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Committed

Once we let go of the bank it will be many hours before we can rest
Photo: Tom Hazelton

We drove west into the setting sun, already shadowed by the approach of a heavy cloud bank. The put-in was only a few minutes’ ride from our campsite, and we spent it mostly in silence.

“I’m kind of nervous,” I said at last.

“Me too,” JT answered quickly, as if he had been thinking the same thing, or had been about to say it himself.

Keen sandals: Ugly but seriously functional

After a few steps, your perspective on summer footwear might change—forever
Photo: Chris Hunt

I got my first real look at Keen sandals when a buddy of mine from Sandpoint visited Idaho Falls one spring. Loren was a tireless Trout Unlimited volunteer, and a rabid angler—he’d fish for anything, anytime. So when I suggested we hit the Snake River in search of carp, he was enthusiastic.

“Do I need waders?” he asked, and then looked down at his feet. “Or will these do?”

Choosing an all-star dry fly lineup

A half dozen Hatch Magazine readers will join the School of Trout online this Saturday
Photo: Jeremy Roberts

Do you have a hard time picking the right dry fly when you’re on the water? Are you more comfortable with nymphs? Or streamers? Do you struggle to tell a good dry fly pattern from a not-so-good dry fly pattern?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions then you might want to participate in an upcoming first from The School of Trout.

Review: LaCrosse Venom snake boots

Waterproof comfort and agility wrapped in fang repelling armor
Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain

Twice in my life I’ve accidentally stepped on a snake. Both encounters happened during my teen years.

The first time, I simply felt movement transmitted through my shoe’s sole, which sent a jolt through my soul, as I knew what creature was likely underfoot but had no idea of the species. It was a speckled kingsnake, who seemed no worse for wear with my foot on its back, and slithered off with my apologies.

SPAM Entrepreneurs from Indiana

A story so preposterous on the face of it, and yet so obviously true
Photo: Michael Hicks / cc2.0 modified

Here’s a subject line you don’t expect to see in your Inbox: SPAM Entrepreneurs from Indiana.

The thing is, I already knew the joke. The email, from my pal Pete Fleischman, referenced a story he’d related on a molasses-slow afternoon of smallmouth fishing on the Menominee River a few summers back—a story so preposterous on the face of it, and yet so obviously true, that as Pete was telling it my mouth fell open. It pretty much stayed that way for the duration of the tale, and for several disbelieving minutes after.

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