Trout Magazine

  • Fishing

    Coveting the split cane

    “Tis a poor workman who blames his tools.” Anonymous By Mark Dillow My rod tip bounced like a telegraph key with each head shake—an angry protest from a trout duped by a crane fly nymph. When the rainbow slid into the net, my knees shook with mirrored cadence. The rod was borrowed, the fly donated, and…

  • Conservation

    Love fish? Plant a tree

    Celebrate Arbor Day and support Natural Climate Solutions Way back in 1872, in what was still recognized as the Nebraska Territory, a group of people decided to organize a day of mass tree plantings. Chances are none of them could have realized the much broader significance of this meaningful act and what is has become.   …

  • Boats

    The River Dog

    Dogs have their place on a boat, period. Pardon my preference to the canine companions we all love so much but it’s true. When you bring a dog on a boat, or in our case a barge sized raft loaded to the gills with camping equipment, you often spend your day receiving smiles and waves…

  • Trout Talk

    Kids should fish wet flies for a reason

    In our family, we had an informal rule about kids fishing on their own—you started out by fishing wet flies downstream, and once you reached a certain age, you got to turn upstream and fish dry flies. It was a tiny, gentle river, really, and there was always an adult looking on, even if we didn’t…

  • Cooking from the Water's Edge

    A ramen recipe you can get behind

    I have a complicated relationship with ramen. American ramen. The 10-cents-on-sale, crinkly package that comes in yellow, red or pink.  I’ve eaten it out of necessity when there wasn’t enough money to cover the rent and there were six of us living in a two-bedroom apartment next to a condemned (yet still surprisingly busy) fraternity house.  I’ve eaten it…