Articles

The Henry's Fork: The Ranch

Part 3 of a 3-part series on fly fishing's Valhalla

by Todd Tanner - Tuesday, Aug 15th, 2017

Photo: Todd Tanner

The Henry's Fork is Valhalla; the place you visit when you've reached your pinnacle as an angler. This one river, more than any other, transcends numbers, size and every other form of tyrannical quantitative analysis; it is a star in the angling sky, a fly fishing temple where the only thing that truly matters is your next cast. I can't tell you "The Truth, The Whole Truth, The Nothing But The Truth" about the Henry's Fork. Nobody can. I can, however, offer a few personal glimpses, snapshots that stand out from the thousands of hours I've spent on this incredible stream.

Seeking signs of public land

Representing our greatest outdoor resource

by Kris Millgate - Friday, Aug 11th, 2017

A crowd of nearly 3,000 marched from the Outdoor Retailer show in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah to the capitol steps (photo: Kris Millgate).

The weekend before I arrived in Utah for the Outdoor Retailer show, I creek hopped with my kids. We had a Tenkara rod and a 4-weight fly rod. Both are perfect for playing 6-inch cutties on Bear Creek, a Snake River tributary in eastern Idaho.

The Henry's Fork: The Box

Part 2 of a 3-part series on fly fishing's Valhalla

by Todd Tanner - Thursday, Aug 10th, 2017

Photo: Bryan Gregson

The Henry's Fork is Valhalla; the place you visit when you've reached your pinnacle as an angler. The Fork, more than any other river, transcends numbers, size, and every other form of tyrannical quantitative analysis; it is a star in the angling sky, a fly fishing temple where the only thing that truly matters is your next cast. I can't tell you "The Truth, The Whole Truth, The Nothing But The Truth" about the Henry's Fork. Nobody can.

Patagonia's new wader fits in a seriously small bag

The Middle Fork Packable wader fits neatly almost anywhere you want it to

by Kris Millgate - Tuesday, Aug 8th, 2017

Photo: Chad Shmukler

Cold, high-mountain lakes require long, hot, summer hikes. Those are horrid in waders. They're a bit less horrid if you carry your waders instead of wear them, but they're still horrid. That’s why I like wet wading season. I fish and hike in the same shoes. Likewise on clothes.

But wet wading season is shorter than vacation season so you’re bound to drag around your waders at some point. Patagonia knows this and they’re thinking of all you ounce-counting or gear-hoarding backpackers with their new Middle Fork Packable Waders.

Mining near the Boundary Waters makes waves

The battle over increased protections in the land of northerns and lake trout has been anything but calm

by Kris Millgate - Monday, Aug 7th, 2017

Photo: Kris Millgate

I'm on a rock rise in the middle of one of 1,000 lakes. The breeze is at my back and I'm rolling footage on a canoe that's out of arm's reach, but within earshot. Steve Piragis and Reid Carron are in the canoe that's sliding across calm water. Piragis paddling, Carron casting. I'm pleased with what I see, but I'm concerned about what I'm hearing.

"Copper mines really can't prevent polluting the watershed around them," says Steve Piragis, Piragis Northwoods Company co-owner and canoe outfitter. "They all say they won't and they all pay the fine when they do."