For Douglas Outdoors founder David Barclay, growing up on the Salmon River instilled a deep love and passion for the area and provided a reason to follow his dream of creating a local upstate New York business that would offer high quality fishing equipment and could provide jobs for the local communities.
To say 2020 has been a challenging year would be an understatement. But, perhaps what the year has provided us is an opportunity to reflect on what’s really important
March 10 can’t come soon enough. The Fly Fishing Film tour, otherwise known as F3T, provides a time when I can’t wait to sit in front of a screen. While the snow still flies in Colorado, I revel in films that whisk me away to far-off adventures. I can drool over beastly fish. I get my adrenaline pumping with insane footage, and this year, we can do all this from the…
Kris spent a decade in TV news before starting Tight Line Media in 2006. With a quarter century of multimedia storytelling, she’s forever in search of dynamic topics. She researches the issues thoroughly, then translates the core elements via video, photo and words with the credibility that comes from experience. That credibility comes through in her series Ocean to Idaho in which she follows the 850-mile migration of salmon from the Oregon coast to the headwaters of the Snake River in Idaho.
“Our lives are full of problems that have no clear answers. Often, the simple solution is hard to find, and the black and white is hidden somewhere in all the gray areas. This isn’t one of those situations. If we want to have wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin, the Snake River is the place. These fish are now at only 1 to 2 percent of their historic populations. Why? Dams. Vedavoo is proud to stand with our partners at Trout Unlimited in support of the proposal to Remove the Lower Four.”
People are the backbone and the force of our conservation efforts. However, money keeps the lights on late at night while we’re planning those conservation projects. Funds raised can pay for the tank at the new Trout in the Classroom program across town or buy two hours of a bulldozer and backhoe to move boulders…
Trout Unlimited and SweetWater Brewing Company teamed up again in 2019 to work toward cleaner water for people and for trout. The Atlanta-based craft brewery invited TU to participate in their Save Our Waters campaign for the fourth consecutive year. As part of the program, SweetWater pledges a donation of up to $20,000 to match donations made to TU. Trout…
As Tim Flagler notes in the video below, the Cream Variant is “an oldie, but a goodie.” Indeed, I remember seeing this pattern for the first time as a child—it is the epitome of delicate fly fishing, and I remember thinking that all flies used for fishing should be this beautiful. Video of Cream Variant…
Wading while fly fishing is one of the more visceral experiences the craft offers. There’s something very primal about feeling cold trout water working its way around your legs—I’ve always felt that is makes me part of the river rather than just a visitor. But wading safely is important, and Orvis’ Tom Rosenbauer, in the…
We’ve all been there. The fish are rising on the far bank, and you can reach them … if only you had enough room behind you for a backcast. But you don’t. What to do? In the video above, TU’s Kirk Deeter demonstrates a simple technique borrowed from spey casters that simply helps you get…
Beads for fly tying can be mystery, especially for beginning tiers who are looking to either dress up a nymph or a streamer or to simply get the fly down deep and avoid having to use split shot while fishing. Video of Beads and Cones Here, Tim Flagler gives some sage advice on beads, and…
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,…
Todd Moen’s latest fly-fishing film is a story of three women and their fights with breast cancer. It’s a sobering reminder that, while the “river of life” moves on, some of us fall victim to the cruelest of conditions. And, yet, some find ways to persist, and for these three ladies, fly fishing proved to…
Tailing bonefish. A daisy chain of 80-pound tarpon. The reflection of the Caribbean sun off the sythe-shaped tail of a permit. A striper blitz. And rising trout. These are the images that raise goose bumps on our arms and up our blood pressure. The are, for lack of a better term, potential. They represent the…
It’s fun to edit the magazine and website for Trout Unlimited, because we get to work with many skilled authors and photographers from around the world. But sometimes, I am amazed by the talent we have among our own staff. The latest case in point is a wonderful essay by TU’s vice president for volunteer…
One of the surprising highlights to the summer camping season was the day my Thermacell “Backpacker” arrived in the mail. This little device does a number on mosquitos. Thermacell’s lantern has been out for awhile, but the “Backpacker” is new. It attaches to a typical camp propane canister and uses a repellent mat to do…
April, particularly in the West, is a bona-fide shoulder month. Higher up, it’s still winter. In the valleys, spring is springing and water is rising. It’s a tough month for trout fishing, given the transition happening between winter and spring and all the trappings that come with it, both good and bad. Video of Trouts…
Tying small-ish mayfly patterns might be one of the most common fly-tying applications, but it doesn’t mean it’s super easy. Like any tying activity, it takes practice, particularly for the more detailed aspects of your average mayfly pattern, including the hackle fibers use for the tail. Video of How to Make Mixed Hackle Fiber Tail…
Handling fish once you’ve caught them has become a touchy issue (pun intended), and rightly so. The #KeepEmWet movement has been great for educating anglers on proper fish handling and release techniques, and now, as you’ll see below, the fly fishing industry is getting involved in the effort to promote responsible handling and release of…
For those of us who tie flies and work with various resins, from head cement to full-on UV materials, a dubbing needle is likely our tool of choice for applying the goo. For years, I used a square of craft foam to clean the needle after each use—I’d just poke the needle through the foam…
