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In this most recent episode of the Orvis podcast, Tom Rosenbauer sits down with lifelong angler, guide, and conservationist Todd Tanner to talk about 12 tips for improving your dry fly fishing. Todd used to guide on the Henry’s Fork, so he knows a thing or two about fishing dry flies. You can listen to the show here. The post Orvis Podcast: Tips for Dry Fly Fishing appeared first on…

Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie/Flickr Arctic grayling are one of my favorite fish. I’ve made trips to Alaska just to focus on catching them. They’re so eager to eat dries, and they have a happy, carefree attitude that trout don’t always posses. They’re native to Alaska and Canada, but grayling’s native range once reached as far south as Montana and Michigan. They’re still hanging on in Montana, notably in the Big Hole…

This week’s edition of Tying Tuesday features the Armored Chironomid from the folks over at AvidMax. I’m a big fan of chironomid patterns because they’re so simple, and so effective. This pattern has a really unique bit on the thorax that separates it from other chironomid patterns out on the market. Give it a look, and tie some up for the last of the open water fishing before everything ices…

Photo: Bernd Thaller/Flickr Federal officials recently gave their approval for a plan that will conserve water in the Colorado River in the near-term. This plan, as reported by Carter Williams at KSL, involves voluntary reductions in water that California, Nevada, and Arizona. Those reductions will total 3 million acre-feet by 2026, according to the reported agreement. California, Nevada, and Arizona comprise the “Lower Basin” states in the Colorado River Basin….

Photo: Courtesy Dom Swentosky Nymphing is a critical skill that every fly angler needs to develop if they want to be successful. That’s largely why you’ll see so many different nymphing resources available. If you can’t nymph, you won’t catch very many trout. That’s also why Dom Swentosky, over at Troutbitten, has dedicated such an enormous part of his writing and discussion to going through the efficacy of various nymph rigs. And…

Tom Rosenbauer sat down with George Daniel on the latest edition of the Orvis podcast to talk shop about a new nymphing technique. This is an entirely new nymphing technique George has been experimenting with, so anglers looking for a way to spice up their fly fishing game should give it a listen. They also discuss how criminally underrated 10-foot rods are, especially on smaller streams. While a 10-foot rod…

Earlier this year MidCurrent reported on the launch of new compostable line spools from RIO Fly Lines. Those spools have officially launched. Instead of shipping their fly lines on plastic spools, RIO will now package all their lines on a 100% compostable, recyclable spool. The spools themselves are built from 100% recycled newsprint that have been used at least once. By using these compostable spools, RIO estimates they’ll keep 20,000…

Photo: Ben+Sam/Flickr Forest fires are nothing new to the landscape, but their impacts are being felt more and more acutely with each passing year. Fly anglers have a vested interest in forest fire science, because trout streams are one of the first victims of forest fires. Mudslides and flash flooding will dramatically impact a stream’s behavior and ecology, sometimes for years after the initial burn (as we’ve seen on the…

The folks over at Fly Fish Food have another great pattern for us to tie this week – the Zola Bug! This fly is dead simple, and has a lot of the attributes that makes the perdigon such an effective fly. I’m a big fan of simple ties (why complicate something you don’t have to?) and the Zola Bug looks like one that’ll work effectively in a variety of waters….

Billfish are some of the most understudied fish on the planet, but they’re certainly one of the most sought-after game fish. After all, who wouldn’t want to catch a big marlin or sailfish, just like Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea? The lack of true scientific data surrounding billfish is part of what led Costa (the sunglasses company) to launch what they’ve dubbed their Marlin Fly Project. The Marlin…

On the most recent episode of the Orvis podcast, Tom Rosenbauer sat down with Hal Herring to talk about the importance of maintaining good instream flows in rivers. Herring is a reporter on conservation issues across the American West, and has a ton of experience dealing with the complexities of ensuring that there’s enough water flowing through a river to keep the fish alive and well. You can listen to…

Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie/Flickr The folks over at Keep Fish Wet have announced the start of their annual fundraiser. The fundraiser will consist of a series of raffles, and an auction, that run until November 12. All the money raised goes towards efforts from Keep Fish Wet to educate anglers and create more outreach programs based around their science-based catch-and-release fishing practices. In addition to bidding in the auction and buying…

Instead of Tying Tuesday this week, we had the pleasure to run a wonderful piece from Beau Beasley about a new Lefty Kreh memorial and statue unveiled over the weekend. So, not to let a week go by without some more fly tying fun, I decided to do a Whip Finish Wednesday. The pattern we’ll see today is from the one and only Tim Flagler over at Tight Line Video….

Photo: Beau Beasley This is a special story for the MidCurrent News section from Beau Beasley, author and director of the Virginia and Texas Fly Fishing Festivals.  On Saturday, October 14, 2023, more than a hundred people stood shoulder to shoulder in a cold, steady rain to honor a fly-fishing legend. The throng had gathered in Baker Park in Frederick, Maryland, to remember Lefty Kreh (1925-2018), one of Maryland’s favorite…

Photo: Bonnie Moreland/Flickr The story of the Elwha River rising back from the brink is one that gives hope to all conservationists. The 45-mile long river that flows mostly through Olympic National Park into Puget Sound was once the scene of healthy, self-sustaining runs of salmon and steelhead. Then, like most rivers, it was dammed. From 1911 to 2011, three dams blocked 90% of the river’s flow. Dam removal started…

Photo: Louis Cahill In this fun story from Justin Pickett over at Gink & Gasoline, we get to read about Pickett’s first time seeing a balloon used as an indicator. It took him by surprise, the same way it did me when I first saw it on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. I actually have a friend here in Wyoming who uses them, too. This story is a fun way…

Grundens has a new boot out that has Joshua Bergan, over at Fly Fisherman Magazine, ecstatic. These boots, according to Bergan, are everything he’s been looking for in a slip-on, waterproof boot. The Sherpa Ankle Boot is, as the name implies, only ankle-high, but it’s waterproof and fleece-lined, so it’s perfect for stomping around in shallow mud or snow. You can see all of Bergan’s thoughts on the boots here. The post…

Photo: USFWS Pacific Southwest/Flickr The reintroduction and subsequent success of Lahontan cutthroat trout in Pyramid Lake is nothing short of a miracle. The fish barely survived being wiped out by a wildfire almost 40 years after the lake-strain Lahontans were extirpated in Pyramid Lake. A small population of lake-strain Lahontans were found on Pilot Peak, near the Nevada-Utah border. The fish were captured and taken to a hatchery shortly before…

In this week’s edition of Tying Tuesday, Davie McPhail walks us through how to tie a size 20 blue-winged olive dun while utilizing an exciting new tying material from Fulling Mill. Ultra Dry Yarn is a new synthetic material that is made from hollow fibers that have been treated to give them even greater buoyancy. This material is perfect for tying wings, parachute posts, trailing shucks, or a wide variety…

Photo: USFWS Fish and Aquatic Conservation/Flickr Last week, we reported on the concerning discovery of quagga mussels in the Snake River. Mussels pose a series of significant problems to any waterbody they’re found in, including a potential collapse of the food web since they rely on similar food that trout and other fish need. That’s not to mention the quagga’s ability to clog water lines, which can cost millions of…