Drake Magazine Daily Fly Fishing News and Blog
Every good nightmare needs a monster. Denmark-based media producer, Peter A. Christensen, is back with this creepy edit of some very bad flyfishing in New Zealand. Watch it Via Frontsidefly.com: “This little edit follows Peter’s streak of bad luck and not-so-pro fuck-ups during a recent New Zealand trip with the Nylinder brothers.”
Yeti, makers of grizzly-proof coolers to safeguard our really cheap boat beers, ramped up production of its latest PermaFrost-insulated vessel today: The Casket. What better way to send off the hunter or fisherman in your life? Watch it “Six ergonomic and highly durable YETI DoubleHaul handles have been added to the YETI Casket for comfortable…
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 we thought it was time flyfishing had its own Big Year. Our contest will be run…
In the spring 2014 issue, Ryan Peterson and photographer John Sherman mission to Russia for rare encounters with Siberia’s sea-run taimen. The following is an exclusive peek at what they found along the road to “Silver Tiger Taimen: One Salmon to Rule them All”. Watch it Via Ryan: “Sea-run taimen live in the Russian Far…
On April 11, the Native Fish Society (NFS), wild fish advocates, and financial donors will band together under the big top at Montgomery Park in Portland, OR, for what’s being billed as the “largest wild fish fundraiser/party in the universe.” In the other corner, Greg Osburn, of the Sandy-based Three Rivers Sportsman’s Alliance, plans to rain…
New York fishing tackle mainstay, Cortland Line, has been busy freshening up the joint. New site. Varied mix of fresh and salt lines. And something still peachy. Pacific Northwest spey guru and recent pro-staff addition, Way Yin, weighs in on the changes… “These days, there are good lines from a number of manufacturers that fit…
People have been running the Colorado River since John Wesley Powell and his ragtag squad of drifters commenced their storied journey into an unmapped Grand Canyon during the spring of 1869. Since then, the river has been tackled in everything from motorized rafts and jet sleds to wooden dories. It’s been conquered in mere days…
If you’re like us, you’ve likely never experienced the legendary fishing prowess of Patrik Daugaard. Prepare to be blown away. Watch it Via Rolf Nylinder: “A lot of people have dreams. But Patrik Daugaard is not like a lot of people.” The Pig Farm Ink squad—flyfishing, tattoos, bitchin—is not like a lot of people either. Check out…
Hit play and add a little funk to your humpday grind. Flyfishing renaissance man Paul Puckett grooves to redfish wakes on glassy water. Watch it Via LC Journal and Flood Tide Co.
The US Army Corps of Engineers lists a heaping pile of 79,000+ dams in its nationwide inventory (NID). But those numbers are changing, for the better. DamNation—a Felt Soul, Stoecker Ecological, and Patagonia effort—documents the down-with-dams groundswell with its world premier at SXSW today. Watch it “This powerful film odyssey across America explores the sea…
Wade Davis, a man dubbed Canada’s contemporary Indiana Jones, has been working to safeguard a Switzerland-size area from big industry exploits since the late ’70s. And together with local First Nations bands, hunters, fishermen, and environmental groups like the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, British Columbia’s Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park—where the headwaters of the Skeena,…
Eliminate basketball from your bracket this spring. Insert fish. Cheeky’s March Madness lineup has been randomly seeded and features powerhouse first-round matchups such as mako shark vs. giant trevally, brook trout vs. tigerfish, and Atlantic salmon vs. carp. Since 2011, more than 10,000 votes have been cast, thousands of dollars raised, and underdogs crowned champions. Who…
BumpyWaters chief blogger/film critic, Jake Ricks, goes to the fishing movies and comes back wanting. Wanting less cliche, that is, and a return to flyfishing filmmaking’s halcyon days… when a guy named Smethurst roamed the beaches in search of roosters. Words to film by, via: “TOP 16 PHRASES YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY EDIT OUT OF YOUR…
Team bass takes on a whole new persona, when the MotivFishing crew reunites to crush—or get crushed by—bucketmouths, peacocks, and smallies across the globe. Series sponsors now include booze-giant Budweiser and Evan Williams Whiskey. Bring on the swamps and glittery boats. Via Costa: “A group of experienced fly anglers and explorers take on the challenge…
The Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition (SWCC) is a driving force behind initiatives aimed at protecting British Columbia’s Skeena River system—and its storied steelhead and salmon runs. Read more about the Sacred Headwaters campaign and its successful battle against a drill-happy Shell Global last summer, here. SWCC’s Anglers’ Auction starts on March 3. All funds go…
A seasonal recap of big rising fish, a lot of coffee, snus, waiting around, and some of the most outstanding outhouse footage we’ve seen in a long time… Watch it Via Erik Spade and frontsidefly.com: “I think all of us probably at some point in our life had to explain to someone their interest in…
However you choose to “fly fish” is your prerogative. Nevertheless, the great bead debate wages on, creating moral and ethical rifts between anglers with pegged beads in their kit and purists who prefer day-glo orange scuds. On Wyoming’s Grey Reef, fish and game is alerting anglers to the illegalities of the practice. Specifically, when fishing…
Sharptail Media delivers a rare view of a lone trout hoovering airborne damsels, sending fly tyers back to the drawing board. The mission: a fly that actually flies…. Watch it Via Sharptail Media: “My wife and I were flyfishing with friend/guide Dean Whaanga in New Zealand when a combination of bad weather and good timing…
Using ’50s-era black-and-white photos as scientific proof of a disturbing “fish shrinking trend” in the Florida Keys is a great example of why using old black-and-whites as scientific evidence of anything makes for some really hardhitting journalism. “Notice that the fish on the far left is bigger than the guy who, I assume, caught it;…
With everyone bitching about hotel room conditions in Sochi (and being corralled and killed by Lord Vladimir Putin) it’s interesting to note that conditions in Kamchatka are even worse. Imagine living in a shitty, stinky tent for days on end with nothing to feed the massive ravenous trout but big juicy mouse patterns. The horror.…
It’s been 10 days since the Utah legislative session kicked off and paralysis in the house has taken hold, with HB37 still buried in Rules Committee deliberations today. The compromise bill supported by the 3,300 member Utah Stream Access Coalition (USAC), as well as like-minded anglers across the country, would allow access and travel below the…
A look into the making of Origin of the Sky, a documentary by Marc Montocchio about the Sian Ka’an Biosphere on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Filmed on the island of Punta Pajaros at Casa Blanca Lodge, the film teaser captures underwater shots of feeding bones and schooling permit. It’s slated to be released in Fall 2014.…
Four conservation groups, including the Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), are urging the federal court to halt planned releases of hatchery coho and steelhead into the Elwha River until it can determine whether these actions comply with or violate the Endangered Species Act. Plaintiffs say that hatchery output in the newly reopened Elwha River system would…
Join The Drake on February 6, 2014, at Anthology Fine Art Gallery for Surface Film IV, Denver. The annual show serves beers, live music, and photos and helps raise funds for river conservation in Colorado, including the 1of750 project to help save the state’s greenback cutthroat population. “The image above is just one of 24 amazing…
Stellar Media’s MIGRATIONS series is an ongoing documentation of the relentless pursuit for perfect conditions—and endless pow. Watch it “Traveling long distances is a matter of survival for some animal species, however for the adventurous human it is a way of life. All creatures are connected by a natural impulse to search, discover, and live.…
The drug known commonly as “the tug” died on January 28, 2014, when the impotent one-liner received no reaction from flannel-clad bobber-doggers staring awkwardly up at the rafters of a left coast lodge. The former goodtiming, fist-bump instigator was the progeny of popular fishing idioms. Its great granddaddy, “tight lines,” suffered a similar fate in…
Victoria’s Secret may have bombshells. But we have brown trout. Simms’ 2014 spring catalog launch comes via a smart multimedia mashup of film, photography, words and, of course, gear for the waters we fish. “The Gear Guide intertwines the gear presentation with the company’s iconic photography [by Brian Grossenbacher] and stories. In addition, films by long-time…