Trout fishing in northern Minnesota in the summer is a good way to inhale a lot of bugs. Same for splitting wood, or cutting the grass, or any other sweaty, breathy work. Supposedly, my great-great uncle had a line for this, whenever one of the kids was choking and spitting on a mosquito:
“Plus ca change, plus c’est même chose.” Like most trout fishermen my age, normal procedure is to find a place to get into some river and wade, an approach that confers a granular view of all on offer—details of bottom, hydrology, insect life, and general atmosphere. On balance, there are better ways to catch fish;…
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For noted fly tyer and guide Blane Chocklett, it is creativity that has set him apart from the folks throwing the same old patterns at the same old fish. Chocklett has made himself a life and career by searching out new fisheries and new fly patterns. If you have flyfished for a while, especially for…
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My annual migrations from Montana to Baja started in the winter of 2009, when the mainstream media first began covering news about the dangers associated with Mexico travel. Friends and family thought I was nuts, but as long as you weren’t searching for blow in Tijuana at 2 a.m., Baja was still safer than many…
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Gas up the DeLorean, pour a sip of hot tub time-machine water, and blast into the past with Trouts Fly Shop’s “Throwback Flyfishing Film Fest” on February 5, at Denver’s Oriental Theater.
This year anglers are staring down the barrel of sacrifice. The worst run of summer steelhead headed up the Columbia River and its tributaries in generations is here.
The Osprey journal teams with US and Canadian conservation groups to expand its wild salmon and steelhead advocacy For more than 30 years, The Osprey journal has dug its talons into wild Pacific salmon and steelhead advocacy by promoting the best science and policies to restore and conserve native fish populations.
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Colorado’s Anglers All fly shop is getting set to detonate its annual Mile-High 25 showdown — the world’s premier “Catch, Photo, Release” tourney. For 2019, more than 50 teams will test skills against 25 eligible species on the fly. From muskie to wiper to bluegill to splake, last season’s attendees landed 24 out of 25…
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After a brief hiatus, The DrakeCast is back. This episode aims to answer one question: How did a band of fishing and surfing bums living in Virginia create an iconic Texan brand? To help tell this story we’ll be assisted by musican and Howler Brothers cofounder, Andy Stepanian. Along the way, we’ll also get to…
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Someone wise once said, “If we can’t remember our past, we’re doomed to repeat it.” In Sage’s latest Swing Season edit, Ghost of Steelhead Future, Ashland Fly Shop’s Jon Hazlett also says something genius: “Abandon the river… abandon the fish… not this river!” Catch up with Jon as he time-machines back into an Atlantic salmon…
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“A flyfishing guide based in Colorado, Maddie Brenneman has followed her heart right into the life she’s designed for herself, but not without some trial and error. Constantly taking a long look at her own motivations and desires, she’s made sure that she’ll never look back and wonder, ‘What if?’” Via the “Live More Now”…
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Shot entirely in northern British Columbia, Alignment brings the worlds of steelheading and snowboarding together across a wintry season of discovery. The full-length film, below, features Eric Jackson, John Jackson, Curtis Ciszek, Darcy Bacha, and friends as they ride B.C.’s breathtaking mountains and swing its wild rivers in search of balance. Three months in the woods…
DetailsThe proposal to keep Penns Creek’s wild trout wild faces a stocking truck full of opposition Penns Creek, nestled in the gentle folds of the Pennsylvania Appalachians, is one of a kind. Not because of its history, or its hatches, or its scenery, even though it has all of the above, but because it has…
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Craft beer and flyfishing go together like Jell-O shots and bachelorette parties. In the fishier towns in America you’ll find angling-themed beers of every taste and style, from Trout Slayer Wheat Ale (Big Sky Brewing, Missoula, MT) to Cutthroat Porter (Odell Brewing, Fort Collins, CO) to Steelhead Extra Pale Ale (Mad River Brewing, Humboldt County,…
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To the right, is lake Michigan. I can see it through my window. It’s ominous. Nothing can stop it. It’s both life giving and life taking. I can see as far as it will let me and no further than it will allow. It speaks to me with the words of adventure and the sound…
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Every year for the past decade the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay seems to die, only to rise again from its still-warm ashes. Despite lawsuits, a rigorous permitting process, and continued opposition by local organizations, Sam Snyder, campaign manager for the Wild Salmon Center, says the mega-mine isn’t just hanging on, it’s gaining momentum.…
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The film opens with a ten-second zoom toward campfire flames that dance and swirl in the darkness. The viewer’s eyes are drawn to the underbelly of the largest log, crosshatched and ashen from the heat. Jump-cut to a small stream, lit by autumn light, shorelines framed by a blaze of fallen leaves. An angler appears,…
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Transformations are occurring this time of year. Spartina grass browns and wracks, while the creeks in the marsh fill with shrimp and other nutrients. Redfish take this as a cue, schooling up and feasting hard before winter. As the water begins to clear, my friend Rich Walker and I watch the tides carefully, waiting for…
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The last week in September can be one of the finest of the year for flyfishers, but lodge owner Jerry Shults and his daughter Amy Herrig did not look to be enjoying it in 2018, as they spent the week in the Federal courthouse in Dallas facing 17 counts of drug trafficking, conspiracy, and money…
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This episode of the DrakeCast tracks the effects of several natural disasters that have struck the Eastern United States in the past few years. After starting with the Sevier Country Fire that ripped through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we move further south to North Carolina where we’ll hear how folks are faring after Hurricane…
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Every year, millions of Alaskan fish make their way back from the ocean to their natal streams. Hot on their tails are tens of thousands of anglers looking to capture that perfect obituary photo with the catch of a lifetime. This is the story of a couple guides who had the pleasure of taking those…
DetailsAlignment is a story about finding balance during a winter-long season that teeters between going big in the Coast Mountains and going remote on steelhead rivers fed by those same peaks. Set in Terrace, British Columbia, and using Skeena Spey Lodge as a basecamp, the film features professional snowboarders (and feral anglers) Eric Jackson, John…
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For those of you who tuned in to Episode #45, you’ll know that we travelled down to East End Lodge in Grand Bahama to chase after the ghost of the flats with Captain Cecil Leathan and Bjorn Stromsness. This episode continues that journey but stops along the way to take a look at the darker…
DetailsWiped off the state map, or so it was thought. Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists, working a decades-long fish forensics case, announced this week the discovery of a believed-to-be extinct cuttie found alive and well in a handful of remote streams.
Last year more than 400 people came together and paddled six miles in support of the return of a free-flowing lower Snake River. This year the Flotilla will focus on tribal land and tradition. Canoe families from sovereign tribes across the Northwest will gather on the Clearwater River, and paddle downstream through the heart of…
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Jeff Currier—one of the most accomplished, humble anglers alive—on being Jeff. Via BeAlive: “Flyfisher and self-taught artist Jeff Currier has caught and painted more unique species of fish than he ever thought possible. He is now chasing his goal of 500 across the globe, while also sharing his love of fishing through teaching, writing, and…
DetailsThis November a new ballot initiative calling for improved fish habitat safeguards could rewrite the rules Bristol Bay, AK, home to the salmon habitat protection battle that’s now been playing on repeat for years, could avoid development threats such as Pebble Mine with a restructuring of the state’s antiquated Fish Habitat Permit Law.
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