Trout Tips: Do new anglers a favor

Editor’s note: The following is exerpted from TU’s book, “Trout Tips,” available online for overnight delivery. As somebody who has covered fishing for more than 25 years, I have realized, hopefully not too late, that I relied too heavily on the people I was writing about. Too often, I let them tie the knots, pick

Get loopy

By Kirk Deeter I go through cycles when it comes to fly selection. I once spent an entire summer fishing only five patterns, just to test the theory that presentation matters more than the fly pattern itself. I didn’t draw any conclusions, but I caught plenty of trout. For the record, those patterns were: Olive

Fly shops—a blinding flash of the obvious

By Walt Gasson We do surveys at TU. We ask questions and TU members give us answers. We use those answers to guide the things we do. That’s a good thing. TU is a membership-driven organization. That’s one of the things I love about working here. But once in a while, we ask a survey

Voices from the River: Boxes to fill

By Chris Hunt It’s December. How did that happen? Why, just last week, it seemed, I was casting fat Chernobyls to willing cutthroats on Bear Creek under the warmest of summer suns. But today, as I step outside to grab the mail, my nostrils freeze tight and the vapor from my breath circles my face,

Monuments: What happened this week?

This week, the Trump administration announced it would be cutting two monuments in Utah, one by 85 percent and one by more than 50 percent, jeopardizing the more than century old Antiquities Act, a conservation tool that has been used to protect public lands revered by hunters and anglers, such as Arkansas River in Colorado

Fly tying: Zelon Musk Midge

If you’re like me, any pattern that calls for a size 24 hook is a pattern best left to the experts. Tim Flagler’s Zelon Musk Midge is a prime example. Video of Zelon Musk Midge This might be the simplest midge pattern I’ve ever seen. It consists of two ingredients in addition to the thread,