The past few summers, when the weather and water warms up, I’ve been spending more time snorkeling with coastal BC steelhead than casting flies at them. This particular stretch of river has many deep pools through an almost inaccessible canyon section, so the fish are mostly un-pressured. Im not sure of the health of this […]
Every so often, while out fishing, I’ll pause for a moment to look around, something I’m sure we all do. At times there’s intention in it—I realize my mind has wandered, or I’ve been hyper-focused on the fly or indicator—and I make a point of pausing, taking it all in. In other instances, it just […]
Steve DudaSteve Duda is an author, editor and cultural journalist. His most recent book, River Songs (Mountaineers Books, 2024), was described as “the London Calling of flyfishing books,” with stories marked by “ferocious honesty and breathtaking intensity.” He is the former editor of this journal, a founding editor of Boise Weekly and editor of The Rocket. His cultural reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, San […]
In a move seen as contentious by some persnickety flyfishing folk in the Granite State, New Hampshire recently amended their legal definition of “Fly Fishing” to explicitly include Tenkara. Personally, I don’t give a damn whether your pole has a reel or not—just ’cause the plane’s got wings and the wheels are off the ground […]
The materials used in the Griffith’s Gnat are simple, almost to the point of being dull. Yet, when framed correctly, they can nonetheless take on a sort of elegance. Photo: Joakim Andreassen “Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – —Emily Dickinso Few flies are as unassuming as the Griffith’s […]
Her words were simple, yet foreign in composition. The sentence rattled around in my head without finding a clear landing space. “Sorry,” I finally responded, “what was that?” The face of the very nice lady behind the register with the thick central Virginia drawl flushed with embarrassment as she stammered, “Oh gosh! I just said, […]
One year I knocked you out of the air into the river with my fishing net. Another, you swept through lunch but didn’t come back. There was the time you bit me and I sent you off to the CDC and you came back positive. I live with part of you inside of me, for […]
When Tom and his brother Gerald opened their old Wheatley fly box and showed me the contents, it was a bit of a time warp. The two of them had hardly fished since their dad had been around, both having been focused on the serious business of making a living. Now a sort of unspoken […]
A battered blue narrowboat parts the early mist under a stone bridge and chugs up the Oxford Canal in south central England, “Lyra” painted on a plaque. “After the roach, are you?” asks the bearded, pipe-smoking boatman, accompanied by his plump tabby cat. “Aye,” I reply with a smile. “And his brother, the bream.” The […]
Mural artist Taylor Berman finishes up a piece titled “Spring Creek Symphony” on a building in Saint Paul, MN. Taylor’s murals liven up the urban real estate of the Twin Cities with their nature themes and vibrant colors. Photo: Justin Carfagnini
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