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How to fish a dry fly downstream
The "upstream and dry" approach is a commonly accepted method—and on some European waters, it's required—for fly fishing. Here in the U.S., we're blessed with a lot of trout water, and, thankfully, a lot of public lands on which we can fish at our leisure rather than being forced to pay rod fee, walk a…
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How to Read a River
Reading the water is an acquired skill. It's an ability that's honed over time, and one that takes into account not only a river's physical characteristics, but how certain stretches might fish at certain times of the year ... or even certain times of the day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcBIq5gWfjE Above, RIO's Simon Gawesworth helps shorten the learning…
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How to tie flies with foam
Foam flies revolutionized dry-fly angling a couple of decades ago. Flies that absolutely must float—think grasshoppers, big salmon flies and other terrestrial flies, like ants and beetles—got a big boost from the foam incursion into the fly-tying arena years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtXeLjg6i8Q While foam can be really effective to use in any number of patterns, it…
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Fishing dry flies over gravel runs
Those long, featureless gravel runs that can be found on a lot of western rivers--and freestone rivers throughout the country--might often be trout "dead zones," but as Orvis' Dave Jensen points out in the video below, during hatches, these stretches of water can be very productive. https://youtu.be/yjZbz_L7rPc Otherwise nondescript habitat, these gravel shelves can be…
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Watch before you fish
You wouldn't tackle a math problem—even the simplest of equations—without first taking a second to figure out the variables and determining where to start with your efforts to solve it, would you? https://youtu.be/-_M1Pavj5hI Now, apply that logic to fly fishing. It's always a good idea to take a look at a stretch of water, just…
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The Rise of the River Herring
If you ever have doubts that ocean-going fish like shad, herring and salmon can recover with just a little help, take a quick look at the video below, produced by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. https://vimeo.com/216513412 In Maine's Damariscotta River, in the community of Damariscotta Mills, the restoration of a 200-year-old fish ladder has…
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The Girdle Bug
It's stonefly season in the West—the big, adult bugs will be popping on a river near you before you know it. And, while the dry-fly imitations are easily the most popular—and the most fun to fish—it's the nymph patterns that likely catch more trout. And there are some great stonefly nymph patterns out there. But…
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