Articles

Mountain Fork Creek

Part 1 of a 2-part story

by Hal Herring - Thursday, Dec 7th, 2017

Artwork: Shay Clanton

It is possible that someone has broken my twenty year old record for the largest rainbow trout ever taken by fair means in the state of Alabama, but if so I have never heard of it. My only witness was a high school classmate whom I had sworn to secrecy, and I released the record fish, and never caught it again. Out of fear that the spectacular limestone creek where that fish and a few others like him lived would be overrun with fishermen, I told only a few, very trusted people, no more than three or four over twenty years.

A tip for the taxi driver

Canada is a country of contradictions

by Tom Davis - Wednesday, Dec 6th, 2017

Photo: Tuerkis Doerky / cc2.0

“Do you happen to remember how much tip I gave the taxi driver?”

“Well, I didn’t see the coins, but from his face I think it was ten cents.”

—The Palm Beach Story

Canada is a country of contradictions. As someone observed, it’s a nation that had the singular opportunity to embrace the very best the world has to offer: French cuisine, British culture, and American technology. Instead, Canada opted for British cuisine, American culture, and French technology.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

Your indicator is too big

How effective your nymphing rig is depends on choosing the right indicator

by Domenick Swentosky - Monday, Dec 4th, 2017

Photo: Domenick Swentosky

Floating a couple of nymphs under an indicator is undeniably effective. In the right place and with the right conditions, flies under an indicator will outperform a tight line presentation all day long — all things have a moment to shine. But reaping the benefits of an indicator presentation takes some refinement of tactics. It’s not good enough to slap on whatever floatation device you dig up from the bottom of your chest pack.

At the top of the world

A trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

by Todd Tanner - Thursday, Nov 30th, 2017

Photo: Pat Clayton

I don’t know what trade I would have followed if I’d been born a couple hundred years ago. Maybe a tanner, like one of my ancestors. Maybe a farmer. Maybe even a writer, though I suspect not. But barring some unimaginable change in my personality, I’m pretty sure I would have been a fisherman and a hunter.

One fly or two?

Does fishing multiple flies hurt more than it helps?

by John Juracek - Wednesday, Nov 22nd, 2017

Fly fishing the Madison River in Montana (photo: John Juracek).

A couple years back, on the last winter day the Madison River was open to fishing, I ran into an old friend fresh off fishing a midge emergence at Three Dollar Bridge. As any fisherman would, I asked about his success. He admitted to struggling, managing to catch only a couple trout despite an abundance of midges and rising fish. This was out of character for him, so I pressed for more details. He retrieved his flies from his car, showing me those he had used and asking what I thought. All his patterns were viable imitations; any of them should have sufficed.