Foreign Land

In a Foreign Land

After eighteen hours of travel I arrive on the shaky, sweaty downside of an extended coffee and doughnut binge. I love travel, the lure of the exotic, broadening your perspective. But sometimes, instead of a welcome transportation to an easy, distant place, where you step off the plane and a bronzed beauty places a lei…

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Barracuda Blues

Barracuda Blues

For every good shot at a tarpon, permit, or bonefish, there’s a cast-per-hour-of-effort ratio that on most days looks like a line graph of the U.S. economy. Then there are those days that you instantly know you’re losing, like a cold February morning when even the boxfish are lurking deep and you’re just hoping for…

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A man with a mustache

The Stash

It takes a certain swagger to pull off a good mustache. Some guys just have it: Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Jose Wejebe. And ’staches on Norris, Bronson, Chuck Furimsky, and the Marlboro Man say “badass” like no others. Hall-of-fame pitcher and fisher “Goose” Gossage carries an enviable upper-lip umbrella, as does Dr. Phil—meaty enough to…

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Northwoods Angler in Whitefish, Montana.

Northwoods Angler

WHITEFISH, MT—Scott Fenwick says Northwoods Angler “isn’t your regular fly shop.” It only takes a few seconds inside to understand what he’s talking about. There are rare books, collectible paintings, antique signs and surfboards scattered among the requisite flies, rods and other fishing gear. In one room, underneath a television displaying a flyfishing adventure documentary,…

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weinerwinner

Weiner’s Winning Ways

Despite Anthony Weiner’s over-amped libido and resignation in the wake of a “sexting” scandal, the New York congressman’s pro-environment record was commendable, according to political pundits. For instance, he stood against attempts to amend the Endangered Species Act, while scoring a 95 on the League of Conservation Voters scorecard early in his career, and has…

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Alta

The Pique of Whistler Flyfishing

While Whistler’s mainstay draws include hiking, biking, and “shredding the gnar”/local bar scene, British Columbia’s mega ski resort also offers a myriad of underrated fishing opportunities—from stillwaters to steelheading. This recent article from The Pique “The Ultimate Whistler Fish Story” delivers a detailed look at a community rooted in angling adventure, dating back to the…

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Bigfoot

Still on the Loose

The search for Bigfoot continues to be as daunting as the Vancouver Canucks bid for the elusive Stanley Cup. (No thanks to Boston….) But we’re getting closer. In June 2008, Caddis Fly shop owner Chris Daughters floated Oregon’s McKenzie River, where video footage from that trip depicts a Sasquatch-like beast lurking in the bushes. This Sunday, Daughters and…

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BrokenBowl

Hatchery Trout on the Ropes

  TENNESSEE—Say what you want about hatchery trout—inbred, three-eyed, lackluster competition for wild fish populations—in states such as Tennessee, they’re a staple. With new federal budget cuts coming down the pipe, national fish hatcheries run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stand to lose $6.3 million related to fish hatchery mitigation operations. Six of…

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Cuba

Legalize It: Cuba

  Those seeking legal travel to Cuba’s best flyfishing waters have been given a glimmer of hope thanks to a loosening of people-to-people tour regulations recently published by the U.S. Treasury Department. People-to-people contacts, designed for educational purposes to bring regular Cubans and Americans together, were approved in 1999 under the Clinton administration. They disappeared…

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SAVING OREGON’S SANDY RIVER

Saving Oregon’s Sandy River

When most of us hear the words “steelhead river,” we think “remote.” We imagine bright wild fish and hairy mofos wading waist-deep, bombing Intruders to the far shore. And maybe that’s why so many people cherish Oregon’s Sandy River: it offers the best of steelheading—only thirty minutes from one of the hippist cities in America,…

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Trask

A Fishing Dog: The Life and Times of Trask

Steelheading in Smithers was a little different fourteen years ago than it is today. For starters, there were very few spey rods. Also, a hotel in town was about $80—a week. But then, as now, as always, which river you fished was sometimes decided by the weather. We’d hauled a skiff all the way from…

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Susque

No. 1: Susquehanna River

  American Rivers recently chose Pennsyltucky’s Susquehanna River (also coursing through parts of NY and Maryland) as its “America’s Most Endangered Rivers Of 2011” poster child. The river, once renowned for its prime smallmouth fishing flowing through Bob Clouser’s backyard has, over the last ten years, been reduced by ag runoff and other environmental cancers.…

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