Tag: fishing

A Family on the Fly

The idea of “time flying” is never more evident than when one becomes a parent.  Sure, it’s something that adults say to kids growing up, but the gravity of the words never really takes.  Sitting in third period geometry seemed eternal, as did waiting to turn sixteen and get a driver’s license.  Graduating high school and heading off to college was a laborious grind in watching the clock.  Then all of a sudden, nine months of a pregnancy goes by in the blink of an eye, and then the bundle of joy

11/23/2020•Nick Delvecchio

Naked and Afish

Mayflies crawled, tickling, over my arms, legs, and face—something only a fly angler would be excited about. I couldn't get my rod together fast enough. This was my second lake of the day. I’d hiked five miles to the first lake, along a dusty trail, later through a stretch of my beloved ponderosas, and finally up to exposed rocky lookouts. While incredibly scenic, it was dotted with backpackers and way too windy to cast. I usually fish rivers or unnamed alpine lakes, but on this solo trip, I dec

7/15/2020•Lindsy Glick

Asian Carp - Not just a local issue

I live in the tiny little town of Dover, Tennessee. It’s not uncommon for those who live in Tennessee to ask where that is - it’s that small.  Aside from embarrassingly being known as the #6 speed trap in the US, Dover is known as the place at the base of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. History buffs will recognize it as the home of Ft. Donelson understanding it as the place that changed the course of the Civil War. The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is a 1

5/18/2020•Jen Ripple

Creating Memories One Fish at a Time

I will always remember the first time I caught a fish. It was a beautiful yellow perch about twelve inches long. I was eight years old, fishing with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousins at Oxbow Lake near Defiance, Ohio. It was one of the proudest moments of my childhood. Back then, we used to fish to actually take the fish back home to eat. While my family enjoyed fishing for food, I always viewed fishing more as a way for me to connect with nature, as well as enjoy some peace and quiet. Once I

5/14/2020•Angelica Talan

The Overlooked Skillset

The other day I met Certified Casting Instructor Susan Thrasher at a Nashville park to test for my Gold Fly Casting Skills Challenge. About halfway through the challenge, I noticed a man had stopped to watch us. When we decided to take a short break and get out of the sun for a few minutes, he approached Susan. It was obvious she taught fly fishing, he said. It was always something he had wanted to try, and did she have a card? How many times have you been approached by someone on the river, or

12/15/2019•Jen Ripple

Why You Should Target Redfish This Fall

Ah, Redfish — red drum, channel bass, puppy drum, spottail bass, or simply red, by whatever name you know them, this species has become a sought after game fish for fly anglers in the past few years. Known for that beautiful red hue, the flash of gold in the sunlight, and that telltale black dot, Redfish is a hard fighting fish that can be found tailing the flats like permit as they scrounge the bottom for crabs, shellfish, shrimp, or anything tasty. Scientists believe that the black dot near th

10/9/2019•Jen Ripple

Small Stream Tactics for Wild Trout

Our home waters are the wild trout streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Ian has been a guiding fly fishing since 1995. I have been a full-time fly fishing guide since 2002. Together we own and operate R&R Fly Fishing guide service in Townsend, TN and have created the online instructional series called RISE Fly Fishing Advice. The fishing in the Southern Appalachians can be difficult, but it's in one of the most beautiful places on earth! Our mountain stream trout can prove diffi

8/8/2019•Charity Rutter

2025 Fishing Participation Report: What the Numbers Say for Women and Fishing in 2026

Fishing Hit a Record in 2024. The Hard Part Starts Now. I read the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation’s 2025 Special Report on Fishing with one goal in mind: translate the numbers into what they mean for real outdoor lives. Not just anglers. All of us. This report tracks participation through 2024, and it tells a clear story. Fishing is big, still growing, and still acting like a gateway to time outside. It is not “solved.” Retention is the next fight. 57.9 million people went fishing

7/26/2019•Dun Magazine

6 Tips to Catch More Trout

Be Stealthy We’ve all seen the images of anglers belly crawling to sneak up to the river bank. We are not recommending that you do this when you approach every trout fishing situation, but there are a few simple things you can do to spook fewer trout when getting to the river.   Watch your shadow. Fish are always looking up.  Death from above is a real danger for trout. Birds and small mammals will routinely come from above and grab a lazy trout. For this reason, when approaching a stream it

7/24/2019•Dun Magazine

Hook Anatomy

Eye: The eye of the hook is where the tippet is tied. The eye can be up-turned, down-turned, or straight. In general, Spey style and salmon hooks have up-turned eyes, dry fly and wet fly hooks have down-turned eyes, and streamer, bass and saltwater hooks have straight eyes. The orientation of the hook eye is largely aesthetic and only comes into play when a knot used to attach the fly to the tippet is affixed to the shank and not the hook eye. Shank:  The shank is where the fly is tied and can

5/13/2019•Dun Magazine

Just Like Dad

I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t know how to throw a fly line. Fly fishing isn’t in my blood, but my father is. And as a young child I quickly learned that if I wanted to spend time with Dad, getting out with him on the water was the answer to my wish. Growing up in a separated family wasn’t always the easiest. Dad left mom and our hometown of Destin when I was two to pursue his music career in Atlanta. I caught my first trout on the Chattahoochee River when I was three. Mom, my

5/13/2019•Jordyn Powell

Albies & More

Anyone with a keen interest in saltwater fly fishing will likely find their Facebook news feeds loaded with captivating images of glamorous flats trophies such as bonefish, permit, tarpon, and the occasional redfish. While angling for the species is some of my favorite fishing, there is so much more to saltwater fly fishing. If there’s one reason people write off saltwater fly fishing, it’s because flats fishing looks too expensive, time-consuming, and difficult. As a Mid-Atlantic saltwater gui

7/20/2018•Sarah Gardner