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Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie/Flickr I’ve never caught a 24-inch brown trout on a fly. I’ve put a few 23-inch fish in the net, and more than a handful of 20-inchers. But I have yet to cross the 2-foot mark with salmo trutta, even though I’m surrounded by tailwaters supposedly full of fish near 25 inches. I reckon a lot of anglers fall into that same situation, which is why this recent…

This week’s Tying Tuesday is streamer-heavy, but that’s to be expected given the time of year. You’ll learn how to put together a Fish Skull River Creature, and Cheech’s secret Complex Twist bugger. You’ll also get treated to a great Catskill dry fly. This first fly is from the folks at AvidMax, and it’s tied from one of their kits. This one is the Fish Skull River Creature, and it…

MidCurrent is proud to welcome Phil Monahan as our Editor-in-Chief. Phil joins the MidCurrent team after a 14-year run with Orvis, where he launched the Orvis Fly Fishing Blog. That blog played an influential role in fly fishing media, and Phil oversaw its consistent success. In the summer of 2017, Phil published the 10,000th post on Orvis News, which he says “felt like a real milestone.” Then, as part of…

Photo: Dom Swentosky/Troutbitten I was speaking with some beginner fly anglers recently, and one of the questions I heard was about how to retrieve a streamer. “There’s not really a right or wrong way,” I replied. “You just have to figure out what the fish want.” In my experience, that’s been largely true. Dom Swentosky, over at Troutbitten, has a slightly different take, however. I think he’s right, as he…

Who couldn’t use some help with their cast? Even the best anglers I know are always willing to look at ways to improve. And if you’re like me—avid but decidedly average—you’re happy to get all the help you can, especially with casting. Mac Brown has a five-second casting fix, over in Fly Fisherman Magazine, that’ll make a big difference in how well you’re able to present your flies to fish. The fix…

Photo: USFWS-Mountain Prairie/Flickr Invasive silver carp are a problem just about everywhere they’re found here in the U.S. But according to Nora Schoenberg at the Chicago Tribune, pollution in the Illinois River may be slowing the silver carp down near Chicago. Carp made it to the Illinois River, about 50 miles from Chicago, nearly ten years ago, but they haven’t moved into Lake Michigan. That’s surprising, since silver carp are known…

Nautilus, the Miami-based reel manufacturer, has just announced the release of their newest reel series, the GTS. The GTS is replacing the NV-G series, which was a standout for Nautilus for years. The GTS building on the current GTX reel, a flagship product for Nautilus. However, the GTX is only available for 12-weight lines, so the GTS will take some of that reel’s tech and implement it into a 5/6…

The Big Wood River is often overshadowed by its more famous sibling, Silver Creek, near Sun Valley, Idaho. Unlike Silver Creek, however, you can actually catch fish from the Big Wood, although it’s not without its problems. Like any Western river, it has to face warming water temperatures, increased demands for irrigation, and more and more angler pressure. That’s why Loon Outdoors has joined with Project Big Wood, and The…

This week’s Tying Tuesday is a diverse collection of bugs you’ll probably use in the next month before things get too cold and the fishing shuts down. We start out with a CDC emerger pattern for lakes, move on to a midge emerger, and finish up with a nice little leech. Al these flies look fairly simple to tie, and look like they should put a few fish in the…

Tim Schulz has a great story over in Hatch Magazine about a fish he named Dave. Yes, he named a fish. It’s named after Dave Delisi, the man who sold Tim a few rods at Sweetgrass years ago. Tim named the fish because he caught the same on on multiple occasions. It’s a fun, lighthearted story that we’ve all probably experienced ourselves at times. I’ve often wondered how many times I’ve caught…

Photo: Don Graham/Flickr Lake trout are an underrated fish to target on the fly rod. It makes sense, though, since they live so deep for most of the year. Unless you’re fishing in Canada, catching them on a fly rod outside of a few weeks in spring and fall is just about impossible. If you want in on the action, though, you need to listen to this podcast from Joe…

Striped bass are an important fish for a variety of reasons, but us anglers love them for the great experiences they provide at the end of a fly rod. That’s what makes the recent news about Chesapeake Bay striped bass populations all the more concerning. As Eliza Noe over at Phys.org wrote, “According to a 2024 survey from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which monitors the success of young…

Ross Reels has launched a limited-edition version of their Cimarron reel to support Casting for Recovery. Casting for Recovery is a nonprofit that uses fly fishing to help women with breast cancer. The limited edition Cimarron will be a 5/6, and with every sale, Ross will donate $50 to Casting for Recovery. Casting for Recovery’s retreats introduce over 800 women each year to the therapeutic sport of fly fishing, offering…

Fishpond has released a bevy of new products for 2025, and you can take a look at all of them here. Today, we’ll focus on the release of their Stormshadow lineup, a collection of bags and packs for every angler. These products should be available at your local Fishpond retailer soon. All bags in the Stormshadow line use recycled fabrics that have been weatherproofed, while a few are completely waterproof….

This week’s Tying Tuesday is streamer heavy. I guess it’s that time of year! We start out with an interesting flashy minnow pattern, then move on to the most unique leech I’ve ever seen. We’ll finish up with an ol’ classic, tied up in purple. The first fly this week is a Palmer Chenille Minnow, from the folks at All Points Fly Shop + Outfitter on YouTube. This is a…

Photo: Dom Swentosky/Troutbitten Does the fly you fish matter more than how you fish it? That question is the crux of Dom Swentosky’s latest story over at Troutbitten. I agree with Dom’s premise that ” I think how you fish your handful of flies is usually more important than what those flies are.” I carry just over two dozen different patterns with me, and I’m able to fish well enough…

Scott Fly Rods have a cult following in the Rockies, and for good reason. They make great sticks (I’m in love with their recent Session lineup), and they’re honoring their 50th anniversary by releasing new builds of five classic rods from each decade the company has been around. “Rather than replicating the originals, we decided to build the blanks to spec with a resto-mod approach to finishing them,” Scott wrote…

Trout Unlimited (TU) has released a new film highlighting restoration work on Muddy Creek, near Rawlins, Wyoming. Rawlins is famous for being home to the Wyoming State Penitentiary, awful winters, and an abundance of that ever-present Wyoming wind. And while Muddy Creek probably won’t put Rawlins on the map as a must-fish destination, it’s an important project to restore an integral tributary within the Colorado River Basin. Between drought and…

Waterproof winter performance. Korkers, the award-winning outdoor footwear brand, is proud to introduce the Neo Flex™ Thermo collection, a fusion of cozy slipper-like comfort with rugged, waterproof performance features intended for wet, mucky, cold winter days.  The collection of slip-on boots features two color options for Men and two for Women.  In addition to a soft, fleece lined interior and protective, waterproof rubber outer, the Neo Flex™ Thermo boots are…

Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie/Flickr Walleye are posing a problem to salmon and steelhead through the Snake River Basin in Idaho. And according to a new press release from the Idaho Fish & Game (IDFG), fisheries managers are asking anglers to be more vigilant in catching and killing these fish. “For the past couple years, Idaho Fish and Game has asked – and continues to ask – anglers to harvest any walleye…