Fishing Junk Water
What started as the sketchiest junk lake turned into something much harder to leave behind
3/20/2026Michelle Jarvie
Fly-fishing
Gradual Untangling
Fly Tying? You want me to tie a fly? No way. I can’t even darn socks. I knew I had enrolled in a fly fishing school, but I never thought about the fly tying aspect that would accompany my studies. School started and there I was, my instructor persuading me to give it a try. Reluctantly I went to the tying area. With a heavy heart, I tried my hand at tying my first fly, and managed to make a large and splendid bug. That disheveled fly went on to startle many fish, but one showed interest; all was
7/20/2018Mari Kitagawa
Oman
Oman … the name alone conjures up images of the desert, sand dunes and camels. This is the place that I now call home and where my husband and I have started our fishing business: Arabian Fly Sport Fishing. Most people’s first reactions are “Oh yeah, I saw the movie Fly Fishing in Yemen. Is it like that?” Well we haven’t built our own river and stocked it with wild salmon, that’s for sure. Our business is saltwater fishing. Oman has over 2000 kilometers of coastline - from rugged, unforgiving cl
6/30/2017Clare Carter King
Wild
Laurentian Great Lakes steelhead are a complex stock of fish. The population is a mixture of hatchery-released and wild, naturally reproduced fish originating from many different streams. Knowing the natal streams of the fish is important to best managing this species, as it allows for targeted conservation and management to the areas that are the major contributors to the total lake population. Fortunately, we may be able to determine the natal stream of a fish by looking at its otolith. Otoli
9/15/2015Nicole Watson
Latest
A President's Farewell
Two years ago, when I stepped into a trout stream I was generally thinking about bugs, flies and fish. I was often contemplating the unparalleled joys of playing hooky. I might have stopped to roll a rock off the bottom and scan its underside for evidence of the local food chain. I might or might not have attempted to identify the swarm of flying objects at the edge of my vision before tying on a Pass Lake or a Caddis. I’d scan for fishy water within casting range and would soon be lost in the t
6/30/2017Susan Fey
Finding My Rhythm
Here's a tale of how I got bit by the fly fishing bug. It all started while watching my boyfriend prepare for a day of fishing. I longed to learn more about this sport, not knowing what I was getting myself into … Getting up early is not for one who doesn’t like to do so and doesn’t drink coffee. My alarm roared at 5:30am on a Saturday morning. I cautiously opened one eye. The sun had not even come up over the horizon, so why was I awake? After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I turned to
6/15/2017Asha Anderson
Boasting About the Driftless
In case you haven’t heard, Minnesotans like to boast about our state. We’re proud of our natural resources, cities, hot dishes and the fact that we’re unfazed by cold weather. As a fly angler who lives in this state, I’ve got more to brag about … the endless supply of fishing opportunities. If you head up north, you’ll find yourself catching various species of salmon and trout that are moving inland from Lake Superior. You can also head to the central part of the state to fish one of our many l
6/15/2017Abigail Crider
What Native Trout Taught Me
Within three months of discovering the concept of the California Heritage Trout Challenge, I was standing waist deep in the middle of a creek in a Redwood Forest, casting purple flash streamers into dark shadowy areas, focusing like a laser on the task at hand. I was completely terrified that at any moment I would tip over and fill my waders. Not only was it my first time fishing this particular creek, it was also my first time actually wading and fishing, which is a whole new sensation. You ca
6/15/2017Sarah Trenschel
Caddis, Camping and Camaraderie in Colorado
Every spring they rise – by the millions it seems – so many it looks like a snow storm. They’re the caddis, moth-like bugs that suddenly hatch on, above and around the Arkansas River in Chaffee County, Colorado. For those who don’t fish, this swarm of insects is just an icky swat-these-pests-away phenomenon … but for the ravenous rainbows and browns who make this paradise of a river home? Oh my - pure buggy bliss! Naturally, for those lucky enough to fly fish here, the ‘hatch’ inspires nothing
6/15/2017Sue Bjorkman
New Zealand Reflections
I had in the past given some thought to being an expat – Dubai, Croatia, Japan, but an Aussie expat in New Zealand? Not really. As a fly angler having visited NZ on countless adventures, it almost felt like a second home anyway! All of those pre-planned fishing trips, most to the South Island, brought only good times as holidays always do. But, there was another side to making the not-so-anticipated-BIG move to New Zealand. Settling into a new work contract, I found myself in a blissful situa
6/15/2017Kristina Royter
Path to Conservation
20 years ago if someone would have told me I was going to run a fly fishing business one day and steelhead would be my biggest passion, and I was going to be a mother, I would have called bullshit. 20 years ago, I had no idea what I wanted to do or who I was, and spent a lot of time at a bar stool, raising hell. I’ve now fostered that energy into a more productive path. My story starts in Tennessee, where I was born. My parents where ex-hippies. My father worked odd jobs and spent evenings p
6/15/2017Mia Sheppard
My Baem'bu
For over a decade, I observed as my husband crafted the bamboo fly rods I so much love to fish. This winter I embarked on a pursuit to craft my own bamboo fly rod. Oh my goodness! I had no idea how much fun it would be and how much intricacy there was to building a bamboo fly rod. Beginning on this page and for the next few pages you will be taken on a photo essay of my bamboo rod building pursuit. And, of course, my first fishing pursuit with my new rod in hand. I can only hope that my words
4/5/2017Mary Ann Dozer
Happy Camper
It is strange how big changes often present themselves in modest ways, like the first ripples on the water before the storm or the small blue marks on a stick that indicates a major change is in the makings. Up until the encounter with the blue stripes, my biggest angst as a fly angler had been whether wind conditions and water flow would mess up the next fishing trip. Being a simple-minded fly angler, I never planned longer than the next weekend. But, half way to work the morning of the blue
4/5/2017Knut And Solvor Ruud Sandal
Zense
What The Company Says * The ground-breaking and innovative Free-Flex handle is designed on the basis of the logical principle that a rod’s power potential is situated in the butt section of the blank. *ArcticSilver ZENSE rods use the full power potential in the rod’s lower section by letting the blank load inside a hollow handle. The Free-Flex handle allows the butt section of the blank to load with less energy – it’s simple and it works! *ArcticSilver’s Free-Flex rods represent a new catego
4/5/2017Katka Svagrova
The Real Reel
We all want to be part of something new, something big, something important. But when we get there, these are the things that elude us. The big always passes us by. The small always takes prevalence. For me, life has been filled with almost too many ups and downs. It took me my entire lifetime to find my happy. However, I saw it, knew it and felt it years ago. It was the first time I went fishing as an adult. And when that fly rod was handed to me, I knew I was home. For it wasn’t just th
4/5/2017Allison Helen Keeble
Childhood
My name is Annarose Yvon and I live in the Highlands region of Maine. My family and I moved to Maine, just before I was two years old, from Connecticut. We moved because my parents wanted our family to live in an area where we could enjoy the outdoors. I live on a small tree farm with my Mom, Dad and my younger sister, Amanda. I am truly blessed because it is the perfect place to live when you are a person who loves the outdoors. I have had the pleasure of fishing and hunting in Maine since I
4/5/2017Annarose Yvon