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How to double-haul
I was reminded this week of the importance of being a good caster and not getting too dialed into your more frequent fly-fishing targets. I live in eastern Idaho. Trout country. A long cast on a small backcountry trout stream might be 30 feet, and that's rare. But Idaho boasts more than trout, and this…
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How to Drift a Soft-hackle
Last week, RIO Product's Simon Gawesworth showed us a great way to swing soft-hackle flies for big-river trout. This week, Simon shows us how to drift a soft-hackle for working trout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTvbWsBLY_U There are some notable differences, obviously. First is the technique. When swinging a soft-hackle, you're interested in line tension and the action of…
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Skating flies for summer steelhead
If “the tug is the drug” for anglers swinging a fly for wild steelhead, then bringing a surface-snarfing summer steelhead to a skated fly is crack cocaine. There is no bigger adrenaline dump than seeing the glass-smooth surface of a tailout explode as a 10-pound native summer steelhead pounces on your hapless little skater. “Skaters”…
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How to fish a soft hackle
I became a soft-hackle devotee about five years ago after a visit to Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Mont., on a fly-buying binge for a trip to the Firehole River. The shop's proprietor--and fly fishing legend--Craig Mathews convinced me to give soft hackles a shot that blustery fall day, and I've been a believer…
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Use floatant and desiccant together
The news out of Ashton over the weekend was pretty encouraging. The big stonefly nymphs were moving around, heading to streamside rocks in anticipation of a little sunshine. Any minute now, the fabled salmonfly hatch on the lower river would start to pop. The big bugs that crawl out of the river in late spring…
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How to fish a boulder garden
Here's one for you western anglers who are wondering, with all the late winter snow and the spring rain, if we're ever going to see fishable water levels anytime soon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWSL0H-old0 The answer is, the water's already fishable. We just need to find the places where trout are holding amid the near-constant temperature changes and…
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How to fish the upstream dry fly
'Tis the season. Just ask the folks back East who are enjoying the sulfur hatch these days. Dry fly season is upon most us (those of us who are watching their rivers run over their banks here in the West are the notable exceptions). And it never hurts to get a little refresher when it…
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