Articles

See DamNation Free in 23 Cities Tomorrow

by Ben Kryzinski - Wednesday, Jun 4th, 2014

DamNation producer and underwater photographer Matt Stoecker prepares to film Chinook salmon trapped below at the site of the since-removed Elwha Dam in Washington. (photo: Travis Rummel)

Since its release at the SXSW film and arts festival in March, DamNation has received a great many accolades and has been awarded several times. From Patagonia, Stoecker Ecological and Felt Soul Media -- the creators of other fishing-related documentaries such as Red Gold, Eastern Rises and Running Down the Man -- DamNation tells the story of the nation's aging, costly and ineffective dam infrastructure and the growing movement of river and habitat restoration through dam removal. On Thursday June 5, Patagonia will host a free screening of DamNation at 23 stores across the United States.

Screenings are scheduled in Patagonia retail stores in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Boulder, Cardiff, Chicago LP, Denver, Freeport, ME, Georgetown, Palo Alto, Pasadena, Portland, OR, Reno, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Seattle, New York City, St. Paul, Ventura, Washington, D.C. and Westport. The screenings are free and open to the public.

A Treasure is Trashed

by Chris Hunt - Tuesday, Jun 3rd, 2014

A liquid drain opener bottle sits in the sargassum on South Padre Island.

There's a perfectly usable Weber kettle barbecue grill resting amid a modern-day midden heap on the beach ready for the taking--it's right around mile marker No. 4, just north of where the road out of town ends in a trashy dunescape on the Gulf side of South Padre Island.

Apparently, the folks who abandoned it didn't need it anymore. They also left a gently used camp chair and all of their garbage, presumably from a Memorial Day weekend on the island. They just bagged it up and decided they didn't have room in the truck to take it to a Dumpster in town. Since they left it, every raccoon and coyote and jackrabbit has pilfered through the refuse, creatively spreading it across the sand and sargassum. There's a motor oil bottle here. A six-pack ring there. Is that a bottle of liquid drain cleaner?

The only ingredient missing is the the weeping Indian standing atop a dune and surveying the makeshift landfill. There are apparently no consequences for litterers. No incentives to stop it. No precedent to follow. There is garbage everywhere. Not just a Coke can here or a stray water bottle there. It's everywhere.

And it's gross.

2014 Fly Fishing Photo Contest Launches

by Chad Shmukler - Monday, Jun 2nd, 2014

Last year's grand prize winning image, 'First Fish' by Stu Hastie is seen above.

It has only been around six months since last year's contest closed but it already seems like ages since we got to pore through your fly fishing photos, picking out our favorites as we go. So, we're very pleased to kick off our third annual fly fishing photo contest. Each year the contest brings together some amazing fly fishing photography from across the globe and gives us the privilege of showcasing it.

And we've done our best to motivate even more of you to send your photos in this year. The 2014 grand prize winner will walk away with more prizes than the entire field of winners from last year. Led by the Orvis Helios 2 fly rod, the grand prize package also includes a reel from Cheeky Fly Fishing, Smith Optics' new ChromaPop sunglasses and one of Scientific Anglers new Sharkwave fly lines. The first place winner (runner up) will take home everything the grand prize winner does, minus the Helios 2, and the prizes taper down from there. In all, four winning photos will be selected.

Muddy Waters

by Steve Zakur - Thursday, May 29th, 2014

Muddy Water

The sound of rain on the roof is a sweet sound that I desperately miss during the time of year when all that can be expected from the sky is something frozen. That said, there's a time and place for everything and Wednesday is never a good day for rain. Neither is Thursday or Friday for that matter. All rain should fall on Sunday or Monday. Tuesday at the absolute latest. In that way all that water can run downhill by Saturday morning and the weekend, the blessed weekend, will find the streams well behaved and the trout in their usual spots.

The Hendrickson's have already been missed and the later hatches are getting started. There's an anxiousness that fills the mid-section as one looks for the intersection of flows and hatches and time off and sees little to be excited about. When a day free from labor hits and the water is the color of chocolate milk the rational mind says to tend to undone chores. In the grand scheme of things missing a day of fishing isn't the end of the world, but it's a Sunday afternoon and there's that bile that has accumulated and it has to be dealt with.

Review: Simms G3 Guide Boot

by Steve Zakur - Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

A few years ago all the manufacturers changed their wading boot soles from felt to rubber. This seismic moment in the industry was not prompted by new materials or consumer demand but rather by a threat to fisheries; Didymosphenia geminata. The assumption that didymo was being carried from far off places to domestic streams via angling equipment -- felt soles were the great demon -- prompted the action. It turns out that greater forces than anglers may have had a larger effect on the increased presence of this nuisance diatom. According to recent research by Queen's University in Ontario global climate change has a hand in didymo blooms. Climate change induced changing ice cover and nutrient loads both create more favorable conditions for the blooms. I don't think this lets anglers off the hook, but it's worth considering for many reasons.

I first started using Simms wading boots when the last generation of G3s were introduced. I purchased them originally as my fair weather boot, wearing a boxier alternative during cold weather, but the fit and features of the G3 soon made it the boot that ruled my wadered foot. When that pair needed to be retired this year I didn't hesitate to pick up the newest incarnation of the G3. I've fished it about twenty times in the past few months and am pleased with the purchase.