Articles

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.

New body-sized YETI cooler, Rambler bottles and a bigger Hopper

New travel bottles and lots of bigger from YETI

by Chad Shmukler - Monday, Feb 1st, 2016

If it says YETI on it, it sells. That's sort of been the way it's gone over the last few years. YETI's soft-sided cooler, the Hopper, has been hard for stores to keep in stock since YETI announced it in 2014 and its Rambler Colster was one of this holiday season's hard-to-find gifts. But it really doesn't matter what it is; if dons the YETI moniker, it sells.

Through my veins

What do the creeks mean to you?

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Friday, Jan 29th, 2016

Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain

“So what do the creeks mean to you, Johnny?”

The documentary producer asked me this question while we were standing on the banks of Big Creek in Newton County, Arkansas, while videoing a segment for his upcoming documentary. The documentary is about a hog farm that’s set up shop near the banks of Big Creek, and Big Creek is a tributary of the Buffalo National River. I won’t give any spoilers here, but the documentary focuses on this farm’s impact on the waters and also its impact on the people of the region. It’s a polarizing subject here in Arkansas.

Building a simple Euro-style tight line nymphing leader

A basic sighter rig for tight line nymphing for trout

by George C Costa - Thursday, Jan 28th, 2016

Landing a big rainbow that was sighted in front of a boulder in Cheesman Canyon, CO (photo: Brad Bessett).

Certainly, the basic “tight line” technique has been around for many years. George Harvey and Joe Humphreys pioneered the technique when bamboo and cat gut where the de facto reg. But over the past several years, the proliferation of tight line techniques that are most often referred to as “Euro-style” nymphing has continued to gain steam and we’ve seen tons of leader formulas and styles to go with it. Czech leaders, French, Polish, Spanish, hell I even think there’s a Latvian leader these days.