Articles

Ask the instructors: A fly fishing Q&A

You have questions, we have answers

by Hatch Magazine - Thursday, Feb 29th, 2024

Renowned casting instructor John Juracek at the School of Trout (photo: Todd Tanner).

Given the sheer amount of less-than-reliable fly fishing information floating around on the internet, it’s not always easy for anglers to know who to trust when it comes to gear, tactics, destinations, techniques, skills, fly choice, etc. With that in mind, Hatch Magazine asked the instructors at one of the world’s finest fly fishing schools, the School of Trout, for their opinions on a wide variety of fly fishing subjects.

Mining threats mount for Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Georgia has ordered draft permits for a dragline mining operation on the cusp of the famed blackwater swamp

by Chris Hunt - Sunday, Feb 25th, 2024

Blackwater, cypress, and lily pads in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (photo: TimothyJ).

An Alabama mining company that wants to use a dragline system to extract titanium, staurolite and zircon from beneath Trail Ridge, a geologic feature that helps contain the iconic blackwater swamp of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, received draft permits on Feb. 9 to do just that.

Spring Creek

A cast away in Montana

by Tim Schulz - Friday, Feb 23rd, 2024

Photo: Tim Schulz

I’ve always preferred games that mix luck with skill in a way that gives both nearly the same importance. Because of this, I love to play cribbage, but I barely know the rules of chess. Cribbage—like fishing—is a game of chance, but much like the guy who taught us to pasteurize our milk advised us, chance tends to favor the prepared mind. If we are skilled at cribbage, we’ll beat a lesser player more times than not, but we won’t win if we consistently get cards that smell like the inside of a guide’s waders in October.

Scientific anglers debuts all-new Magnitude clear fly lines

With new technologies, SA is aiming to make clear line tradeoffs a thing of the past

by Hatch Magazine - Wednesday, Feb 21st, 2024

Photo: Scientific Anglers.

Clear fly lines have been a subject of debate for about as long as they’ve been around. Some anglers swear by their stealthiness, claiming they provide a serious advantage when pursuing wary flats species like bonefish, permit, and tarpon. Others claim they are overkill or otherwise unnecessary. One thing that most anglers have long agreed on when it comes to clear fly lines is that they come with some significant tradeoffs.

Lead bullets poison wildlife and people

Lead poisoning destroys brain tissue, diminishing motor and cognitive function

by Ted Williams - Friday, Feb 16th, 2024

Photos of standard copper jacketed lead core bullets and solid monolithic copper bullets before and after firing. All fragments recovered were lead (photo: North American Non-Lead Partnership).

“Until they reach the gizzard where the wildfowl grinds his food, these [lead] pellets do no harm, but, when reduced to powder…they become a violent poison.” That timely warning issued from Forest and Stream editor George Bird Grinnell 129 years ago.