Currently browsing… Fly fishing
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TU’s diversity, equity and inclusion opportunity
At the Trout Unlimited Annual Meeting every year, we have a tradition of putting the senior staff on stage to answer questions on the fly from the audience of 250-plus volunteer leaders. Last year, someone from the audience asked each of us to state the three most important areas of focus for TU over the…
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Hopper-dropper fishing
With terrestrial season coming on strong throughout the country, it's an obvious time to start flinging a hopper-dropper rig. But what's the best way to do it? What knots make the most sense? How far below the high-floating hopper should the "dropper" nymph be? https://youtu.be/Nz7QQFOPemU The hopper-dropper rig. Here's a great short video from the…
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Back to the vest
I had back surgery last winter—three vertebrae were fused just above my tailbone after a lengthy battle with sciatica and what turned out to a cracked and splitting bone. I was honestly worried about the future of my fly fishing. The first few weeks after surgery were miserable. It was so bad, I questioned my…
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Using different fly floatants
Not all fly floatants are created equally. What's more, not all fly floatants are appropriate for universal use on the water. For instance, CDC flies will do better if the angler applies a silicon-based floatant rather than a gel floatant. Bigger flies might require a liquid floatant that can get down into the hairs used…
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Athena and Artemis Women’s Fly Shop
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: one of the best things about working with Trout Unlimited is the great people you meet. Take Geri Meyer for example. She owned a fly shop for over a decade. Over and over, she kept hearing the frustrations that women have when it comes to buying fly…
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Fighting brush and fighting browns in the Driftless
By Duke Welter On a recent morning near Viroqua, Wisc., an angler didn’t know what to expect. Temperatures the day before had reached the upper 80s, the latest in a hot string. Overnight rains had some impact. Fields were wet and larger waters ran cloudy, but weren’t unfishable. Heading first to one of the “forks”…
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An accidental trophy
Every now and then, I like to explore and find new water, even in parts of the world I'm very familiar with. Earlier this week, I spent some time in the fringe country of Yellowstone National Park, along the Idaho-Montana border. It's ranch and cabin country here—there's a lot of private land that borders public…