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
Get The Net
A cloud of fine dust billowed up behind my Subie, leaving a hazy trail behind me as I bounced down the dirt road leading to Tom’s house. From his neighbor’s yard, a longhorn steer threw me a half-interested glance as I pulled up the drive. It was a bright morning in May, and I was on my way to build a landing net with the Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers, my local fly fishing club. I was a little nervous; partly because the club is comprised mostly of retirement-age men (and I’m a 30-something woma
6/1/2016Jami Witherspoon
Spey Casting is Sexy
Growing up as a kid, I have fond memories of catching fish using a twig pole, a piece of monofilament line and a worm. Playing on the shoreline and watching the wiggle of a fish, got me excited and kept me going back to rivers as a kid. Years later, I was living in Alaska and one day at a garage sale in Anchorage I found a Shakespeare single-hand fly rod with a Fenwick reel for $50.00. What a steal! There was a lot to learn about a fly-rod; the difference in lines, how to cast, how to tie on
6/1/2016Mia Sheppard
Challenge Yourself
Growing up in the United Kingdom, I first started fly fishing when I was about 10 years old. Having been taught the basics by my Grandads and my Dad, I was absolutely mad keen to go fly fishing. Some of my fondest memories of fly fishing, especially whilst learning, come from staying with my Grandparents in Lockerbie, Scotland. My passion for fly fishing grew each year during our annual three week visits. Fishing on a variety of local lakes, rivers and streams: I just fell in love with the spor
6/1/2016Lisa Isles
New York, New York
Things I learned while visiting a women's fly fishing clinic in new york. Every fly fishing clinic should start out with food and wine.
4/1/2016Nome Buckman
Breathe
As I get closer to the river I start to hear her breathe. The birds keep a busy lead as the water thrums a heavy rhythm. Each step, I try to hold a steady tempo. The ballad ebbs as I remember why I am here. This is a new section of river for me and I’ve heard there are brook trout, the only native trout to this region, which grow to the size of sweet potatoes. Brookies have become my passion, for I can’t seem to get their resplendent colors from my thoughts. My connection to the brook trout h
4/1/2016Katie Cahn
The Golden West
When I left France to come to America after the second World War, my friends from school predicted that I would marry “The King of Chewing Gum.” The man I married many years later wanted to work at a service station that had a sign “Gone Fishing” and that’s how I found fly fishing and a whole new life. Our circle of friends were all men; avid fly fishers with just a couple women who went along with their husbands and enjoyed this new sport. A friend and I decided to start a “Women Fly Fishing”
4/1/2016Fannie Krieger
The Last Frontier
There are countless reasons of why I love fly fishing. It allows you to meet amazing people, and go to amazing places to see Mother Nature do her finest work. It’s a hobby that opens so many doors for those who are truly passionate about it. Just through posting fishing pictures on social media, I have made new connections to people who share my love of the sport. Some of these people I can meet with in person, and some live on the other side of the country. Some are now my closest friends who
4/1/2016Tessa Shetter
Lahontan Trout
From the time I was a little girl, I was always different. While other parents were successfully dressing their daughters for school in adorable ruffles and smocked dresses, my parents were wrestling me out of Dad’s fishing waders and rubber boots just long enough to go to school. I was a girl acting in a uniquely creative, vehemently independent, and bracingly inquisitive manner. I regularly challenged my parents as I wandered the creeks behind our home in search of exciting adventures and n
4/1/2016Lanie Galland
Bambeau
Gin clear, slow moving, spring creek water. Birds singing in the background. I am casting, squatted down far from the bank so as not to scare the spooky fish. I can barely see the spot where I know there’s gotta be a fish. False cast a few times to get enough line out to hit my target. My #10 black leech lands spot on. I am mixing it up - slow retrieve, long pause, fast retrieve, pause – a subtle pull back, I set the hook. Darn, missed the fish! Cast again – hit my target - mix up the re
4/1/2016Mary Ann Dozer
100 Years
Whether you’ve realized it or not, fly fishing is definitely an athletic sport. No, it’s not a bruising contact sport, (unless you’re fighting sharks, tarpon or bill fish) but we all need to accept that it is not necessarily 100% A River Runs Through It or completely safe from injuries. In fact, statistics show that fly fishing is 100 times more dangerous than golf, and equally as dangerous as mountain climbing or hunting. The adventure factor of our sport is one of the tantalizing things th
4/1/2016Wanda Taylor
Household Chores
I shirked my household chores today. First a latte. Then I wrangled the canoe on top of the car. And a second latte. I was ready to go fish. At a lake with plentiful, large and easy Bass. At least that’s what I was told. So a short drive ensues. Unload the canoe. Make sure coffee cup doesn’t tip over as I launch the canoe. And I start fishing. And I catch some fish. Small Bluegills. A Sunfish. But they’re fish. And there are the turtles. The lake is so clear I can see them sever
12/15/2015Carmen Hardin
Taking on Tenkara
A few years back, when I first ventured into the world of fly-fishing, I remember my friend sending me an advertisement for something called a “Tenkara” rod, accompanied by a message that we should check these rods out for our backcountry adventures. I also recall my immediate rejection of the idea of tackling a new style of fishing. My immersion into fly-fishing was still very fresh, and shedding the comfort of my reel not only seemed unappealing, it was out of the question. Easily brushing o
12/15/2015Jenny Sullivan