Fly
Fly
7 Types of Fly Anglers You’ll Meet on The Water
The pale light of dawn had just begun to shine off the surface of the river as we slid down the bank towards the water. It was one of those mornings that just felt good. My buddy Nate and I were anxious to get out on the water to start casting our spey rods for steelhead. We got to the head of a...
Kubie Brown
Jul 14, 2022
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Fly
How to Fish a Hex Hatch
The first time I fished a Hexagenia mayfly hatch was entirely by accident. My brother Sam and I had pushed our boat up a small tributary stream that dumped into a large lake in northern New York State searching for post-spawn smallmouth bass. We’d figured that we could run up the creek for a few...
Kubie Brown
Jun 3, 2022
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Fly
How to Fish a Winter Midge Hatch
It’s hard to be a fly angler in the winter. The weather is bitterly cold, the rivers are clogged with ice, and the days of casting to rising trout seem farther and farther away. During early winter with the distractions of the holidays, you hardly notice not being on the water. But as time marches...
Kubie Brown
Mar 4, 2022
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Fly
You Might Not Need (or Want) the Most Expensive Fly Rod
Ever since the days of split-bamboo fly rods, anglers have been tinkering with rod tapers, rod actions, flex patterns, materials, components, grips, styles, and more. Experimentation lies at the heart of angling, and anglers have created an impressive array of tools for their enjoyment.
Over the...
Steve Schwartz
Mar 1, 2022
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Fly
Fly Fishing Rod Weight, Action, and Flex Explained
The beauty of fly fishing lies in personal style. No, I’m not talking about felt hats and plaid shirts. I’m talking about the style with which you tie and select flies, cast, target fish, and generally approach the sport. On one side of the aisle, you’ll have fly anglers who only run nymphs in swift...
Steve Schwartz
Feb 15, 2022
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Fly
4 Misconceptions About Mousing for Trout
Warm blood oozes from the eye sockets of a mouse clenched in the hook jaws of a big brown trout. Have you bought that T-shirt yet? There are plenty of similar rodent-themed wearables and stickers and Buffs out there now, because over the last five years or so, fly anglers have become obsessed with...
Joe Cermele
Jan 20, 2022
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Fly
World Record Mountain Whitefish Caught in Oregon
It was the first time Alex Dietz got out on the water after the birth of his first child, a daughter named Willow, a month prior—certainly an auspicious moment for any angler. Dec. 19 brought a chill over Oregon’s hallowed Deschutes River, where he and friends were nymphing for the river’s native...
Sam Lungren
Jan 14, 2022
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Fly
Pick Up a Spin Rod to Become a Better Fly Angler
The Drunk & Disorderly is one of my all-time favorite trout streamers. It’s also one of the most complex patterns ever created. The placement of every feather, the order of each type of body material, isn’t simply cosmetic nor accidental. It has a reason. The mallard flank tied in flat over the tail...
Joe Cermele
Jan 6, 2022
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Fly
The Undead Drift: Fly Fishing’s Spooky Secret
The first day of school in a fly fishing education invariably involves discussion of the “dead drift.” This concept of allowing your flies to float unencumbered at the exact pace of the current is central to the art and crucial for early success. It also leaves out a lot of information in regard to...
Sam Lungren
Oct 29, 2021
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Fly
How to Nymph for Trout
When we go out fly fishing, we go dreaming about those iconic moments—when you cast a fly, drift it slowly over a feeding trout, and watch it rise to sip the bug gently off the surface. Yet, as often as we fantasize about these situations, they’re about as rare as seeing a shooting star or hearing a...
Kubie Brown
Sep 27, 2021
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Fly
How to Fish Terrestrials for Tricky Trout
One of the most commonly frustrating elements of dry fly fishing is matching the hatch. While you will sometimes see dozens of trout rising to hatches so thick you get bugs in your mouth as you scramble down to the river, those moments are rare. Most of the time you’re faced with a pod of rising...
Kubie Brown
Aug 16, 2021
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