Blog

The folks over at Fly Fish Food lead us off on this week’s edition of Tying Tuesday, where Curtis breaks down the must-have flies for the rest of summer fishing in 2024. We’re also treated to a midge/caddis/beetle imitation, along with a great stonefly nymph. These are the top 10 patterns Fly Fish Food reckons you need to have in your box for rest of summer 2024. Up next is…

When I first moved to Wyoming, I lived in a city at 7,000 feet above sea level. The winters weren’t as bad as you’d imagine (a few days a -10F) and in the summer I don’t recall the temps breaking more than the mid-90s. Two years ago, my wife and I moved to a different part of the Cowboy State, trading in our easy access to Wal Mart and Wendy’s…

If you’ve followed Dom Swentosky over at Troutbitten, you know how fond he is of his leader setups. His take on the mono rig has a ton of devotees, and it’s hard to argue with the results. And if you’ve ever had questions about how to utilize a lot of those techniques when fishing smaller water, then you need to read this recent story Dom published. He walks you through…

Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie/Flickr According to a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG), anglers in the Gem State are asked to report any walleye caught from the Snake, Salmon, and Clearwater Rivers. IDFG installed a fish trap at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River, and that information combined with reports from anglers indicate that walleye are increasingly more present upstream of Lower Granite Dam. Until…

Do you ever get stuck in a rut? You head to not only the same river, but the same stretch of it, parking at the same spots, hiking the same trails, and fishing the same flies. There’s comfort in knowing you’re doing something that works, but you can’t stave off the feeling that you’re missing out on something else. For a lot of us, we’re stuck in a rut due…

Photo: Louis Cahill Situational awareness is one of, if not the most important skills for a fly angler. Regardless of the fish you’re chasing, you absolutely have to be aware of what bugs are hatching, what the water is doing, or what food sources are available at a given moment. There’s a ton of information to process, and the best anglers are the ones who can take all that information…

Photo: Kamal Hamid/Flickr The Conservation Alliance (TCA) is a group that “protects outdoor spaces and wild places” that leverages its members to push new initiatives. Over the years, TCA has protected over 4,500 miles of river and removed 38 dams, according to Fly Fisherman Magazine. TCA recently gained new members  – Simms and Mayfly Outdoors. Mayfly is the parent company of Abel Reels, Ross Reels, Dyna King, and Airflo. “This…

Photo: Derrick Mercer/Flickr CC2.0 Norway has banned salmon fishing on 33 of its rivers in an effort to protect dwindling stocks of Atlantic salmon. According to Hatch Magazine, Atlantic salmon returns this year are below half of what’s considered healthy. Last year, returns were down 30% from 2022. Norwegian officials cite global warming and fish farms as the leading causes of the declines. Specifically, parasites from fish farms can escape the…

David Coggins’ new book The Believer was recently reviewed in Hatch Magazine by James Joiner. Coggins is the author of The Optimist, his first book on fly fishing. He’s also a culture and style columnist in New York City. The Believer focuses on a year in Coggins’ fly fishing life as he chases some of fly fishing’s toughest catches. Joiner has nothing but praise for the book, citing Coggins’ “quiet” writing style, and his ability to avoid…

Photo: Bernard Spragg/Flickr The Colorado River is in trouble, and has been for decades. It’s overextended, and even with back-to-back stellar water years, it’s still in bad shape. That’s why the recent news about an accidental release of 40,000 acre-feet of water from the Upper Colorado River Basin is worrying, to say the least. According to Jerd Smith of Fresh Water News, Bureau of Reclamation officials confirmed that an accidental…

Photo: Courtesy Orvis The fishing has been good here lately – good enough that I’ve shirked work duties and spent more time on the water than I should. And while being on the water is a blast, I’ve lost more than a few good fish over the past two months. I’m no fish-catching machine, by any stretch, but I feel like I’ve lost more fish than I normally do. Most…

Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Flickr Atlantic salmon in Maine are in trouble, which isn’t huge news. But Trout Unlimited claims that recent efforts to help these endangered fish don’t go far enough. In a blog post for TU, Mark Taylor makes the case that the current proposals under consideration don’t do enough to help the Atlantic salmon, specifically on Maine’s Kennebec River. Four dams blocking the Kennebec are either…

Photo: Zleng/Flickr Last week I reported on a study about a decline in aquatic insect populations across America. This isn’t the first I’ve heard of the decline, although any updates on the matter have been few and far between. Or so I thought, until I did some digging. It turns out the scientific community is aware of this problem. One study has linked insect population collapse in the Parana River,…

Photo: Matt Keefe/Flickr This week’s Podcast Roundup features a classic conversation about how trout “think,” an annual airing of grievances, and stories about chasing the world’s toughest fish. If you have a podcast you’d like to see featured here, please let us know! Orvis Podcast: How Trout Think In this classic episode of the Orvis podcast, Tom Rosenbauer sat down with Dr. Russ Carpenter to talk about how trout “think.”…

Photo: Gilles San Martin/Flickr Pike are a fun fish to catch on the fly – so I’ve been told. I’ve been skunked every time I’ve chased these fish, but I know enough anglers who absolutely love catching them (and I’ll be honest, it looks like a blast). According to Chris Hunt’s recent story in Hatch Magazine, the earlier in the season you chase pike, the better luck you’ll have. Hunt’s…

Fly fishing clubs are one of the only conduits to access streams in the United Kingdom, a concept that’s foreign to those of us here in America. Apparently, some clubs have strict rules on membership, including not admitting women. That’s about to change, though, thanks to a movement led by Marina Gibson to allow women to join the Flyfishers’ Club. Founded in 1884, the club is Britain’s oldest fly fishing…

This week’s Tying Tuesday features a bunch of must-have summer flies, including a great little caddis pattern, a balanced leech, and a midge dry fly. First up is the Iris Caddis, tied by the folks over at Fly Fish Food. Next is a balanced leech pattern from Avid Max. I’ve quickly become a convert to balanced leeches, as they seem to do extremely well on my local stillwater fisheries. Last…

In my almost-decade of fly fishing writing, I’ve had the opportunity to review a few fly rods. Without fail, the question most folks ask me is “are the expensive rods really worth it?” I’ve addressed this before in some gear reviews, but I wanted to give the topic some space here as well, because it’s been on my mind a lot lately. The shortest answer to that question is “it…

Photo: Domeneick Swentosky/Troutbitten If I’m fishing with nymphs, I almost always have at least two tied on my rig. I’ve caught flak for it from some who don’t think it’s “sporting,” but I often fish a dry-dropper-dropper rig during the summers. Using three flies is legal here in Wyoming, and the ability to fish a big hopper, caddis, or stonefly up top, with a caddis and midge nymph beneath it,…

For a few states back East, fisheries managers use a “delayed harvest” on some streams to help increase the size of trout in those waters, and to offer a fishing location where live bait usually isn’t permitted. Fishing these delayed-harvest streams can mean you need to use different tactics, which is the focus of this most recent episode of the Orvis podcast. Tom Rosenbauer sat down with Dustin Coffey, the…