Articles

Fishing the frigid: Tips for winter fly fishing success

How to adapt your tactics and approach for better winter fishing

by George Daniel - Saturday, Jan 25th, 2025

Photo: George Daniel.

Successfully transitioning into the cold season usually means adapting your fly-fishing approach. This doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your gear and tactics, but every season presents a new set of variables. As the seasons change, trout water can seem like a labyrinth — one that is constantly morphing, often making it feel impossible to navigate. The path that worked yesterday suddenly closes, forcing you to take another route. But one of the things that makes fly fishing so exciting is how the same body of water is always changing.

Sage intros new CLASSIC R8 fly rods

Sage's newest R8-built rod aims to conjure up the good old days

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, Jan 23rd, 2025

The new Sage CLASSIC R8 fly rod (photo: Far Bank Enterprises).

A noteworthy development out of Bainbridge Island this week: Sage just dropped a new fly rod, and it’s not a rocket-fast stick that can send a lead-eye Clouser at you so quickly that it might leave an exit wound. The company just introduced its new Sage CLASSIC R8, a throwback fly rod that’s intentionally slower and designed to be cast by anglers who fish deliberately. Sage says the new rod is “a culmination of our most advanced materials, componentry, and application-specific tapers to date,” while paying homage to Sage’s long and illustrious history as a premium rod builder.

Explainer: The 11th hour approaches for the Okefenokee

A proposed dragline mining operation continues to threaten one of the nation's wildest places

by Chris Hunt - Saturday, Jan 18th, 2025

Photo: Carol Highsmith / LOC.

The effort to stop a dragline mining project on the fragile fringes of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and its namesake blackwater swamp is just over five years old, and Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals LLC already has draft mining permits in hand. Despite recent efforts from the U.S.

Fly Fishing Show 2025 tour kicks off: Dates and details

The annual gathering of brands, fly shops, presenters, fly tyers, and anglers starts this weekend

by Hatch Magazine - Wednesday, Jan 15th, 2025

Photo: Ben Furmisky.

The 2025 tour of the annual Fly Fishing Show kicks off this weekend, January 17-19, in Marlborough, MA. The show’s customary first stop will showcase the usual vast array of gear makers, fly shops, specialty dealers, presenters, fly tyers, and much more. This year’s opening act will also feature a record $100,000 in door prizes, to be awarded to a handful of lucky show attendees.

Finding the comforts of winter fishing — Part I

Tips for staying comfortable, safe, and making the most of cold-weather fishing

by George Daniel - Tuesday, Jan 14th, 2025

Photo: George Daniel.

I’d be lying if I told you I love fly fishing during the winter. Maybe, in my teens or twenties, I loved the isolation and the challenge of fishing in harsh conditions. That’s not the case now. As my predecessors explained to me years ago, a cold environment and an aging body don’t mix well. My winter fishing has grown more painful with every lap around the sun. These days, winter also doesn’t provide the solitude it once did, as more anglers take up the sport and realize that good fishing can be had even when temperatures plummet.