One of the many appealing aspects of tarpon fishing is that tarpon come up for air, allowing anglers, in most cases, to view their quarry before casting to it. Just seeing a group of 100-pound ‘poons rolling on the surface can be almost as exciting as that first strip-set. So imagine taking the largest tarpon…
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Way back in August of 2010, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the can—canned soup, canned beans, canned tuna. This summer, it’s about the beer. Once considered a sub-par compromise when bottles weren’t available, cans are quickly becoming the preferred vessel for many a craft beer-drinker, particularly flyfishers, rafters, and other marginally employed types. Cans…
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One of the only upsides to having a drought year out West is that we can backpack up to the high country a few weeks earlier than normal. And since it’s hard work getting up there, don’t shortchange your trip by bringing that broomstick of a six-weight or that noodley old fiberglass rod because “it…
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Bamboo fly rods are a little like herpes. Both are achieved out of lust which, in the light of day, provokes a certain retrospective guilt. Both, once acquired, invoke the sort of awe that elicits careful handling, and—be it split-cane rod or irritated genitalia—the newfound host might find himself wondering “Damn… should I even touch…
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I thought I was just sharing a lark—fine: I was bragging—when I posted a Facebook update a month after moving from Missoula, Montana, to Oberlin, Ohio: “Just caught a dozen bluegill on a fly rod in a light rain standing on the shore of Oberlin Reservoir. I think I’d forgot how much fun fishing could…
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At 37 feet long, 9,000 pounds, and three miles to the gallon, Clyde didn’t fit well in Berkeley, literally or figuratively. I passed an electric car with a bumper sticker that said, “Animals are just little people in fur coats,” and eased on toward the Sac.
RENO, NV—Dear aspiring showgirls and filmmakers… the 7th Annual Flyfishing Video Awards showdown, presented by Simms and The Drake, is slated for Thursday, August 16 at the Atlantis Casino in Reno. The official call-out for entries has been served, with movies due by Wednesday, August 1.
OLYMPIC PENINSULA, WA—Good news streaming in from the Elwha River restoration project team. After dam removals commenced last fall, scientists recently discovered the first wild, adult male steelhead—about 35 inches long—arriving to spawn in a tributary upstream from the old Elwha Dam site, where the river now flows free. The $325 million federal project has…
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FORT COLLINS, CO—As a massive plume of smoke billowed behind Drake HQ yesterday morning, what was first reported as a 2-acre wildfire has since engulfed more than 14,000 acres and torched 18 structures in the Poudre Canyon area. This is the second wildfire in two weeks to hit one of the few floatable rivers left in…
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Try this on for size. Close your eyes and imagine a flyshop more interested in amplifying experience than sticking you with spools of $14 tippet, dozens of hyperanatomical flavor-of-the-day flies, and pearl strands of pink thingamabobbers. Imagine that this same flyshop has invested in this “experience giving” commodity for 25 consecutive years, pushing things like…
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APALACHICOLA, FL—Partnered with The Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, and Dr. Jerry Ault, Director of the Tarpon and Bonefish research center, the Forgotten Coast tarpon tagging tournament is a first of its kind, fly-only event aimed at science and conservation. The placement of state-of-the-art SPOT and PAT satellite tags is the contest’s main objective.
If you’ve fished out West for more than a little while chances are you’ve figured it out—Rafts rule. You jealously spy them drifting by the opposite bank, the one you can’t get to, past the “No Trespassing” sign and fence you can’t cross, into water you can’t fish. You wish you knew that guy on…
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DENVER, CO—The Drake is proud to support the Colorado Water Trust’s 4th Annual RiverBank Auction and Fundraiser. If you’re in the Denver area tonight come check out the live and silent auctions, appetizers, an open bar, and the inaugural presentation of The David Getches Flowing Waters Award.
