Fishing Junk Water
What started as the sketchiest junk lake turned into something much harder to leave behind
3/20/2026Michelle Jarvie
DO
Snowshoeing: Proof You Can Love Winter
A funny, honest take on snowshoeing for the “real you” not the expedition you. Learn what you actually need, how to pick the right size and bindings, and why walking-speed winter can be the season you start to love.
3/2/2026Dun Team
Winter Hiking Safety for Normal People (Not Expedition Athletes)
Winter hiking doesn’t have to be extreme to be safe and fun. This guide gives you a simple system—how to pick the right trail, dress in layers, pack a small safety kit, and know when to turn around—so you can enjoy cold-weather miles with confidence, not stress.
2/3/2026Dun Team
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
Latest
Splendor of the WEST
My flight had been delayed, so I was hurried as I drove down the winding, two-lane Highway 191. I wasn’t able to fully take in the freestone river interlacing its waters through the forest and the perfume of the fresh air. Yet, my shoulders began to relax with the lack of massive billboards with mile markers alerting me to the next hotel with free continental breakfast. I suddenly had a sense of the days of Pete Karst, bringing “dudes” to Yellowstone by stagecoach from Bozeman in the early 1900s
5/13/2019Rachael Mcclendon
Tight Loops
Fly fishing duo Aimee and Chase (Tight Loops) travel around North America in their VW Campervan, exploring the wilderness in search of rare species of fish. Their recent adventure took them into Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in search of the elusive California Golden Trout—a fish with a history. An advocate of women in fishing, we caught up with Aimee to understand more about their expedition and why she thinks more women should get involved in fishing. Fly fishing can be seen as quit
12/2/2018Aimee Bartee
Confluence
I avoid the temptation to predict where I will end up on a journey in life. It seems the path forward is very much dependent on what I discover and learn along the way and, most importantly, who I meet. There is force and momentum more powerful than my own plans for the future that are brought forth when the desires of hearts flow together on a common path. Waypoints Every good journey in life begins with taking a risk. I’ve written about that (“Taking the Leap”, Dun Magazine, Summer 2018) but,
12/2/2018Robin Schmidt Katlin Boyer
Casting Light on a century-old controversy
Since the early 1900s, people have quarreled over the beaver and trout relationship. Some fishermen are convinced that beaver are the ultimate villain, ruining pristine fishing spots, while others vow that beaver ponds accommodate some of the best fishing, yielding many prized catches. Brook trout inhabit small headwater streams characterized by cooler water temperatures and riffle-run areas with rocky substrate. Beavers dam up a stream to create a pond, a refuge, in which they can construct the
11/5/2018Kathryn Renik
Taming Guidezilla
I sat alone on the hotel steps, backpack, lunch, and fly rod by my side, hoping my guide wasn’t going to stand me up. For the first time in my life I had the chance to see, if not catch, a Caribbean Grand Slam—a bonefish, tarpon and permit—and I feared Guidezilla (a pseudonym to protect the innocent) was going to blow my opportunity. Many online reviews said he was the best guide in the area—BUT potential clients should expect him to criticize their gear and fishing technique, and possibly even
11/5/2018Marian Jayne
Straight Outta Coeur d'alene
Many of us know and follow the awesome fly fishing women we see on social media, admiring their huge catches and the pristine scenery around them. However, there are many women in fly fishing today that have helped to shape the entire industry, we just don’t know about them because they are not prevalent on social media. Earning them the title of “original fly fishing gangsters,” they were on the river long before it was cool. I am speaking of women like Kaitlin Barnhart. These women are behind
11/5/2018Jess Westbrook
The Juliana’s Anglers Sporting Club
That’s what I said to Rachel Finn, a notorious Adirondack fly fishing guide, fine artist, and my friend, as we stood in the middle of the Ausable River throwing dry flies in pocket water, or maybe passing nymphs along boulders, outside of Lake Placid, New York in 1998. I was a city girl living temporarily in the North Country for work when I decided to take up fly fishing. Rachel was a guide at the Hungry Trout Fly Shop who spent something like half her time with her husband guiding in Alaska an
11/5/2018Heide Mason
Favorite Memories
The unveiling of the Nissan Titan Surfcamp is a memory I won't forget any time soon. This event in Vero Beach, FL was certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet people whose paths I would've never crossed otherwise. - Jen Ripple Teresa Westberry A 25th wedding anniversary gift turns into much more My husband Stuart and I were fly fishing for rainbow trout in Hazel Creek in Proctor, NC. Proctor was abandoned when Fontana Dam was built, and the surrounding area was flooded to create Font
11/5/2018Dun Magazine
Calm out of Chaos
This is not an action-packed fly fishing story. It has no plot progression that leaps into a thrashing battle between man versus beast, nor does it wrap up nicely with a tired smile and wet hands wrapped around The Fish of My Dreams. This is not a story about wrangling The White Whale—so please, don’t call me Ishmael. I’m not sure why I expected the 1992 Buick from Bargain Auto Rental to have an aux cord. I scan every FM radio station twice through and hear nothing but static, so I wipe the swe
11/5/2018Alex Anne Matthews
Crossing the Border
Visiting my neighbors to the north proved to be more than I bargained for. This trip had it all - new and old friends, incredible food, heart-breaking fish, and a surprise ending. As I board the plane north, my suitcase full to the brim with clothes for cold weather, I’m already dreading the next morning’s early wake up call. I’m landing late, and the weather tomorrow morning is supposed to be a balmy 42 degrees. Rod case draped over my shoulder, the only thing I know about Calgary is that ever
11/5/2018Jen Ripple
The Ritual of Salmon Fishing
"The sun had almost set over the water of the Restigouche River, six years ago, when I said “just one more cast”. That cast resulted in hooking and landing my first Atlantic salmon. I was six months pregnant at the time. My son will forever have fishing in his blood." - Alanda Banks-MacLeod "Perfect evenings were spent sitting on a gorgeous covered porch just yards away from the river, drink in hand, new friends shared stories, as old friends felt the comfort of simple commonalities. This trip
Labrador
The Big Land is synonymous with large brook trout, but the villainous other half of that watery marriage is, shhhhhhh—PIKE. Unlike most anglers, I went to Labrador specifically to target these far northern predators. My destination for this trip is the Atikonak River in Labrador, Canada, which is a rugged, vast, unspoiled, and completely untapped watershed. Located 100 miles due east and slightly south of the city of Wabush, the only way in is a 45-minute floatplane ride. The numerous rivers co
11/5/2018Nome Buckman