Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(
Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.
I met Ross White at a bridge over Denver’s South Platte River. We were equally hip, both riding fixed gear bikes and sporting cordura canvas packs. The only difference was that White made his backpack. As we rode along the river, I realized he had strapped his 8 weight to the frame of his bicycle, out-hipping…
The 8th Annual Heber Valley Fly Fishing Festival kicks off this weekend in Midway, Utah. Join Allen Fly Fishing and Streem Outdoors for the free event that invites anglers of all skill levels to participate in clinics and demonstrations from local and industry experts.
It doesn’t taste like trout—but in the case of Three Barrel Brewing’s latest craft-beer release, Trucha Grande, there’s certainly a juicy cutthroat swimming somewhere near the source.
Unlicensed carp fishing in Washington State is not a crime. And mirror and common varieties are your fully sanctioned targets at the First Annual Carp Jamboree hosted by Emerald Water Anglers on August 11 to 12. All you need is 60 bucks (for the entry fee), plus a camera and tape measure to record the evidence.
Earlier today, Pacific NorthWest LNG—the controversial $11.4-billion gas export project looking to set up shop in British Columbia’s Skeena River estuary—was deemed dead in the water by the Malaysian state-controlled oil and gas giant Petronas.
SO YOU’VE DECIDED to fish green drakes this summer. On a western river, preferably. Good for you. It’s an incredible hatch that too often gets overlooked for the more glorious salmonfly. Is your significant other coming along? Does he or she fish? Wait, a better question: Does your partner like to do anything other than…
Brought to you by another year of high-caliber flyfishing films, The Drake’s 11th Annual Video Awards in Orlando last week saw the crowds pour in to celebrate creativity, sharp storytelling, and gripping fishing footage across a spectrum of honored categories.
Whether that D loop’s looking a little deflated or you’re searching for a proper summertime bash, the 5th Annual Klickitat Two-Hander Day, on August 12, offers a full spey-casting curriculum followed by a feast under the stars. The free gathering is for those who’d like to learn not only how to cast the two-hander better…
Join us next week in Orlando, Florida for another legendary party celebrating the hottest flyfishing films from the past 12 months at The Drake’s 11th Annual Flyfishing Video Awards.
From Tight Loops, the flyfishing collective with a soft spot for old Volkswagens, Northern Exposure follows Chase and Aimee Bartee as they chase a phantom cicada hatch on Maryland’s Savage River and then reconnect with their Northeastern roots. “Don’t expect to see any geotags of these rivers on Instagram, the folks up there keep it pretty…
Facing ripping winds and tarpon of the hard to find variety, podium experience proved to be the key ingredient for top anglers grinding it out at the 54th Annual Invitational Gold Cup Tarpon Tournament in Islamorada, Florida, with the three winning teams having all been past Grand Champions.
CTRL + ALT + PUT-IN FishViews, a startup based in Wimberly, Texas, is adding new features to your summer “river float” plans—providing anglers, rafters, government agencies, and conservation organizations with interactive 360-degree digital maps of a growing list of American and worldwide waterways. Similar to the Google Street View platform you use to spy on…
This week, Utah Stream Access Coalition (USAC) will shift back into courtroom mode, once again arguing for a favorable conclusion to the longstanding legal wranglings over constitutionally-bound public fishing access rights in the Beehive State.
The Henry’s Fork Foundation was formed in 1983 by a group of visionaries who knew good fishing when they saw it and then decided to swaddle it from future threats. Today, this section of the eastern Idaho’s upper Snake courses through mostly private land, but in part thanks to the HFF, working with landowners, agencies,…
Steelheading for most flyfishers is a condensed, two season hustle. We hit pause on the daily grind and shoehorn in a couple weeks to fish peak runs of the “summer” or “winter” variety. But once upon a time of steelhead abundance, the windows were wider. And pulling on an ocean-fresh chromer every month of the…
Dan caught the only inconnu. Let’s get that out of the way. “Dan” is Dan Armstrong, a well-traveled, Bozeman-based photographer who occasionally gets invited on spectacular fishing trips with the tacit understanding that his job is to record the heroics of the writer and keep his hands off the rod. But it was our last…
Big brook trout and landlocked Atlantic salmon get all the press in Maine, but there’s an underappreciated striped bass fishery in the easternmost state. So before you load your drift boat and head inland, consider expanding your angling opportunities this spring by attending Striper School.
There are a few ways to see and swing northern British Columbia’s legendary Babine River this fall. And while most of them involve a mortgage-size down payment followed by a heli ride to your majestic riverside digs, there’s now a glimmer of hope for the budget-oriented dirtbags in the crowd—assuming we can scrounge up a…
While steelhead and chinook salmon fisheries remain a question mark across the Columbia River Basin, a bronzeback boon will keep anglers in the hunt during this raging high-water season. And an extra cooler, along with some eggs and flour, should feature prominently in your kit.
Clear rivers and one’s right to wade them in search of swirling trout have always been, in the great state of Montana, prerogatives worth fighting to keep. Now more than forty of Montana’s best writers have unholstered their pens to bring original essays and testimonials to the battle, advocating for the protection of public lands…
A new forecast halving the expected return of spring chinook to the Columbia River and its tributaries led Washington to close Snake River salmon fishing earlier this week. The spring chinook return to the entire Columbia-Snake River Basin this season was predicted to be 160,800. It’s now been cut to 83,000 and recreational fishing has…
From our friends at Simms: “Born and raised in Montana, first and second generation Wader Makers Leona and Michelle Helvey reflect on family, fishing, and a mother/daughter bond that continues to help them get through sad times.” Watch the vid, then go give your mom a hug.
After months of negotiations, this week Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a bill that could help reverse the 40-year ecosystem decline occurring in the Florida Everglades. SB10, sponsored by Sen. Rob Bradley, will fund the creation of a 78-billion gallon deep-water reservoir (enough water-holding capacity to fill 120,000 Olympic-size swimming pools) south of Lake…
Colemann this week announced its bid to construct President Trump’s long-promised southern border wall out of a surplus of unsellable coolers. Company spokesperson Steve Bingham said, “You won’t see us in many drift boats this summer, but a 1,900-mile-long Colemann barricade could be the comeback we’ve all been praying for.” The Colemann WALL®—currently banned in California—would…
President Trump’s favorite assembly of federal judges, the 9th Circuit Court, backed a lower court’s decision last week, approving hatchery fish to be dumped into the Olympic Peninsula’s Elwha River—once again.
Grip & grins, screaming reels, and airborne salmonids are the bread, butter, and bacon of flyfishing media. It sure gets the heart thumping to see that tarpon thrash its head side-to-side in midair. The film tours capitalize on this adrenal desire and know how to deliver. But there are times you don’t want your heart to…
The Big Year is back. And for the next 12 months, it’s not about the biggest fish, it’s about the most species caught on a fly rod. Now through April 21, 2018, post a picture of you with your fish on The Drake’s Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter page. Whoever posts the most different species, that they caught starting…