Ed Dentry sure likes the fall in Colorado, where as the water cools lots of bigger fish get comfortable with surface feeding. "On nearly every river and stream in the state, trout have been rising during late mornings and early afternoons (longer on cloudy days) to prolific hatches of blue-winged olive mayflies. Meanwhile, residual hatches of summer bugs - pale morning duns, caddis, tiny Trico mayflies, green drakes, a few sturdy grasshoppers and (in lakes) speckled Callibaetis mayflies - have been popping off on warm days for trout to eat." In today's Rocky Mountain News.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm always intrigued when a non-flyfisher reviews a book by a fly fishing author like William Tapply, who to be fair is more often consider a writer of murder mysteries. Hallie Ephron praises the novel Bitch Creek today on Boston.com: "William G. Tapply writes about fly fishing so seductively in 'Bitch Creek' that even I, who have the attention span of a gnat, wanted to drive up to the little tidal creek he describes emptying into Casco Bay, find the stripers in 'some nervous water along the edge of the eelgrass in the shallow water,' and begin false-casting, whatever that is." The book, just published by Lyons Press, also gets a couple of good reviews on Amazon.com.

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Chris Hunt of the Pocatello Idaho State Journal travels to the Shenandoah valley of Virginia in search of a quintessential brook trout experience. "In its headwaters, the Hughes is truly small. The boulders over which it flows create crystalline plunge pools and short but deep runs that hold brookies ranging from 4 inches to 12 inches in length. A constant canopy created by oaks, hickories, maples and dozens of other deciduous trees keeps the water temperature cool all year, even during the worst of the Southern summer."

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Craig Barrett's favorite pasttime? Fly fishing. On SFGate.com.

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Neil Collins gives us an entertaining and informative look at Alaska's River Alagnak in the U.K. Telegraph. "To get at them, you have to get there, which means four plane rides (no more direct flights, you see) culminating in a hop from a small town called King Salmon to Katmai Lodge, on the bank of the Alagnak river. Not all the salmon swim past the lodge, just the odd five million or so - and when I say past, I mean right past the door."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reports from the Fly-Fishing World Trade Expo in Denver this past week gave it a rather tepid review. Though it seems the money is still flowing from the retailers, manufacturers had what was by all reports a somewhat softer offering this year than last. Not far from the show, snow has already begun to dust the mountain tops. Which makes this a very good time for some escapist reading. Check out Philip Monahan's feature story on fly fishing Tasmania on MidCurrent.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Brown trout spawning runs are sparked by a combination of water temperature and the number of daylight hours, called a photo period, according to Bruce Rich, fisheries manager for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Park's Region 3. A sudden decrease in temperature of some duration will trigger a spawning run, he said." Brett French describes the notable Hebgen Lake/Madison River brown trout and rainbow trout runs in the Billings Gazette.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The recently installed executive director of the FFF talks about the environment, difficult choices, and new directions for his organization. "Van Gytenbeek said he's been fishing since about age 5. He enjoys fly fishing for trout and salmon. But his eyes really light when talk turns to bone fishing on the saltwater flats of Florida." Rod Tschida in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

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Nelson Bryant describes a favorite haunt hidden in the woods of New Hampshire and the large Kennebago strain of brook trout that fill its waters. In The New York Times.

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The 24th annual World Fly Fishing Championships took place in Slovakia last week, and the top U.S. angler was Pete Erickson. "'The American Team has reached a long sought after respect amongst the European nations who typically dominate these annual championships,' wrote team manager Jack Dennis in a press release, pointing to Team USA's two consecutive top-10 finishes at the World Championships. 'The Americans are now recognized as legitimate competitors and can no longer be written off as insignificant.'" Michael Pearlman in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've ever had the opportunity to catch a saltwater grand slam -- a tarpon, permit, and bonefish in one day -- you know how the images stick in your memory. Even coming close brings intensity to every subsequent day of angling. But it's quite hard to communicate that excitement to someone who's never been there. Alan Townsend manages to come as close as anyone. In this new piece on MidCurrent describes the mania that ripples through a day of flats fishing as he pursues a slam on Mexico's coast in "Yucatan Slam."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to this piece by a local naturalist in the Ambergris Key San Pedro Sun, green herons use their feathers "like a fly fisherman" to attract prey when fishing in the Key's lagoons.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alastair Robertson of the Scotsman.com comments on the progenitor of dry fly fishing. "FM Halford was by all accounts a bit of a pain but he is credited with, if not inventing dry fly fishing then at least working out and writing down what you had to do to catch a fish. First you spot a fish eating winged insects. Then you cast a fly at him which looks like one of the insects, making sure it lands the right way up and the right way round. At the same time you have to drop it neatly on the water so that it floats over the fish without creating a terrible kerfuffle."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 5:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bill Barker reminisces about learning to fly fish with his dad on Oregon's Fall Creek and Umpqua River in the Corvallis Gazette-Times. "Though our creek was loaded with trout, he had the urge to take me to Fall Creek, over the ridge from our property. His estimation of my 4-year-old legs' ability to hike long distances was a little high. He'd just planned on carrying some line and hooks to tie on willow poles but ended up packing me on his shoulders for miles. I remember heat, sweat and tiredness, but also the thrill of a cutthroat engulfing a hapless grasshopper on my first try."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Even with all the attention paid to food sources by authors of saltwater fly fishing books in recent years, no one really took a hard look at the near-shore marine environment until Dr. Aaron Adams wrote Fisherman's Coast: An Angler's Guide to Marine Warm-Water Gamefish and Their Habitats last year. This gem hasn't yet gotten the notice it deserves. Today MidCurrent gives readers a sneak peek at Dr. Adams's excellent work in the form of a chapter titled "Rubble Flats and Sand Flats of the Tropics."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"It was, even for the average angler, a perfect day ... cool enough to tickle the nose and discourage bugs, yet clear, comfortable and calm. And, sure enough, as expected, there were signs of rising fish ... circular ripples popping out over a perfectly calm surface. A few short casts later proved it." Ray Grass writes about the fine fishing to be had now in Utah's Uinta Mountains. In the Deseret News.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This article by Del Jones from USAToday is a couple of years old now, but the message is still fresh: fly fishing is good for those in high-stress jobs. "Charles Schwab fly-fishes, as does Martha Stewart, Bill Ford of Ford Motor, Meg Whitman of eBay, Phil Satre of Harrah's Entertainment, banking mogul Hugh McColl, Carnival Cruise Lines' Bob Dickinson, AOL Time Warner's Ted Turner and Timberland's Jeffrey Swartz. So do retired CEOs Don Kendall and Roger Enrico of PepsiCo, and Lew Platt of Hewlett-Packard, who has fished the Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Steelheaders are the kings of understatement and grudge-bearing. Perhaps that's why observers like Randal Sumner can find fishing for sea-run rainbows dreary work until the magic happens. "After a couple of hours fishing, he was sure he was doing something wrong -- until he got The Strike. I was daydreaming a short distance away when I heard the commotion and saw the big fish cartwheeling across the river." In the Seattle Times.

