“We’re chasing trophy fish and it’s hard. It shouldn’t be easy. It will kick your ass. It’s physical. Big flies hurt more when they go into you and its covering miles and miles of water. But you know, none of us got into this game because flyfishing was easy. We got into it because it…
“You’re going to get your ass kicked, over and over again. It’s gonna tear you apart. You’re sore, you’re bruised, your hands are ripped apart, your shins are ripped apart. Your equipment is destroyed, but you can’t wait to go out the next morning.” -Russ Schnitzer. To find out what he’s talking about, check out…
“I really think it’s important to show the public how these streams can come back so well if we just give them a chance and make them stable and design them correctly. If you build it right, the wildlife will come back.” Sometimes, a stream just needs a little plastic surgery to help it get…
I met James Thull in a stuffy room on the second floor of Montana State University’s library. Shaved head, goatee, Gandhi glasses–he looks as though he just stepped off the set of a white-washed kung-fu flick from the 70s. He would have been cast as the gatekeeper of a secret-holding shrine in some mythical land.…
Bristol Bay, Alaska this summer has seen a hulking sockeye return, with total run estimates set to eclipse the 51 million salmon mark. In the meantime, the EPA Version 2.0 continues its plans to dismantle the July 2014 Clean Water Act Proposed Determination that would have tightened restrictions on toxic discharges associated with the proposed…
The other week I spoke with Charlie Piette, the fishing manager at Tight Lines Fly Fishing Co. in Green Bay, Wisconsin. And when I brought up a certain semi-secret river, he gave me this response, “Our biggest rule, for years, has been don’t name the river. We don’t talk about this river, we don’t write…
Episode #6 of The Drake‘s new flyfishing podcast takes a darker turn. We stumble around a mosquito-filled farm field in search of bugs, beers, and big browns. We find most of them. And just a heads up, this episode contains some language that may not be suitable for all audiences. If you’re listening with kids, feel…
Episode #5 of The DrakeCast takes us to a gigantic dam in the great state of Kentucky. While there, we learn about the Cumberland River that flows out of that massive wall of concrete, the trout that call that river home, and the fishermen that chase those trout. This is the story of one dam and…
Mike Dawes has a fishing problem. He’s been wading saltwater flats since the impressionable age of seven. He’s a veteran player on the permit tourney circuit. He’s even starred in couple of film tour flicks. But perhaps the biggest struggle he’s had to overcome in his flyfishing career didn’t involve a dour fish or a…
Episode #4 of The DrakeCast traces the beginning of an infamous car’s adventure from Wisconsin to Texas. We’re going to Ride with Clyde. Along the way we’ll meet a state trooper, a few unique motel owners, and hear some behind the scenes audio recorded on Clyde’s bench seat when no one was looking. We’ll also learn…
Episode #3 of The DrakeCast follows guide Donnie Richards down Michigan’s Pere Marquette River. Along the way, we learn the history of the river, challenge a Michigan DNR fisheries biologist, and discover what makes the Pere Marquette River great.
Episode #2 of The DrakeCast searches through the ashes of the fire that ravaged Great Smoky Mountains National Park this past November. Give ‘er a listen.
Episode #1 of The DrakeCast follows the band S. Carey through Northern Wisconsin as they chase for illusive Wisconsin Wintertrout. Their melancholy music fills the background as we uncover the band’s rise to fame and subsequent quest for solitude.
Frustrated that The Drake Magazine only comes out four times a year? Well now there’s more. Introducing The Drake’s new weekly flyfishing podcast, The DrakeCast. Just like the magazine, we’re bringing you stories–some fun, some serious. Every Friday you’ll get reporting, history, humor, and flyfishing. The first two episodes of The DrakeCast are available below.
Simms Fishing Products‘ new Save Our Streams (SOS) campaign detonates this month with a focus on Montana’s Yellowstone River, where two foreign-backed gold mining companies (Lucky Minerals and Crevice Mining Group) are busy eyeing dig sites along the watershed’s upper tributaries.
SINCE THE 1930S, THE WORLD OF BIRDING HAS HELD AN INFORMAL contest to find out who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a calendar year. They call this contest The Big Year, and in 2014-2015 The Drake gave flyfishing its own Big Year. Now it’s time for Round 2. Our…
LOUISVILLE, CO — Forty-five years ago, Umpqua Feather Merchants opened its doors to anglers and shops in search of high-quality flies and unmatched variety. Now it’s wrapping its anniversary celebration around a good cause, collaborating with Trout Unlimited and the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska to raise $45,000 to help conserve and restore key salmon and…
Flyfishing businesses occupy a tempestuous microcosm tied to the sea-sawing health of rivers and oceans. Example. If there are no fish (participation catalyst), there is no you (potential consumer). And for brands that appreciate a prosperous tomorrow, backing nonprofits working to keep trout, tarpon, salmon, steelhead swimming makes sense.
This month, Simms is again honoring our nation’s combat veterans by donating proceeds from sales of its WQW Limited Edition wader. Simms launched the special G3 Guide™ Wader last year to help benefit the Bozeman-based Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation (WQW). WQW helps reintegrate post-9/11 combat veterans into society by building hope and resilience, facilitating camaraderie,…
Scoring a paycheck to fish incessantly seems like a savvy career move—if you can find the right mix of employer (preferably a company churning out badass gear) and locale (somewhere near steelhead, or poon flats, smallies ponds, tidal redfish… a carp ditch). Insatiable flyfisher Russell Miller began the process in Boulder, CO, in the late…
category nominees: Tidewater by TwoFistedHeart Productions Chanos Chanos by Jako Lucus Marlin on the Flats by Jonathan Jones / Keith Webster Wide Open by Angler’s Eye Media Parallel Lines by Benny Godfrey Chasing Salty Dreams by The Endless Session t. Falcatus by C1 Films A Day In Nicaragua by Peter Christensen
category nominees: Tie: 5WT Chronicles by Erik Estrada Terrace Chrome by Max Lowe Salad Days vol.4 by Blood Knots Zhupanova – Kamchatka by Matt Jones Find Your Water – An Artist’s Frontier by KGB Productions Tie: Carpology by Todd Moen Poonfecta by Dan Decibel
category nominees: 5WT Chronicles by Erik Estrada Kamchatka Steelhead Project by Felt Soul Media Eternally Wild by Keith Brauneis / Cal Trout Super Salmon by Ryan Peterson Chrome by Conservation Media