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,…
DetailsSteelheading 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…
Details
Google Maps had led me astray. I had typed in “flyshop” but found myself in a strip mall parking lot. Before I could reroute myself I caught a glimpse of a 1976 Ford Custom Ranger truck covered in trouty spots. Maybe I was in the right place. Sure enough, a hand-painted sign informed me that…
Details
FROM THE SICKLE’S CURVE of Great Abaco Island’s eastern shore, the next piece of solid ground for 3,500 miles is the African continent. Between those shores lies ample room for inspiration. This is perhaps why noted American sporting artist Vaughn Cochran called a summit. “Years ago, when I managed fishing lodges, I had this idea…
Details
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…
Details
I’m sitting in Bob Mitchell’s Fly Shop in St. Paul, Minnesota, watching Brian Bergeson tie a fly. His thread wraps are quick and confident. He trims a tightly bound clump of bucktail and a plume of hair rises and settles to the table. His Red Bull sits safely outside the fallout radius. His fingers seem…
Details
One night during my sophomore year of college, a drunk Swedish exchange student sunk into my couch and began telling tales of the old country. Midsommar’s Eve is a special event in June, Henrick said, when all able-bodied citizens eat and drink till they can’t. He reminisced about his first Midsommar’s kiss, first Midsommar’s beer,…
Details
After graduating from college, I accepted a position as an actuarial analyst—a very digital, very stationary job. My parents appreciated this move, as it meant financial independence, and also that I wouldn’t be joining some friends on what eventually became an eight-month motorcycle tour of America. I was mostly certain I didn’t want to become…
Details
Tucker Jones is certainly comfortable speaking in front of a surly audience. This much is clear from the outset. The burly, self-deprecating Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist is standing in front of a group of 50 guides and anglers on a blustery spring evening at his agency’s office overlooking the Columbia River in…
Details
ON MARCH 20, 2017, a canary-yellow A-star helicopter kicked up a cloud of sand while planting its skids on a tiny atoll off the Caribbean coast of Honduras. Years in the making, the landing at Faraway Cay was like a blindfold removed. According to satellite imagery, the island doesn’t exist. But minutes after landing, Steve…
DetailsBig 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…
DetailsWhile 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.
I’m comforted by the similarities between most fly shops. Sure, the rod rack might be in a different corner and each shop will have a couple local patterns, but that same “how ya doin?” coming from behind every counter reminds me of the common flyfishing culture we share across the country. However, every once in awhile…
DetailsClear 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…
DetailsA 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…
DetailsFrom 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…
DetailsColemann 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…
DetailsPresident 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…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsAs spring runoff works its way out of the nation’s river systems, many underemployed, overfished trout bums fear that their favorite Forest Service campsites will be closed this summer due to President Trump’s proposed budget constraints. As a result, Walmart parking lots across the country are now filling up with tailgating anglers. “It’s cheaper than…
DetailsFacing a record-low Klamath River salmon forecast, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council has moved to close 200 miles of coastal fishing in northern California and southern Oregon. Fishery managers expect to see less than 12,000 chinook returning to the Klamath this season.
Castaway Films’ latest trailer for Atlanticus travels deep up northern Costa Rica’s jungle river systems in search of triple-digit tarpon. The freshwater fishery, fed by seasonal rains, is also stomping grounds for garfish, sawfish, bull sharks, and cute, cuddly caiman. The feature length film is due Jan. 2018. Meantime, here’s a snippet of what’s cooking.
Florida-based captains and anglers are traveling to Tallahassee this week, urging state lawmakers to follow what was outlined in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan in 2000. In other words, to build the reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee that would store, clean, and properly convey fresh water, sending more of it south to Florida Bay.