How cane is like a venereal disease

The Other Side of Bamboo

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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Elwha

Life Returns to Elwha

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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smokey

Fishin’s On Fire

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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Western Rivers Flyfisher is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Western Rivers Flyfisher

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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Forgotten_Coast_Invitational

Forgotten Coast Invitational

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. 

Water_Trust

RiverBank Fundraiser

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.

Sierra_Nevada

Wild Rivers. Good Beer.

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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EPA_Bristol

Voices for Bristol Bay

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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DeYoung

Face Behind the Faces

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_Rehab

Hat Creek Goes to Rehab

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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McMillan

2,500 Miles and Counting

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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chucker

Bug Chucker Trout Tourney

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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salmonduck

Salmonflies be a Poppin’

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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Private No Fishing

Utah Stream Access Upheld

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

Protecting Guyana

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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stl1

Roadmapping Steelhead Returns

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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Adam

Remembering Adam

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.

Dry

Dry Fly Love Song

Filmmakers Rolf Nylinder and the frontsidefly crew are on a dry or die mission this spring. Channeling their inner Justin Biebers, Hallelujah gets remixed for the topwater masses. I heard there was a sinking fly that Peter used and it made me cry. Check it.

Mooning

Supermooning

Mark your calendars. Saturday night is supermooning time, a drop-your-drawers phenomenon that occurs when the full moon reaches its closest approach to the earth—a distance of 221,802 miles away. The ultra bright orbit should make for some killer covert mousing opps… not to mention big tides, with 42 percent more tidal force through next week.