Articles

The road to Samarra

That night was like a late afternoon tempest on a hot summer day

by Steve Zakur - Tuesday, Oct 17th, 2017

Photo: Joe Cummings

I fished up above Tom Creek last night. Over the course of an hour I fished back down to the run where I had come in. A tree, felled in a spring flood, lay blocking half the flow. As I cast into the near seam my peripheral vision caught movement by the bank. When I got both eyes on target I saw a good-sized trout struggling in the flow. It slipped and rolled into the fast current disappearing into the riffle below. ‘That one is screwed’, I thought.

Korkers: New WRAPTR boots will last longer, fail less often

New boot construction method aims to change the way boots are built and bought

by Chad Shmukler - Wednesday, Oct 11th, 2017

The new Korkers WRAPTR boot (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Most anglers probably think of boots as fairly blunt, unsophisticated tools. Talking boots with Korkers' CEO Brian Chaney might change that impression. Chaney talks boots much the same way reel and rod designers talk disc drag coefficients and graphite-resin mixtures: with excitement. And product designers and company executives typically get excited when new technologies and designs solve problems and offer new possibilities.

The ghost of Bob Arnold

Patience is rewarded more than action

by Steve Zakur - Tuesday, Oct 10th, 2017

Photo: Chad Shmukler

Running up the passage between the rock garden and the shore, I open the outboard’s throttle. Five horses give me all they've got. There are three buoys which delimit the boulder water. I cut inside the first one knowing that the shark fin boulder on my left is only a sentry. There’s still plenty of deep water before the real peril. Cutting right just a few yards from shore, I cruise through the shallow water. Someone watching from the far shore would think this run reckless, but they can’t see me in the fog.

Review: Hardy Zephrus Ultralite fly rod

The new $700 offering from Hardy puts itself in the conversation for best fly rod on the market

by Spencer Durrant - Monday, Oct 9th, 2017

Photo: Spencer Durrant

Hardy’s Zenith rods, discontinued when the Wraith and Zephrus lines were introduced a few years ago, are among some of the most-loved sticks in recent memory.

Like the Zenith, Wraith, Zephrus and all Hardy rods from the last decade or so, the blanks for the new Zephrus Ultralite family are rolled in Korea. Perhaps surprisingly to some, where a blank is rolled or a rod is assembled doesn’t impact its performance or quality. In fact, the new Zephrus Ultralite from Hardy is likely my favorite fly rod currently on the market.

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