Articles

The greatest outdoor writer you've (probably) never heard of

Mel Ellis was a popular and prolific writer who penned some 20 books, hundreds of magazine articles, and thousands of newspaper columns

by Tom Davis - Saturday, Mar 2nd, 2024

Photo: Mel Ellis with his wife Gwen at Little Lakes (photo: courtesy of the Ellis family).

A New York Times Service story credited Richard Hollingshead Jr., of Camden N.J., with opening the world’s first drive-in movie theater in 1933. I beg to differ. Ten years earlier, as a sprout of eleven, I was attending weekly movies at a drive-in theater in the all-but-deserted village of Dakota, which overlooks the Mecan River, one of a splendid network of small trout streams that meander through Wisconsin’s Waushara County.

Scott introduces new Session fly rods

The newest "fast meets feel" offering from Scott

by Hatch Magazine - Friday, Mar 1st, 2024

Photo: Scott Fly Rods.

Not to be outdone by new premium rod offerings from Sage and Orvis in recent months, Colorado-based Scott Fly Rods today launched its new Session line, promoting its new rods with a familiar “fast with feel” message. Despite the familiar description, Scott says it has incorporated some of its newest technologies to craft a unique fly rod that offers anglers an elevated experience.

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.