Articles

New fly fishing gear: December 2023

What's new on and off the water this month

by Hatch Magazine - Monday, Dec 11th, 2023

Patagonia's latest incarnation of its beloved Black Hole line of bags (photo: Tim Davis).

Fly fishing manufacturers aren’t taking the holidays off. Some intriguing items are new in December, including a premium saltwater fly rod from a legacy rod maker, the latest incarnation of a beloved line of do-everything bags and packs, and an interesting riverside coffee-making kit for those cold winter mornings on the river. Check out the new gear that caught our eye this month.

Excessive mercury found in smallmouth bass near Snake River dams

New research highlights another negative environmental impact of dams

by Chris Hunt - Friday, Dec 8th, 2023

Hells Canyon dam on the Snake River (photo: Sam Beebe / cc2.0 modified).

As if Idaho’s Snake River isn’t facing enough environmental challenges, a new study now shows how mercury is accumulating in the river’s prized smallmouth bass fishery thanks to an ecological cocktail exacerbated by warming reservoirs and decaying algae.

Hard-earned

Woodcock are where you find them

by Tom Davis - Thursday, Dec 7th, 2023

Welcome to Wisconsin (photo: Tom Davis).

The ground had glittered with frost when we started hunting; now, the shadows were beginning to lengthen, and not only was my gamebag still empty, my barrels weren’t even dirty. We—meaning my English cocker spaniel, Rumor, and I—had moved exactly one woodcock all day, a bird whose twittering rise I heard distinctly but whose pear-plump form I was unable to “find,” visually, through the gray, thickly massed ranks of popple.

Patagonia is asking Americans to act today to protect the Western Arctic Reserve

The public comment period on proposed new protections for the Alaskan arctic ends tomorrow, December 7

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Dec 6th, 2023

Photo: Peter Mather.

America’s largest contiguous swath of public land is facing an uncertain future thanks to a recently approved plan to drill for oil and gas on its fringes — the notorious Willow project has a green light from the U.S. government, pushing industrial activity closer to some of the wildest land left in America.

She and I, on the fly

The YMCA of the Rockies is helping to increase angler access to affordable guided trips and female guides

by Erica Zazo - Sunday, Dec 3rd, 2023

Taylor Hames, a guide for Sasquatch Fly Fishing at YMCA of the Rockies (photo: Erica Zazo)

I watch the season's first snowfall roll over Rocky Mountain National Park as I make my way down U.S. 36 into Estes Park. I’m in awe of the white tundra that sweeps across the jagged mountain peaks and clashes with bright yellow aspens still covering the landscape. Between breaks in the fast-moving clouds, intermittent bursts of morning sunshine illuminate the face of Longs Peak and The Mummy Range.