I’m in Little Rock, Ark., this week for the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference. Our hotel is situated right on the banks of what looks to be an angry Arkansas River. Years ago, I worked as an editor and reporter for a couple of small newspapers about 1,000 miles away, near the headwaters of
Calling all campfire pyros: It’s almost Memorial Day! It’s not that there’s any bad time or way to break out the grill, but if you’re one of the lucky millions out around the campfire this weekend, might we suggest this as the perfect time to upgrade to your steak and veggies? And as far as upgrades go, there’s not much easier than adding a classic sauce — made in advance —
An angler casts to trout on the Targhee National Forest in Idaho. Chris Hunt photo. Agency says pandemic spurred more people to explore the outdoors By Andrew Avitt Over the last year, people across the U.S. chose the great outdoors to reduce stress and find a physically distanced alternative for having a little fun. National forests and
Rise of the Phoenix: an Elwha River summer steelhead (Photo: John McMillan) By John McMillan Should we invest in dam removal? It’s a question that many communities, businesses and policy-makers are facing these days — partly because of agin g infrastructure and financial liabilities, and partly because of legal obligations to protect water quality and
When you think of massive, trophy brown trout, the South Island of New Zealand might come to mind. Or the Rio Limay of Argentina might be on your list. But a small, Appalachian freestoner in Blue Ridge, Ga.? No. No way. Well, the makers of the video above are living proof that you can visit
Trout Unlimited is happy to welcome new Business Member Fisher Guiding. They’re a great business and excited to become a part of TU’s conservation tradition. Fisher Guiding is a new marketplace for anglers to discover and book fishing guides, and a tool for guides to promote and manage their bookings. Fisher Guiding was founded with
Do you love guessing games? I’ll admit I do. My love of guessing games might have been renewed because of my kids addiction to them recently. Our bookshelves are haphazardly lined with all sorts of guessing games and books. I’ve gone so far as to try to guess rivers while flipping through pages in a
Most of the land around Texas’ great fishing rivers is owned by individuals. Public lands are few and far between. But, in West Texas north of the town of Del Rio, there flows a river that’s part of a state natural area and accessible to everyone. And it’s an amazing smallmouth and largemouth bass destination.
With a good 80 percent of the country feeling like a deep freeze these days, it’s a good time to be talking about winter fly fishing. And winter flies, of course. Video of JC's Electric Caddis Larva Above, Tim Flagler walks through the process of tying John Collins’ Electric Caddis Larva, a great wintertime searching
For anglers who like to use double-nymph rigs, particularly in winter and spring, a good “anchor” nymph is vital to ensure the rig rides deep enough in the water. Below, Tim Flagler ties a good anchor nymph that’s a lot of fun to tie. Video of DPD Nymph Notice a couple of more complex “moves”
The venerable Hendrickson, the fly tied to imitate the famous hatch that’s well under way on rivers in the East, is more than just a match-the-hatch pattern. Here in the West, we use the Hendrickson as an attractor mayfly pattern starting in spring and early summer, because it does a serviceable job imitating one of
Fly fishing lends itself to great images. And, as Orvis Ambassador and photographer Becca Skinner points out in the short film below, only a portion of those images have to do with actually fishing. Many, if not most, of the images collected from a fly fishing adventure have to do with the journey and the
Here’s a good one from the Catch Magazine vault—Todd Moen dusted it off recently for us all to enjoy. It depicts my favorite kind of fly fishing—waking up somewhere new in the confines of the camper and taking the fly rod down to the creek to see what’s hitting. Video of Bass, Carp & Trout
I’ve never been a big fan of super glue in my fly tying, and not because it doesn’t work—it most definitely does. I don’t like it because, after a few uses, the bottle seizes up and I invariably end up wasting much of the product inside because it simply becomes too much of a pain
When finishing tied flies to get rid of any stray materials or to simply make the fly look better, it’s important that you don’t just “free hand” it. Not all of us are Cool Hand Luke—we need a little help to be precise when we go after small fibers with a pair of tying scissors
Perdigon-style nymphs are great for anglers who need to get deep, and get deep quickly. Tied with lead-free wire and finished with a hard-finish UV resin, these flies drop like stones and don’t push too much water, which minimizes drag. Above, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions ties his Sulphur Perdigon Nymph, just in time for
Most of us have lived this scenario: We’re rigged up at the foot of a classic riffle that gives way to a nice run that features a deep trough that very likely holds fish. But the fish are also likely deep—we’ll need a heavy nymph, and a lot of us fish nymphs under an indicator.
Fly tying is so sophisticated these days, that sometimes it pays to take a step back and really examine the materials we use as we conjure up the next great pattern at the vise. Take dubbing, for instance. This is the material used in both dry flies and nymphs, generally to craft fly bodies for
It’s starting to look a lot like winter up here in Northern Michigan. We’ve got snow, we’ve occasionally got rain and we haven’t seen the sun in weeks. The neighborhoods are lit up, the shop windows are beautifully displaying the latest and greatest and the steelhead are starting to get lazy. The folks at The
Tim Flagler ties up his version of a ‘better ‘bugger’ using weighted wire and a tougher construction
