Articles

Be water

Taking cues from nature's greatest force

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Wednesday, Oct 14th, 2015

Richland Creek, a tributary of Arkansas' Buffalo River (photo: Johnny Carrol Sain).

If water were an option in rock/paper/scissors, there would be no game. Water wins. Always. Given time, water will eat a mountain and eat it with such gentle caress and subtle gnawing that the mountain never knows it’s doomed. Jack Kerouac had it beautifully backwards when he said: “It was the work of the quiet mountains, this torrent at my feet.” Sorry, Jack. There is a dance between mineral and water, but water always leads.

Catch and kill

From the river to the frying pan, all for the good of conservation

by Chris Hunt - Monday, Oct 12th, 2015

This brook trout is where it doesn't belong. In this case, in Oregon's Cascades (photo: Austin Montreil Leonard).

The tweet was borderline militant. Rude. Snide. Smug. And so misinformed that I almost replied with an equally aggressive insult.

Sadly, this is what the well-intentioned catch-and-release movement has come to:

“It’s called catch-and-release. Catch-and-RELEASE. Check into it.”

I held my temper. I suppose, with a Twitter handle like @eatmorebrookies, I kind of brought it on myself. I simply replied, “Where I live, non-native brook trout are invasive and taking over native cutthroat habitat.” A little information can be a good thing, right?

Leaving the road behind in Yellowstone

A series of incredibly good decisions

by Chad Shmukler - Monday, Oct 12th, 2015

The Yellowstone River as seen from the Hellroaring Creek trail (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Although we expected the hike in from the Hellroaring Creek trailhead to eat up around five to six hours, it wasn’t more than a half hour into the hike when, imagining that a vista worth taking in lay at its edge, we broke from the trail to wander up through a stand of scrub pine to the lip of a small ridge. Upon doing so, we caught our first glimpse of the Yellowstone River, coursing through the canyon below.

Tenkara casting in the wind

Tips for keeping your tenkara rod on the water, even on windy days

by Constantin Huet - Thursday, Oct 8th, 2015

Photo: Tenkara USA

Tenkara has proven itself to be a simple, yet incredibly versatile form of fly-fishing, which has helped properl the rise in all forms of tenkara equipment since the sport’s stormy uptick that began roughly in 2009, when the name was still exotic and unfamiliar to most. The simplicity, beauty and effortlessness of tenkara has since gained many followers, from previously avid fly-fishermen to beginners and debutants alike. However, one natural challenge to tenkara anglers has limited its use: wind.

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