Blog

If you want to catch more trout on lakes, learning how to fish scuds effectively is a game changer. In this great video from Fly Fish Food, Curtis Fry breaks down everything you need to know about fishing scuds in stillwater—from how they move and where trout feed on them, to the best fly patterns, retrieves, and setups for different conditions. Whether you’re fishing from a float tube, boat, or…

Water flows through a stretch of the Lower Blue River that cuts through private land at Blue Valley Ranch.  As any traveling angler knows, Colorado has some of the strictest water-use rights in the country, so anglers must constantly be aware of the rules they need to follow to stay legal. A new proposal for a well-known stretch of the Blue River is pitting several water-use constituencies against each other:…

To survey aquatic life, the brook trout crew stuns them temporarily, puts fish in a bucket, and measure them before releasing them back into the wild. Photo: Katie Myers / Blue Ridge Public Radio / Grist As climate change reshapes the Blue Ridge, Appalachia’s native trout are losing ground, but a dedicated group of biologists and fly fishers are working hard to help ensure the future of the beautiful, vital…

In this week’s Tying Tuesday, we’re serving up three very different patterns that will be effective in a variety of situations. We kick things of with Lance Egan walking us through a new variation of his high-floating Corn Fed Caddis, this time featuring peacock herl for the body. Next up is the fly everyone loves to make fun of until they catch a huge trout with it. Smitty’s Monthly Fly…

  In response to our recent Ask MidCurrrent article What’s the Secret to Achieving a Dead Drift?, Norway-based angler André Brun sent us a cool video as an example of how you can use Spey casts and reach mends to help in a specific situation. I responded to ask what the benefits of this technique are over a Snap-T or Circle Spey cast followed by a reach mend, and André…

Photo: Thomas Brimer Fly fishers spend a lot time thinking about the right gear, flies, and presentation, but in a recent Hatch Magazine article Chris Hunt writes about a valuable piece of fly-fishing wisdom he learned that had nothing to do with the above: But perhaps the best advice Kirk ever gave me was long before the underwear tip (which was solid, as most of you likely know). He and…

Illustration: Paul Puckett Monte Burke has made a name for himself as the preeminent chronicler of modern fly fishing for tarpon. If you haven’t yet read his Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World-Record Tarpon, you’re missing out. In the latest issue of Garden&Gun magazine, Burke writes about a trip in the Everglades with legendary guide Steve Huff: I blew it again, I tell Steve….

You need to get your streamer or soft hackle wet fly deeper than you can with a floating line. You want it to stay deep during your retrieve or swing. Should you just add a sinking poly leader to your floating line or are there times when a sinking tip fly line works better? In this video, Tom Rosenbauer explains how to make this important fly-fishing decision. The post Video:…

Yakoda’s goal was to build nippers that will stand the test of time but won’t break the bank. Yakoda Supply has re-engineered one of their most popular accessories with the release of the next-generation Yakoda Nipper ($89). According to the manufacturer, the new design blends the same precision and simplicity that made the original a favorite, with upgraded materials and features built to handle years of use in demanding conditions….

  [Interview starts at 41:00] You can catch salmon and steelhead on a fly in salt water before they enter rivers. The fish are bright and strong and may still be actively feeding but the problem is to find them in a big expanse of water. In this episode, Tom Rosenbauer talks to Reed Teuscher of the Orvis Outfitters team, who tells us where to look for these fish, how…

This week’s Tying Tuesday features an interesting collection of patterns that will produce as we transition from fall into winter. We kick things off with a classic, high-floating caddisfly pattern from McFly Angler that just looks buggy. Plus, it can float and emerger or nymph is a dry-dropper setup. Next, Allen McGee shows us how to tie a fly that offers elements of both an emerging dun and a prospecting…

“Fish porn” is—for better or worse—one of the staples of fly-fishing entertainment, for obvious reasons. Every angler dreams of catching the kinds of fish they see in videos from Alaska, New Zealand, and other exotic locales. But Capt. Chris Newsome from Virginia has posted a video of a different genre: casting porn.” Spend a minute and a half watching some killer long casts, great loops, accurate shots, and even a…

This amazing Barry Beck image is entirely in-camera, with no PhotoShop additions. Barry Beck has been one of the top fly-fishing photographers for more than three decades, but one image in particular has always been slightly controversial. In a cool outtake from the documentary “Legacy,” about the live and love of Barry and Cathy Beck, Barry explains how he got this photo of a rainbow trout checking out a drifting…

Ken Watkins posing with the record-breaking permit he caught with San Pedro fly-fishing guide Darrel Smith. Photo via The San Pedro Sun Back in August, we posted a podcast interview with Mike Ward, who had tied Del Brown’s legendary record for most permit caught on a fly. That same month, the record—which had stood for more than two decades—has been broken again, this time by Florida angler Ken Watkins, who…

Have you found it difficult to fully understand how farmed-raised salmon impact wild fish and the environment? There’s certainly a lot of “information” floating around, but it can be difficult to know what’s real and what’s propaganda . . . from either side of the debate. If you’re willing to take the time to look deeper, there’s a new website that can help. The Atlantic Salmon Federation and the North…

We don’t hear much about fly fishing in Japan, but the gorgeous rivers of Hokkaido—the country’s northernmost large island—hold some remarkable fish, including rainbow and brown trout. But for me the magic would be in catching the more exotic species, such as white-spotted char, cherry salmon, and Sakhalin taimen. In this great video, a team of French anglers experiences the island’s crystal-clear rivers and volcanic landscapes and enjoys remarkable sight…

  [Interview starts at 34:18] It happens to all of us, and sometimes it seems like every time we take a fishing trip, conditions are less than ideal—water too high, water too low, water temperature too warm or too cold, dirty water. You know the litany. In this week’s podcast, Tom Rosenbauer talks to James Spica, writer and fishing manager of the Orvis store in Royal Oak, Michigan. James has…

This week’s Tying Tuesday features an eclectic mix of patterns that range from the traditional to the whimsical. We kick things off with a venerable dry fly created by Fran Betters. Adam of Fly Anorak walks you through the tying process, emphasizing that elegance is not the point. Next up is a very simple streamer from J.J. Murray (a.k.a. Long Rod), which is effective in both trout rivers and bass…

Bull trout pair on a redd in Lolo National Forest in Montana. Note the clean gravel, which the fish have scrubbed of algae, a telltale sign of a spawning redd. Photo: Aubree Benson, used via CC2.0 ‘Tis the season for brown and brook trout to spawn, and it’s vital that anglers know how to spot spawning fish and their redds (spawning beds). Not only should you avoid targeting fish on…

Yvon Chouinard spoke at MSU about his new book, “Pheasant Tail Simplicity: Recipes and Techniques for Successful Fly Fishing.” (Courtesy: Montana State University) Simplicity has been at the heart of Yvon Chouinard’s philosophy for a long time, and it was a message he continued to hammer home at a recent appearance at Montana State University in Bozeman: While fly shops overflow with millions of patterns designed to separate anglers from…