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This week’s Tying Tuesday is decidedly fall-themed, with a nice mayfly spinner pattern, and an October caddis in the lineup. We end with a great tutorial on a Woolly Bugger (which I’ve never been able to tie quite to my satisfactions), and I reckon each of these flies deserves a spot in your box this fall. Up first is a neat little fly from Charlie Craven, called the Profile Spinner….

The folks over at Trout Unlimited (TU) have been busy lately on the Olympic Peninsula, and recently made a video to highlight their conservation efforts in that region. The video, which you can view below, focuses on restoring the rainforest rivers that flow through the Olympic Peninsula, which are home to salmon, steelhead, and trout. “Working alongside our partners at federal and state agencies, regional tribes and the Cold Water…

Photo: Matt Keefe/Flickr This week’s Podcast Roundup features a fun debate between some heavy hitters in the industry about whether Euro nymphing is actually fly fishing. You’ll also get treated to a beginner’s guide on fly fishing rigs, and then some advice on fall fishing tactics. There’s tons of content in the podcasts this week, so get comfortable and get listening! As always, if you have a podcast you’d like…

Photo: Bureau of Land Management/Flickr Back in 2002, Oregon’s Fall River was accidentally damaged by a drop of fire retardant. The chemical spill killed all the trout within a four-mile stretch of water, some 22,000 rainbows. Thankfully, that retardant cleared relatively quickly, according to Scott Linden over at Game and Fish Magazine, but that’s when the real work began of restoring the river. The Fall is a tributary of the Deschutes, and…

This week’s Tying Tuesday is fully fall-flavored, with a fantastic mayfly dun that is screaming to be fished during the late-season blue-wing hatches. Then we have two nymphs, one of which is stillwater-focused, and another that’s a variant of a tried-and-true nymph. Up first is this spectacular little mayfly pattern from Davie McPhail, which he calls the autumn dun. I’m certainly tying some of these up (in smaller sizes, of…

Snow Peak, a Japanese camping brand, has acquired a majority stake in the Swift Fly Fishing Company, known for their line of Epic fly rods. “We are thrilled to bring Swift Fly Fishing and the Epic Fly Rod brand into the Snow Peak family,” said Tohru Yamai, Snow Peak CEO and Chairman of the Board. “This union beautifully blends our passion for camping with Swift’s artistry in fly fishing, further…

I first read one of Joseph Jackson’s stories in Fly Fisherman Magazine a few years ago. It was one of the most impressive travel stories I’d read in recent years, and I didn’t recognize his name, so I looked him up. It turns out he’s a native Wyomingite who now lives in Alaska, and he loves fly fishing and bird hunting. I’m a native Utahn who now lives in Wyoming and I…

Photo: Matt Keefe/Flickr This week’s Podcast Roundup has everything from panfish to saltwater fly fishing. It starts off with the Orvis podcast talking to Bart Lombardo about late-season panfish tactics, then we get to hear from Dom Swentosky at Troutbitten about rise forms and hook sets for trout. Finally, we wrap things up with an in-depth look at fly fishing in Belize for tarpon, permit, and bonefish. If you have…

Conservation Hawks has released a new public service announcement on climate change, urging anglers to get involved in the upcoming election to put climate-friendly politicians into office. Tom Rosenbauer, Hilary Hutcheson, Craig Mathews, Kirk Deeter, and Todd Tanner appear in the video, describing the current climate crisis, and discussing a few of the initiatives that politicians could push to help conserve fisheries. The video is titled “50 Million Anglers” and…

Although it’s more common now than just a few years ago, it’s not every day that fly fishing makes headlines in major publications. That is, however, the case with this recent story in YahooUK, by Robin Canniford, Avi Shankar, and Annetta Grant. The authors are also fly anglers and professors at universities in the United Kingdom, and they recently published the results of a new paper which takes a specific…

I can’t believe August is almost over. This summer has absolutely flown by, and I hope you’ve been able to get out on the water. As we shift into fall, our tying habits probably change a bit, as you can see from this week’s Tying Tuesday. We start out with a tutorial on The Shady Accountant, a streamer developed by the Down South Fly Fishing channel, move on to an…

Photo: Spencer Durrant If you spend any time in the fly fishing community on social media, you’ve probably noticed there are two groups of people. The first closely guard their fishing spots, going so far as to blur the background of any pictures they post, lest someone find a landmark and identify the fishery. The second group is free with place names, telling people to fish such-and-such creek between the…

Photo: Louis Cahill Fighting and landing big fish on a fly rod is a skill many anglers hone over time, but they often learn it the hard way. There are a few things you can do to make landing big fish more effective, which is especially important now that we know so much more about how fish recover from catch-and-release. That’s why it’s important to read this story from Kent…

Photo: Bonnie Moreland/Flickr The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced at the beginning of August that the Deschutes River will remain open to summer steelhead fishing. This is thanks to the return of more than 21,000 unmarked fish past Bonneville Dam since July 1. While that number is lower than the 20-year average, it’s the highest to-date run in a decade. Steelhead have faced consistent threats over the…

The folks over at Lid Rig have just announced the release of their newest product, the Lid Rig 3.0, also known as the “People’s Premium Nipper.” This set of line nippers “redefines cutting tools for the avid angler,” per a company press release, and should cut anything from 8x tippet for braid. “The Lid Rig 3.0 is the culmination of 5 years and thousands of customers’ input which is why…

If you live near Island Park, Idaho, you might have heard about a proposal to build a new airport near the outlet of Henry’s Lake. For most fly anglers at large, however, this may be the first you’re hearing of the project. There is currently a proposal in front of the Fremont County (Idaho) Planning and Zoning commission to build a private luxury airport on the Henry’s Lake Flats. The…

I just spent the last week in Alaska, fly fishing my way from the Kenai Peninsula up to the interior. That’s a dream trip for a lot of anglers, and that was certainly the case for my best friend, Lander Crook, and I. The trip came together last-minute, but we had lodging lined up, and should’ve been on the Kenai at the tail end of the sockeye run. In theory,…

Simms Fishing Products, preeminent manufacturer of waders, outerwear, footwear, and technical fishing apparel launch Fall 2024, a product collection inspired by the world’s fishiest destinations and built to keep anglers warm and dry regardless of the conditions.  Simms views the world through the lens of fishing. Whether close to home or across an ocean, there’s more to every destination than meets the eye. Spanning across all categories, Fall 2024 caters…

Photo: USDA NRCS Montana/Flickr Montana’s chief fisheries biologist Eileen Ryce resigned abruptly at the beginning of August, as reported by Amanda Eggert of the Montana Free Press. Ryce’s departure is the latest in a long line of resignations from the Fish, Wildlife, and Parks agency, which according to Eggert’s reporting, has increased since Greg Gianforte became governor of Montana. Ryce resigned after she was placed on administrative leave for an unspecified reason….

Fly fishing doesn’t see many truly revolutionary products these days. Sure, we get fancy new fly rods (but they can’t cast themselves – yet) and lines made from recycled materials. But a true game-changing product isn’t all that common. I’m not saying the Fishtechy Proof Ball will completely change the sport, but I think it has the potential to vastly improve the health of our trout and fisheries. The Proof…