-
Voices from the River: Cypress trout
Photo by Chris Hunt By Chris Hunt
There’s something primal about dark water shrouded by cypress. The color of strong coffee, these stained swamps of the South nurture mystery and offer refuge to critters that hang on in acid-tinged water filtered through layers of eons-old peat and sand. The gators come to mind…
-
Voices from the River: Silent Forest
Photo by Chris Hunt By Dave Ammons The size of the ponderosa pines in Silent Forest is testament to the vigor of mother nature. These are clearly not discontented trees, rising a hundred feet with red-barked girth that my outstretched arms cannot encircle. The entire forest is rooted in satisfaction as it climbs the steeply…
-
Fly tying: The Carey Special
There is always room in my fly box for versatile flies—patterns that can be dead-drifted or fished on the swing are valuable assets for the fall and winter angler. Maybe no pattern incorporates the versatility that the Carey Special does. Video of Carey SpecialHere, Tim Flagler ties a very basic version of this fly, using…
-
Fly tying: Tying hair wings
If you're like me, you've resorted to buying hair-wing attractor dries like the Ausable and the Royal Coachman, or you've learned new tying techniques to avoid using hair wings at all. I tie my Royal Coachman pattern "renegade" style, using hackle tips rather than hair wings. It's faster, easier and results in fewer curse words…
-
Voices from the River: Blaze orange season
By Mark Taylor Sam looked at the hat and raised an eyebrow. “That’s not a bad idea,” he said. “Got an extra?” Of course I did. It’s November in the Virginia mountains. The backseat of my truck is always stocked with my fishing AND hunting gear, including a few blaze orange hats and vests. I…
-
Short casts: The lure of bass; taimen research; the double-haul; and a floating tent
Photo courtesy of Hatch Magazine.Like John Tobey, who craftedhttps://www.hatchmag.com/articles/snob/7714493 this excellent piece in Hatch Magazine, mo st bass I've caught in recent years turned up while I was fishing for trout. I remember one sultry June evening on the Housatonic, while casting high-floating Adams at rising browns, when a gnarly smallmouth hit the fly in…
-
Voices from the River: Cabin No. 3
“Thank you No. 3. See you next time,” I whispered to the warm cabin as I closed the door of one of my favorite public-use cabins in Southcentral Alaska and turned to soak in the view from the deck with my wife and two dogs. It’s my trusty routine to thank the public resource that…