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The True Cast – Is It About Fishing Or Conservation?
Can we please stop asking this divisive, short-sighted, counterproductive, and insulting question? I get asked fairly often if Trout Unlimited is a “conservation” entity, or an organization rooted in “fishing for trout.” Aside from TU, I am also asked whether I think there’s a genuine conservation ethic among most trout anglers, or if we’re just…
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The True Cast – Earbud music and fly fishing… a righteous pairing, or disgusting party foul?
Okay, I can’t help myself; sometimes I like to stir the pot and instigate debate, just because I can. But this is one I actually wrestle with myself, because I’ve been on both sides of the argument many times. The question is: Is it cool to fish with earbuds, listening to music as you make…
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The True Cast – Tuck the arm in for casting accuracy
It’s rarely a good idea to offer unsolicited advice to a spouse, particularly concerning three topics: driving a motor vehicle, anything to do with golf, and casting a fly rod. However, the other day I went fishing with my wife, Sarah, and she found a nice trout feeding along the bank. Though she is a…
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The True Cast – My money is on the frog hunter…
(This will make sense at the end of the story) Here are two true-life scenarios that played out in the past couple weeks in the waters where I fish and call home. Situation 1: A father comes into the fly shop, hires out a guide trip for his two sons, ages 12 and 14. Dad…
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The True Cast – The species most worth worrying about when you’re out in the wild fishing
By and large, if you respect most animals, they’ll respect you, and the real threats probably aren’t what you’re thinking… Several years ago, I gave a talk to my (teacher) wife’s 5th grade class that explained how writing (and learning grammar, and spelling and all the crud they weren’t into) actually turned out to be…
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The True Cast – Fly fishing is about family, foremost… as well it should be.
I was a gear-chuckin’, spin-fishing, bass-mad angler in my youth. And don’t get me wrong, I’m still a fan of throwing the hardware, whenever, wherever the right opportunity presents itself. But a certain “opportunity” changed my fishing attitude many years ago, when I was invited by a young woman whom I was dating to drop…
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The True Cast – Why the United States is the Envy of the Fishing World
There’s always much to celebrate on Independence Day.
There’s always much to celebrate on Independence Day. Sure, we’re living in divisive times and there are things that concern most of us for different reasons and in different ways in America these days. But the bottom line is that this collective “experiment in democracy” is still kicking (and then some) 247 years after a…
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