Fly

Summer is around the corner, and the last memory of winter will be the ice melting off lakes high in the mountains. When the water is finally exposed, anglers can return to these high places from our inferior dwellings to hunt for gorgeous, delicious alpine trout. For the last five years I’ve...

Hogs. Toads. Donkeys. Pigs. Whatever name you prefer, these are the fish you really want to catch. Quantity fills the freezer, but trophies earn the bragging rights. This series is dedicated to the pursuit of the true heavyweights across all species. The meat eaters. So, pull out the sink tips,...

Wind is one of fly fishing’s biggest challenges. Whether fishing fresh or saltwater, the breeze make casting difficult and at times impossible. With spring on its way in many parts of the country, fly anglers are eager to get outside, but howling spring winds cause many of them to compulsively check...

I’ve been date-less on the last two Valentine’s days. Now, before you go feeling sorry for me, you should know that both years I found lovely dance partners in the form of big, banana-yellow brown trout. A dozen girdlebugs cost a lot less and last a lot longer than a dozen roses anyway, so I always...

This really is a fishing essay, but it comes wrapped in layers. Let’s begin during the course of a do-it-yourself Dall sheep hunt on the North Slope of Alaska’s Brooks Range. It’s hard to go wrong in a setting like that. Friends and I had hunted the same location for years, a challenging spot even...

Figuring out how to strategically target fish: the ideal presentation for the current, the best cast to get around structure, and which fly, lure, or bait is most likely to get eaten captivates fishermen. But one of the less discussed aspects of fishing often happens away from the tying bench and...

This is the fifth installment of our Fly Fishing 101 series. If you missed them, you can read Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four by following these links.  One of the many advantages of fly fishing is its potential for minimalism. While some fisheries require more gear than others, most...

Bowhunting sparked my interest in fly fishing. When I first picked up a bow as a teenager, it brought a new set of challenges and added depth to a sport I already loved. When I bought my first fly rod some years later, I knew absolutely nothing about fly fishing, but assumed it would be the...

I caught the fishing bug early. As a kid, method didn’t matter. I used ultralight spinning rods and bait for panfish, suckers and carp; heavy spinning gear and lures for bass and salmon; and a fly rod for stocked trout—because those were the best ways to catch fish. And as long as I was catching...

This is the fourth article in a four-part series that explains how to catch Florida tarpon without hiring guides or staying in expensive lodges. In case you missed them, here are part one, part two and part three of the series. Tarpon were everywhere but they wouldn’t touch live crabs. Strings of 1...

Fisheries technician Glenn Mabey, 21, leans hard against the railing on the jetboat’s bow. His hands grip a 12-foot-long net; his eyes scan the heavy water below. Mabey flinches as fish flash gold and yellow toward the giant anode suspended off the bow, but he holds steady. A flash of red and green...