Take your favorite wild, pristine river. Kick in a few barrels of malted barley, a couple of bushels of hops, yeast for fermentation… and there you have it. Delicious, nutritious beer. A whole river full of it! Sierra Nevada knows what’s good, and that’s why it’s donating a portion of proceeds from every 12-pack of…
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SEATTLE, WA—The Environmental Protection Agency just added a public hearing for tomorrow (Thursday, May 31) on its watershed assessment of Bristol Bay. If you’re in the Seattle area, rally the brass-knuckled troops and stand up for one of the planet’s best remaining salmon strongholds. Why? Because the “brains” behind Pebble Mine need to be served…
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Livingston-based artist Derek DeYoung has translated many a fish face to canvas, including the mayfly-munching Bighorn brown on the Fall/Winter 2010 cover of The Drake. Simms recently sat down with Derek to discuss the business of progression and the balancing act between creating commercial appeal and maintaining artistic integrity. Good read.
Hat Creek is the home of California’s first Wild Trout designated water. In the early ’80s the river boasted trout counts of 6,800 fish per river mile. That was before a major plug of sediment moved in, choking aquatic vegetation, hindering bug populations, and speeding the flow. The good news, according to CalTrout, is the…
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Port Angeles-based fish biologist John McMillan has dunked his head below more than 2,500 miles of Pacific Northwest river in the name of salmon and steelhead research. We had the pleasure of steelheading with him in April. Believe me, dude knows where to find the fish. Leaping Frog Films (leapingfrogfilms.com) is producing a pilot showcasing…
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MANITOBA, CANADA—If you ever had a hankering to fish Manitoba—or better yet, the “Fly Fishing Capital of Manitoba”—there’s never been a better time to depart chesterfield and dust off your stick. Next weekend marks the inaugural Bug Chucker Cup Stillwater tournament in the Roblin and Duck Mountain Provincial Park areas. The region was home to…
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Invasive species poses massive ecological threat Ninety-feet below the surface with a mile of blue oblivion below, I approach her slowly as she stalks her prey. She hypnotizes a small snapper with her crimson mane, but I send my spear through her head before she can strike. I slip her into a bag full of…
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The Big Bugs have arrived preseason to the West, instigating a riverbank rush to the Henry’s Fork and other prime locales over the past couple of weeks. Always in the thick of it, Drake contributor Bryan Gregson snapped this pic of a cute cuddly gosling being mauled by a big, mean salmonfly. (Hank’s Fork browns eat…
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In today’s nonfishing news, 29-year-old Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones says virginity is “hard.” So far her plight is much more intriguing than Tim Tebow’s….
For flyfishers following the marathon back-and-forth court battles over river access rights in the State of Utah, Monday marked a collective sigh of relief. At least temporarily. Judge Derek Pullan of Utah’s 4th District Court has ruled to uphold Utah public access rights, issuing a much-anticipated decision in the Utah Stream Access Coalition’s constitutional challenge…
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Guyana is a heart of jungle habitat clutched between Venezuela and Suriname on the north coast of South America. Its tannin-tinted rivers are home to arapaima, which happen to be the largest freshwater fish in the world. Thanks to Costa sunglasses and crew, these tarpon-like behemoths have become the new posterchild for a project aimed…
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The roadblocks to salmon and steelhead recovery are myriad—from commercial harvest to hatcheries to regulatory red tape and everything in between. Now NOAA Fisheries is requesting your review and comment on its proposed Endangered Species Act recovery plan for Lower Columbia River salmon and steelhead. The plan addresses recovery of chinook, coho, and steelhead, and Columbia…
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Slow boats, picked pockets, and damaged goods From B.C. I headed south via the Tsawwassen ferry station en route to Victoria. Final destination, Forks, WA. We wove through Gulf Islands such as Galiano, Mayne, and Pender. From there, I switched boats and crossed the Strait of Juan De Fuca—just in time to catch a bomber…
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Beastie Boy Adam Yauch was many things to many people. Musician. Buddhist. Filmmaker. Activist. Nathanial Hörnblowér. An integral part of the soundtrack to my teenage angst years. To writer Melissa Larsen, he was a snowboarder, friend, and will be sorely missed.