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When I first contemplated being a fishing guide in the Florida Keys in 1983 I had already been told that there were only two books I needed to read: Stu Apte's Fishing in the Florida Keys and Flamingo and Tom McGuane's Ninety-Two in the Shade. Then I happened across Paul Schullery's Mountain Time, and that sealed the deal. MidCurrent is fortunate to have the opportunity to republish a chapter of that book, "Home River," from which John Gierach's Trout Bum took the wonderful quote "Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job."

Read the full chapter

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FishSniffer.com has a page of links to annotated fishing maps that detail dozens of California fishing locations and the species that can be caught there. Some of the maps also include narrative about the fishing seasons.

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Gierach's writing appeals to me the way Ernest Hemingway attracts English majors. He uses a vivid down-to-earth style combined with an expert's understanding of his subject matter. The Colorado-based writer has also been recognized as a master of the one-liner. He offers a sometimes hilarious insight into the sport and those who enjoy it.

Continue Reading "Good Flies" Review

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's the first time I've heard anyone suggest besmirching the upper Missouri, unless it was for the insanely difficult fish, but according to Peter Kaminsky some folks actually avoid tailwaters in favor of more "natural" trout waters. Nevertheless, the author has a ball catching fish on tricos in this New York Times article. "Twenty casts later, the fish rose to my fly. I set the hook with slightly less grace than a 300-pound woodchopper wielding his ax."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"How you livin', dawg?" Columnist Maureen Dowd adds her sly humor to an assessment of the current political climate, after noting Dick Cheney's guilty pleasure: fly fishing. In the New York Times.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The problem with carp may just be that at they need a more majestic moniker. The British were smart about the south asian carp: they called it "the mighty mahseer" and it rose to legendary status among colonial anglers and still carries a rich cache. With the right amount of marketing, the 'gold finned matador' (derived from their beautiful filigree, ferocious determination and not-so-secret preference for the soft taco) could get folks mighty excited and allow carp anglers everywhere to escape the dark closet of ignomy. Meanwhile Eric Sharp bemoans the end of carp season in his column in the Detroit Free Press.

Other naming suggestions welcome.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stackpole released Chico Fernandez's Fly-Fishing for Bonefish in August and we'll be doing a review of the book soon. It's worth noting that Aaron Adams, the marine scientist who wrote the excellent Fishermans Coast: An Angler's Guide to Marine Warm-Water Gamefish and Their Habitats (from which we'll be excerpting this month) appears as co-author. Meanwhile, here's the rather bland editorial copy from Amazon: "Called the ghost of the flats, the silvery bonefish is the holy grail of flats fishing. Its speed in the water and chameleonlike color make it the ultimate challenge to catch, and because of its elusiveness, much of the joy of bonefishing is in searching for the fish. Finding bonefish from a skiff and while wading are thoroughly covered, as is catch-and-release. Details on the bonefish's environment and its food provide the essential background, and you'll learn what tackle and flies to take and how to cast efficiently in the flats."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dan Nelson gives the 5-weight FT rod a thumbs up but suggests upgrading to the Ross Cimarron as the reel for this Cabela's combination. In the Seattle Times.

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Whereas Iceland will set you back thousands of dollars for week of fishing, in Quebec you can fish the most famous pools for as little as $40 a day. "Under a system that may be unique in all angling, hundreds of miles of rivers were carved into zones, then individual stations. Each November, anglers enter lottery bids for selected pools on specified days in a season that runs June through September. A percentage of the total allotment is reserved for 48-hour bidding during the season; other large blocks remain even more accessible, almost always available on a daily basis." Charlie Meyers in the Denver Post.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)