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Tying the Sweet Pea
This time of year, I really love to fish double-nymph rigs, using a heavier bug as the lead fly and trailing behind it a smaller fly, but maybe something a little more impressionistic than what I might expect to see in the river. For instance, with lower flows here on the South Fork of the…
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ACE Act a big win for fish habitat
Decades of hard work pays off with passage of the American Conservation Enhancement Act This week, anglers across the nation are celebrating the passage of a sprawling conservation bill, the American Conservation Enhancement Act (H.R. 925/S.3051), or ACE Act for short. Earlier this month, the package was approved by the U.S. Senate, and on Thursday, it passed…
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Tying the Black and Tan jig
Fall across North America generally means low and clear water, particularly on freestone trout streams where flows aren't manipulated by upstream dams. And that means wary trout in skinny conditions. Chasing fall trout during low water can be a lot of fun for sight-fishing, but fish are also on high alert for predators and, in…
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Tying a simple baitfish pattern
'Tis the season for baitfish patterns. Not only is it about time for brown to start their annual migration, but baitfish, come fall, are important for everything from bass that are fattening up for cooler weather and coastal predators like redfish and speckled trout that are starting to move into coastal estuaries and marshes. Below,…
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A boy becomes a man and it takes the outdoors to make it happen
Nature deprivation is a real thing, and I’m witnessing the impacts of both being exposed to the wild and willingly foregoing exposure in both of my kids. My daughter loves the outdoors. She’s working her third year in Grand Teton National Park, and not long ago, we exchanged photos and video via text of our…
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Tying the Franke Shiner baitfish imitation for migrating browns
Baitfish imitations work great in the fall, particularly where migrating brown trout are found. As these fish move out of lakes or upstream from big water to spawning habitat, they just get more and more aggressive. Giving them something substantial to chase — and something that looks like a dependable source of food, too —…
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Tying small dry flies using UV resins
I’ve been using UV resins on my flies for several years now, all with the intent of making flies last longer on the water
I’ve always been something of a ham-handed fly tier, and, generally speaking, the bigger the fly, the easier it is for me to tie. I’m a big guy at six-foot-five, and my hands correspond to my height. They just aren’t meant for detail work. But I live in eastern Idaho, and right about now, my…
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