Drake Magazine Daily Fly Fishing News and Blog
Filming for Confluence Film’s new Providence project took place in the fall of 2015 with the FlyCastaway crew on Providence Atoll in the Seychelles. The soon-to-be released full-length movie chronicles FlyCastaway’s first trip back to Providence Atoll since the waters were closed to anglers and boats more than six years ago—due to the threat of pirates…
Nicknamed the Nigiri Project (AKA salmon over rice), the Managed Agricultural Habitat initiative aims to demonstrate that California can have both its fish and its farms—all in one place. And in a state where wildlife abundance has been historically hammered by agricultural abundance, CalTrout has been busy working to put nature back on the menu.
Skeena system chinook. On the swing. This should be good. Via T-Motion theater: “The anglers on camera include none other than the talented Adrienne Comeau, who guides for Skeena Spey Riverside Wilderness & Lodge and Steve McPhail, owner of Nass River Steelhead Company out of Terrace BC. This tech-infused video includes some great insight on flyfishing…
Two sections of the Yellowstone were reopened last week due to improving environmental conditions following the parasite-caused fish kill that led to the shuttering of the river on Aug. 19. FWP crews will float the ‘Stone this week to asses damages and will decide whether fishing can resume throughout the river.
Follow along with Redington ambassadors Ben Kraushaar and Anna Ortega as they comb alpine lakes for some good cutts. “In this episode they live in the moment and absorb the beauty of the mountains, only to have this tranquility disrupted by the sound of a cutthroat breaking the surface to eat a dry fly.” Via…
Summer 2015 was record-setting across the Pacific Northwest. Low snowpack, soaring air temperatures, and low flows combined to create one of the most stressful summers for cold-water fish species ever. While some salmon and trout populations were able to find critical lifesaving stopping points in cold-water refuges along their upstream migration, others were exposed to…
To whom it may concern: All fish need water. One doesn’t have to be a fisheries biologist to comprehend this simple point—in fact, any six year old would say so. The recent outbreak of Proliferative Kidney Disease (PKD) on the Yellowstone River, while tragic and devastating, has cast a bright and perhaps unwanted spotlight on…
The Wild Steelhead Coalition, Patagonia, and award-winning filmmaker Shane Anderson have teamed up to produce Steelhead Country. The six-episode series explores the rise and fall of angling for wild steelhead in Washington State—from the heydey on the Puyallup River to other legendary rivers that are now closed throughout Puget Sound, including the mighty Skagit. Follow along…
Facing overwhelming opposition from the fishing community, the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta—aka, a group of irrigators hoping to divert more water—this week revoked its controversial petition for regulation changes on striped and black bass in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta.
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks today implemented an immediate closure of all water-based recreation (fishing, wading, floating, tubing, boating, etc.) on the Yellowstone River and its tributaries from Yellowstone National Park’s northern boundary at Gardiner to the Highway 212 bridge in Laurel—stretches totaling more than 183 miles of river.
Whether packing an iPhone or a strapping multiple GoPros to your shins and elbows, capturing decent fishing footage these days is for everyone. Not just professionals. Recognizing that potential, the fly-line think tank at RIO products is launching its very own Amateur Fly Fishing Film Awards this month.
Earlier this week Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) actually did a solid for steelhead, designating the Elwha and Nisqually rivers as wild steelhead gene banks. That means these two formidable systems will no longer see hatchery steelhead dumped off the shortbus and into the mix. It also shows that the powers that be…
Junior fly-casting phenom, Maxine McCormick, 12, recently competed in the U.S. Casting Championships in Kentucky, where she became America’s No. 1 female fly caster for accuracy. Her score also bested world champion Steve Rajeff—aka the greatest caster in history. McCormick will now join three other members of the San Francisco/Oakland Casting Club to compete in the world championships…
English rocker Eric Clapton, 71, is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. He’s also, evidently, an Atlantic salmon fishing boss. While on a flyfishing trip to Iceland last week, Clapton landed this 28-pound, 42-inch slab on the Vatnsdalsá River, setting the record for stroking the river’s biggest salmon of the summer. He…
Rivers in the Rockies are heating up, which means you can either abide by hoot-owl restrictions and retire to your backyard kiddie pool, or—better yet—leave the Speedo at home and hit a cold spring creek full of hopper hammering browns. Here, filmmaker Todd Moen travels to cooler waters, capturing Montana’s annual hopper event in full…
Introducing the Yakamas’ new steelhead rehab program Steelhead in Washington’s Yakima River are doubling down on spawning thanks to a reconditioning program run by the Yakama tribe—spelled differently than the river. A study published recently in North American Journal of Fisheries Management shows a successful pattern of repeat spawning in female steelhead during the decade-long…
Montana’s iconic Smith River is facing two challenges to its unsullied flyfishing future: A proposed copper mine on a vital tributary that would endanger the entire river ecosystem. And mining industry blowhards who want to limit public sentiment in the decision-making process. That’s why Montana Trout Unlimited (MTU) is asking anglers to lean on the…
A coral reef 639 miles southwest of Port Victoria—the capital of the Seychelles—Cosmoledo Atoll is home to some of the headiest, healthiest giant trevally flats on the planet. Not to mention prime habitat for triggers, bones, and milkfish. That’s why we love it… and it’s why you should too. Here, follow the Alphonse Fishing Company crew…
Dutch John, UT—One fly. One full day of flyfishing. One great cause. The 2016 Green River Single Fly tourney takes place Aug. 25-26 on Green below Flaming Gorge Dam. Now in its 8th year, the event brings teams together from across the West to face off against the river’s biggest trout, while raising funds for…
Four hundred miles is a significant feat, say for an electric car on a single charge. (Tesla is currently testing vehicles with a similar range.) It’s also a helluva push for a juvenile tarpon, a fish that would typically stick close to home until reaching sexual maturation. But according to findings from Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s…
South-central Alaska’s Susitna River is a 300-mile sweetheart home to all five species of pacific salmon, including the state’s fourth largest chinook run. The Susitna has also been pegged for its hydroelectric potential, contending with several dam proposals over the last 60 years. The latest threat called for erecting the country’s second tallest dam, upstream…
This past winter, Frankie Marion at C1Films began shooting a video solely devoted to barracuda flyfishing in the Keys; A) Because it hadn’t been done. And B) Because these badass fish do it all from an angler’s standpoint.
South Florida’s Everglades has been dammed, diked, and drained—in the name of developing America’s superswamp—for decades. Now a coalition of concerned individuals and organizations intend to fix the horrific results of mismanagement of Florida’s waters. Their “Now or Neverglades Declaration” petition targets lawmakers and enforcement agencies, urging them to restore the flow of clean, fresh…
Move over Lefty, and prepare to snap the shit out of it. Hank Patterson has teamed with Orvis in what may be the most comprehensive instructional flyfishing series ever. Package includes 46 DVDs, piles of NSFW fish porn, scintillating A River Runs Through It reenactments, and 135 hours of bonus Hank footage.
OLYMPIA, WA—Does time have the power to turn half-baked ideas into golden (or in this case crimson) opportunity? When it comes to the outlawed practice of salmon ranching, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has voiced its desire to find out.
When filming flyfishing, a lot of things need to go right. And the only guarantee is that things will go wrong. In the latest episode of Redington’s Find Your Water series, get a look behind the scenes when fish don’t bite in dream locations, anglers can’t set the hook on camera, and Ma Nature tries…
From flip-phone poon footage to an international filmmaking movement that’s spurred show-touring and award-winning cinematography, flyfishing films have made awesome strides in the last decade. So let’s make a party.