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The True Cast – Mako sharks make a perfect intro to fly fishing
What was your first caught fish on a fly? Cathy Feldkamp’s was a mako shark. Well, we all start somewhere. “Cat” joined the TU staff six months ago, and although she’s an avid outdoors person, she had never fly-fished for trout. But she very much wanted to learn. As you might imagine, there’s no shortage of colleagues who offered to help. It’s just that some of us have…
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TROUT Tip – beyond trout… and fly fishing
As mentioned throughout this hot summer and extreme drought, focusing on other fish is often the best bet for the health of our beloved trout. It’s also a good bet to get new anglers hooked (pun intended), as bluegill and crappie make more willing participants. In addition, when teaching a new angler, don’t get hung up on just using fly fishing gear. That can be…
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The True Cast – Teach me how to fish; don’t tell me how to fish
If I’ve learned anything from 30 years of writing about fishing for a living, it’s that folks absolutely love being taught how to fish, and they hate being told how to fish. Understanding the subtle difference between the two is what separates the contenders from the pretenders, especially when it comes to writing, working as a filmmaker, guiding, running a fly…
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TROUT Tips – Stack the Deck
When introducing someone new to the sport of fly fishing, set it up so success comes early and often. What does that look like? Rig the rod, reel, line, and terminal tackle for them and have them watch and learn Take them to a stocked pond This could be a pond stocked with trout, but bluegill, sunfish, and bass…
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Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, Cast and Blast: Part Two
Where does the time go? Just last March, I wrote the first installment of this two-part blog series about my inaugural fishing and hunting excursions into the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Part one of the series chronicled a successful chukar and quail hunt in a remote part of the monument. So, to round out the fishing part of this monument cast and blast, I…
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The True Cast – Sight fishing tip: Find the player
The fun really starts when you spot a bunch of trout in a river, but this is when you have some decisions to make. Naturally, the first question that comes to mind is what are the fish eating? If you’re lucky, the answers are likely flying all around you in bug form. And if you see snouts poking up on the surface,…
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TROUT Tip – Eliminate pressure
Along the lines of keeping it fun, pressure is not fun for anyone learning something new. This is just as true for kids as it is for adults. If your student flubs a cast, help them brush it off by encouraging them to try again or suggest a tip to help on the next one. If their fly lands in…
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