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…
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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;…
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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.…
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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…
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Fishing is a fine way to gain insight into the true nature of water. Russian literature is an equally effective medium for getting a handle on the nature of corruption. In the 1842 novel Dead Souls, by Nikolai Gogol, the protagonist Chichikov connives to get rich off a bureaucratic loophole. Estates are taxed based on…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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An old timer with an 8-inch Buck Knife strapped to his belt once told me that mousing for trout was invented on the North Branch of Michigan’s Au Sable River. Not long after brown trout were introduced there—shortly after the grayling were gone—an angler was field-testing some bass poppers he’d carved and accidentally discovered that…
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In Utah it’s illegal for you and me to recreate (fish, wade, etc.) in public waters that are adjacent to private property. This law limits freedoms for Utah residents and nonresidents, who enjoy the state’s precious streams and waterbeds. HB37 is a bill designed to fix the access mess—to protect public water and property rights.…
DetailsIn Utah it’s illegal for you and me to recreate (fish, wade, etc.) in public waters that are adjacent to private property. This law limits freedoms for Utah residents and nonresidents, who enjoy the state’s precious streams and waterbeds. HB37 is a bill designed to fix the access mess—to protect public water and property rights.…
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Join Nathaniel Linville and Capt. John O’Hearn for 3 days of tarpon fishing in the lower Keys. You’ll be stoked you did. Watch it Via Catch 1 Films
DetailsJoin Nathaniel Linville and Capt. John O’Hearn for 3 days of tarpon fishing in the lower Keys. You’ll be stoked you did. Watch it Via Catch 1 Films
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There are a lot of flyfishing companies out there, but few with the corduroy pant-fuelled revenue stream of Orvis. There are also few that funnel us much back into the fishing community through conservation efforts. In addition to giving 5 percent of its pre-tax profits to a long list of vital imperatives over the years, the company…
DetailsThere are a lot of flyfishing companies out there, but few with the corduroy pant-fuelled revenue stream of Orvis. There are also few that funnel us much back into the fishing community through conservation efforts. In addition to giving 5 percent of its pre-tax profits to a long list of vital imperatives over the years, the company…
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Years before I saw either a steelhead or the Quinault River, they were twin obsessions dominating my imagination. I would eventually come to meet both, but at different times in my life, and under very different circumstances.
BEFORE THE EARLY 1990s it was impossible to catch steelhead on a fly rod, and certainly not using a floating line and a single-handed rod. We just couldn’t get our small flies deep enough, we couldn’t cast them far enough, and we all just stood there wishing we had a center pin and roe sacks,…
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IT STARTS IN HIGH SUMMER, in Labrador, that land of windswept crags, quaking bogs, and enthusiastic blackflies. “The land God gave to Cain,” as the explorer, Cartier, described it. Well, it is my sincere hope that the sumbitch took along a fly rod. I sure did. I’m on assignment, chasing down a mineral prospector who…
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Photos by Lucas Young THE LIGHT FADED and the air went still, perfectly matching the low, slack tide of the bay. Several minutes later, leaping coho, some far away, others eerily close, broke the calm. I watched my line slice through the water as I stripped, then suddenly a small wake formed where I imagined…
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Today is a great day to be a wild fish on the Sandy River. Why? Because late yesterday afternoon the Native Fish Society was victorious in its lawsuit against the Sandy River hatchery. “It is undisputed that hatchery operations can pose a host of risks to wild fish…it is clear that the Sandy River Basin…
DetailsToday is a great day to be a wild fish on the Sandy River. Why? Because late yesterday afternoon the Native Fish Society was victorious in its lawsuit against the Sandy River hatchery. “It is undisputed that hatchery operations can pose a host of risks to wild fish…it is clear that the Sandy River Basin…
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320 reasons why, Hier kom groot kak Flyfishing filmmaker Jako Lucas has been on a world tear since dropping Gangsters of the Flats on U.S. audiences in 2012. The bangers of those Seychelles flats were, of course, large and in charge giant trevally. With Aqua Hulk, last year’s Best New Film at The Drake Film…
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Crazy Charlie… not so crazy after all. Listen to his riffs and some wise ramblings in the new Tributaries trailer, where divergent cultures are bound by flyfishing commonalities. Watch it Via filmmaker, RC Cone: “Tributaries is a journey to uncover the commonality among different cultures, people and water. It explores the contrasting experiences of three diverse…
DetailsCrazy Charlie… not so crazy after all. Listen to his riffs and some wise ramblings in the new Tributaries trailer, where divergent cultures are bound by flyfishing commonalities. Watch it Via filmmaker, RC Cone: “Tributaries is a journey to uncover the commonality among different cultures, people and water. It explores the contrasting experiences of three diverse…
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