Articles

The salters of Red Brook

In search of the sea-run brook trout of yesteryear on Cape Cod

by Matthew Reilly - Monday, Jun 20th, 2016

A "salter" from Red Brook (photo: Matthew Reilly).

With an eye on my backcast and my mind on a starwort seam, I threaded a careful loop through the reaching limbs of a Massachusetts pine barren, over a jungle of grass, and delivered a hairwing streamer to its intended slot. A gentle current pulled the fly subsurface, and dream became reality when a golden flash erupted from a tannic shadow to consume the end of my tippet and my rod tip shot skyward.

Sage introduces the X

The new rod series marks the culmination of 10 generations of rod making innovation

by Chad Shmukler - Thursday, Jun 16th, 2016

Testing the new Sage X fly rod on Washington's Yakima River (photo: Chad Shmukler).

There's a reason that Sage is one of the industry's biggest and most heralded rod makers. Since it's founding in 1980 by rod designer Don Green, Sage has been producing some of the best and most innovative rods on the market. Rod series like Sage's RPL have achieved near mythical status in the memories of anglers, and the pedigree of Sage's flagship rods breeds an anticipation regarding what's next that is perhaps unmatched elsewhere in the industry. Today, Sage answered that question of what's next by introducing the Sage X, it's latest flagship offering.

The snorkel crew

Counting the return of endangered salmon

by Kris Millgate - Wednesday, Jun 15th, 2016

Snorkelers keep one eye on each other for accurate spacing across the river and the other eye on the fish swimming past them (photo: Kris Millgate).

Wet, black backs are slowly moving upstream. I’m watching the scuba suits through my lens and I like what I see from above, but seeing what’s under is what I really want. From underneath, there is a precise picture of what holds where and for an angler, that’s more effective than dropping bugs on the surface and waiting to see what bites.

Too soon?

Straying into the backcountry while the big rivers run brown

by Chris Hunt - Tuesday, Jun 14th, 2016

Photo: Trent Sizemore

The marble-sized hailstones bouncing loudly off the tinnie roof of the vehicle should have been my first clue as we raced down the rocky backcountry road to get out of the deluge. Or the dark-chocolate color of the upper Salmon River through Stanley, Idaho, a day after the temperature hit 85 and the high snow in the Sawtooths began to almost visibly disappear. Yeah, that should have been the dead give-away.

We were there too soon.

Thirty-inch liars

Maybe all fishermen aren't liars, but trout fishermen certainly are

by Domenick Swentosky - Monday, Jun 13th, 2016

Photo: Domenick Swentosky

It was a slow morning in fast water. It was a small fish day on a big fish river. It was a disappointment by noon, but fate was about to pivot.

I had spent the better part of the morning up to my waist in water cold, enough to numb my toes and stiffen my legs while my upper body fried in the high summer sun, absorbing the ninety degree rays like a sail accepting the wind.