Articles

Review: Orvis Clearwater fly rod and reel

Orvis' new entry-level rod and reel outfit is a clear winner
Photo: Spencer Durrant

The 9’5wt Orvis Clearwater deserves an article’s worth of accolades, but if nothing else this rod proves a surprising truth:

Orvis has, for the moment, lept to the front of the pack in the arms race that is manufacturing fly fishing tackle. Top to bottom, Orvis’ offerings outdo or match even the fiercest competition, and the updated Orvis Clearwater is perhaps the best example of this resurgence.

The Hatch Magazine scholarship

If you want to learn from the best, throw your hat in the ring
Photo: Tim Romano

Hatch Magazine has been preaching the same message for years: anglers who want to become more effective have to pay the piper. That means grabbing your gear, heading for the river, and putting in your time on the water. Nothing beats personal experience, or learning from the mistakes that we all make. Unfortunately, though, it can take decades to gain enough experience, while very few of us have the freedom to spend an unlimited amount of time on the water.

Fly fishing books everyone should read

A few essentials of fly fishing literature
Photo: Spencer Durrant

A few weeks back, I sat in my Monday afternoon contemporary American literature class while we discussed the current renaissance of love for the American West in film and literature. The class is small, required for my major, and I’m a junior in college, so everyone knows me as that “guy who writes about fish and killing elk.”

I protest that I only hunt elk; killing one is lucky.

So, the class deferred discussion to me when our professor said, “Give me some examples of your favorite contemporary Western literature.”

Eleven pounds of attitude

Letting genetics take over
Photo: John Klus

One night a few years ago John Klus walked into his home on Lake Waubesa, Wisconsin, and thought, "Why is there a mouse running around in my living room?" The next thing Klus knew his wife, Sarah, was scooping up the mouse in her arms, a mouse that upon closer inspection turned out to be a dachshund puppy.

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