period has closed, we have time up here in Alaska to turn our attention to something way more fun: fishing! We see new photos coming in from friends in Bristol Bay with monster-sized king salmon, and trophy rainbow trout almost daily. For most of us, a…
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Isonychia Nymph
Classic flies tied by eastern fly fishers years ago are enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Tiers like Tim Flagler are helping make that happen. Below, Tim ties the classic Isonychia Nymph, a simple pattern that Tim says he's fishing a lot with lately, and with great success. https://youtu.be/GEw6LsZbEGg The pattern is an excellent dead-drifter in…
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