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
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
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
If you ever find yourself in Minturn, Colorado on a Wednesday night during the winter months, you’re in for a treat. Here at the fly shop there’s never a dull moment. A group of bearded men sit around a big table drinking local craft beer while bantering back and forth about how their new shimmery creation is going to rip lips better than any other fly out there. Glancing into their tying boxes, you’ll notice that the materials within are supplies that you would probably find in a Girl Scout’s a
When I saw this 1890 postcard, I had no idea it would reignite my interest in a sport I had abandoned 30 years before. Found in the lobby of The Lodge at Lolo Hot Springs, MT, this window into the past initially appealed to my sense of history. A friend and I were on a 13 day university class, following the route of the persecuted Nez Perce Indians as they fled their reservation in 1877. Never had I seen women of the 19th century fly fishing in long dresses and boots, while being guarded from g
The river is more than a weekend retreat for us. It runs through our veins. It’s a way of life: our livelihood. For me, it also symbolizes change … leaving the city life (almost 15 years ago) and venturing into the unknown. It doesn’t always give freely. Conditions can change in the blink of an eye, making it difficult for the average bear. I am forever grateful for our ‘Papa Bear’ who is way beyond the average. I’ve watched our children grow from ‘fishing’ with us in front packs to mending the
My name is Amalie. I’m 15 years old and I come from Denmark. My story begins four years ago, when my dad was working on an entry to our local fishing club’s fly tying competition. He was having some issues working out the right technique to weave the Polish woven nymph. By a happy coincidence, I had recently been doing something similar at school; so he asked me to have a go at it. I tried and it worked! With this success, my dad encouraged me to come to the fly tying competition. I did attend
Fly fishing has exposed me to numerous adventures and opportunities to learn over the past couple of years. The sport naturally provides experiences that ultimately develop into life lessons and values we inherit. Out of everything I have learned, something significant stands out from the rest. Behind every strong female angler is another strong female angler. Most female anglers would agree that somewhere along the road they were inspired, motivated or taught by another female angler. It is n
For me, some of the best days on the water involve more than just fishing. While we often endure seemingly endless streaks of harsh conditions while fishing, one’s appreciation of calm, blue-sky days can also become magnified. I’m reminded of a particular day, the last day of our annual trip to New Zealand. We’d planned a trip on the water with our friends Serge and Sharron and their pups. Outings with these friends always prove to be an adventure and I expected nothing less that day. Our hike
I was offered the opportunity to join a fishing party opening day on the Laxá in Dölum River in Iceland, in June 2016. Salmon river openings are always fun. Although the catches are few, there are always big salmon caught and you are lucky if you are the one catching! The opening party landed 42 salmon in 2-1/2 days of fishing. We were three couples and decided to divide the river into three beats and fish with three shared rods. Great company, beautiful river, good food and the chance of catc
I live in the Lake District of England. I am a qualified casting instructor with the Game Angling Instructors Association and have fished my entire life. In February, my husband and I went to the British Fly Fair in England and met a Czech fishing guide named Petre Axamit, who showed a film of the fabulous fishing for wild trout and grayling in the mountainous region of the Czech Republic. He appeared very honest and spoke excellent English, so we asked him for the best time of year to visit h
When you board your first leg of a big trip, your fishing expectations are the highest they will ever be and they remain so as you imagine all the possible things you will see and experience on the water while en route. Even though I’d consider myself a veteran angler who knows fishing is unpredictable at its best, I still love to daydream. Fishing with great distances in between point A and point B can put a lot of stress on whether or not the trip was worth it. I’m here to remind you to kee
Being a Mom can be hard. Like, really hard. There is this overwhelming reality that you have been given this life to influence and to bring up someone who adds to society and ultimately leaves the world a better place. There is the hope that they will have a greater, positive impact than you did. Some days, it takes everything you have to hold it together, to keep everybody happy, to wake everyone up, get them off to school, go to work, come home, make dinner, get everyone to bed, and get eve
I was named Brooke after the trickling brook that quietly cascades through my bucolic childhood home in Vermont. My Mom is Margot Page, esteemed author of the fly fishing memoir Little Rivers: Tales of a Woman Angler and a founding member of Casting for Recovery. Through my Mom’s bloodline, I am the great-granddaughter of Alfred Waterbury Miller, known as Deac to his family, but to the rest of the world as Sparse Grey Hackle, the legendary writer, editor and author of Fishless Days, Angling Nigh
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
