FLY FISHING BLOG

Often times at the mention of "fly fishing" people only get the image of standing in a river casting dry flies upstream. Luckily though, fly fishing has many facets and is adaptable to countless situations where fish exist. One of my favorite place t … read more

I have a confession that I just need to make. I fish with eggs and I'm ok about it. Here's how it happened and why it's working out for me: Many years ago a fellow angler who was having great success sheepishly admitted to me that he was using 2 of … read more

Winter fly fishing is great, however, sometimes you have to ask yourself if it's really worth it. A few weeks ago as I drove down a local canyon I passed a couple of crazy friends who were out knee deep in the river. I glanced at the car's thermomete … read more

Well, it's inescapable, the Holidays are almost here. There's an 8 foot Santa in my yard reminding me daily. Hopefully though, this time of year offers more than malls and merry-making and you find yourself some time to get out on the water. Seems a … read more

Hopefully we're all effectively hinting about a new fly rod for under the tree. There are obviously many great choices in fly rods. Here's a couple of quick suggestions that might help you hint better. Though they can be fun, short fly rods (7 1/2 f … read more

Most fish, whether they are trout, warm water species, or even most salt water fish, spend most of their lives near the bottom. Dry flies are obviously great when they are working, but because fish are on the bottom most of the time, the most effecti … read more

A recent question on this topic got me thinking about the best ways to hook and hold fish. Following will be two part tip to help in hooking fish and getting fish to the net or hand. This week we will look at setting the hook. When I'm teaching begi … read more

Most nymph fishing requires anglers to rely on a visual aid like a strike indicator or on feel to alert them to the strike of a fish. Sometimes though, especially when fish are visible, you can fish nymphs quite effectively without an indicator and w … read more

One of the bad habits fly fishers fall into too often is to buy tapered leaders, tie their dry fly directly to the end of them, and then to gradually take length off the leader as they clip off used flies and re-tie. Eventually leaders get short, sto … read more

One method for fishing lakes that is slow to catch on in the US but that is popular in the UK and elsewhere is fishing vertically instead of horizontally like you do stripping a sinking line. There are a few ways to do this that are especially effe … read more

Sometimes even rising trout can be tough to catch. They may be keyed in on a bug that you don't have a match for or lying in a spot where the drift is impossible. Occasionally in these situations a streamer can be the answer. Even though they may be … read more

Late summer is hopper time. Here are a few things to remember for great grasshopper fishing. Look for streams running through meadows. There are usually very few grasshoppers in forested areas but in the late summer bugs abound in grassy meadows. T … read more

Many anglers simply pack it in and head for the car too early in the evening. The biggest fish in rivers and lakes feed more at night than in the day. This is especially true of big browns and brook trout. Fish are also more aggressive and less war … read more

Although it is usually best to do everything you can do to avoid moving your dry fly on the water occasionally it works to break the rules a little. Recently I was casting to cruising fish on a lake and found this to be the very best way to catch th … read more

This time of year is my absolute favorite time to be fishing in the West. As water starts to clear and drop some of the year's best hatches of big bugs start and fish basically go crazy for a few weeks. Look for big hatches of golden stoneflies and … read more

I'm sitting at my sister and brother in law's house on a Massachusetts beach as I write this, reminded as I look out at the calm waters today that I don't have a fly rod with me. Whilst I sit and lament this fact I am reminded of the countless opport … read more