Articles

Three fish, one hook

The fly-fishing-from-a-bait-boat spectacle

by Kris Millgate - Wednesday, Feb 10th, 2016

Photo: Kris Millgate

My bare feet are spread farther than shoulder width apart. That’s my best option while standing in the open bow of a bait boat rolling in the ocean like Popeye’s dingy.

The 1970 Proline is better than a dingy, but it doesn’t feel like it in the soggy weather. We’re barely beyond the beach and already I can’t see a single speck of Sanibel Island because of the fog. It’s out of sight, but not out of mind. The island’s priority is preservation. In fact, 70 percent of the region is protected in its natural state.

Closer look: Tidewater

A new film about chasing marlin off the Virginia coast

by Brandon Shuler - Monday, Feb 8th, 2016

Photo: Two Fisted Heart Productions

Tidewater is a simple concept--your backyard, a half dozen or so fly rods, a couple of cameramen, your twin brother, a close friend, a massive boat, and some really big, really pissed off, and really hungry apex predators ready to steal your $1,500-dollar set up right from your hands. Bring them all together, mix well, and hold on for the adventure of a lifetime. This is what Brian and Colby Trow of Mossy Creek Fly Fishing did.

Blacktooth

The last stop on BC's loneliest highway

by Todd Tanner - Friday, Feb 5th, 2016

Photo: Todd Tanner

Blacktooth, British Columbia was the last stop on one of the loneliest highways in Canada. Other roads might go on and on; this one quit just shy of the sheer rock walls of the Gwaxall Range. There was even a sign in town that stated the obvious. “Blacktooth, B.C. - End of the Road.”

Packing for the salt

Must haves and don't needs for your next flats trip

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2016

A turtle grass-laden flat on Belize's Turneffe atoll (photo: Chad Shmukler).

I remember that first saltwater flats trip I packed for several years back. Not only did I start piling gear together several weeks out, I racked up way too much credit card debt buying everything from uber-pricey saltwater reels to discontinued flats booties that all but cratered four days into the journey.

Review: Tycoon Tackle Scion Fly Rod

A look at the newest graphite offering from reborn Tycoon Tackle

by Matthew Reilly - Tuesday, Feb 2nd, 2016

Nymphing with the Tycoon Tackle Scion on the Connecticut River (photo: Matthew Reilly).

Like most fly-rodders, I share what non-fishermen might more aggressively term a viral disease. Its symptoms include collecting of the most financially impractical sort--I’m always in search of the next “sweet” fly rod. If you think “sweet” is an ineffective way to describe the mechanical characteristics of a fly rod, you’d be right. Nevertheless, it’s the individual-pleasing combination of these characteristics that every fly fisherman is after in a rod, which can be accurately described thusly.