First published in Volume 14, Issue 2 of The Flyfish Journal Random stunted stalks of wheat, interlopers amid the native grasses, rose defiantly alongside the dirt path. In the adjoining rock-strewn field, the crop was sparse, indicative of the land’s limited agricultural value.  My father, the sole occupant of a faded International Harvester pickup, was […]

Mike’s wife, Dianna, thinks that getting eaten by a shark would be a good way to die. She says it would be like “falling asleep in a blender.” For what it’s worth, I’d prefer a heroin overdose. If you patrol the upper East Coast’s back bays, canals, saltwater ponds and surf long enough, you’re bound […]

When the light of the day becomes too unbearable for trout and trans girls alike, we meet in the middle of the night. There in the cloak of darkness we let our hair down and breathe without the oppressive sun or stifling eyes of passing anglers. Nocturnal predators know their prey has a better chance […]

Anybody who thinks flyfishing lacks athleticism has never vaulted over a downed log on the path to the water, balanced on a snot-slick river bottom with a thigh-deep current pressing against their legs, or thrown so many casts in a day their shoulder ached for an ice pack like a big-league pitcher’s.  While many of […]

I swig juicy IPA on the tailgate before lacing up wading boots on this, my 37th birthday. I used to fish this river every night until dark, but now I’ve hardly caught a trout all summer. Five years ago, with my Winnebago parked 20 yards from the bank, fishing time was easy to come by. […]

A skunking always hurts a bit. When it carries on for days on end during a trip with sky-high expectations, it becomes hard to take. The last moments of a trip like that—when your shoulder hurts from casting, you should’ve been on the road two hours ago, and your fly patches are full of streamers, […]

It was late morning when my girlfriend and I arrived at the pub. Our childish enthusiasm prompted our server to ask what had happened. “I just caught a permit,” I said. She responded with a blank stare. Having lived among Australians for months, we had picked up on their habit for nicknaming fish. “Snub nose […]

Despite the fact that North Korea had recently launched two missiles over the island and a typhoon was barreling our way, the daily tempo of life on Hokkaido appeared peaceful, almost bucolic. Our fall trip to Japan’s northernmost island avoided glaring neon lights and crowded cities. It was only when the scenery was interrupted by […]

There’s a lake high in Utah’s Uinta mountains where, I’ve heard, the trout will take just about anything you throw at them at ice-off. The lake is one of my summertime go-tos, not too far from my home in Salt Lake City. I’ve never caught anything bigger than 10 inches there, but it’s where I […]

This article first appeared in volume eleven, issue three of The Flyfish Journal. It’s May in the Keys, sunny and barely blowing. And they’re swimming. We’re on the ocean side and getting shots all day. We can see them coming from two football fields away: black, human-sized torpedoes sliding over white sand bottoms. Strings of a half-dozen, […]