Articles

Skwala debuts RS and Carbon wading boots

With two new models, the Bozeman-based company enters the wading boot market for the first time

by Hatch Magazine - Wednesday, Apr 16th, 2025

The Skwala Carbon Wading Boot (photo: Skwala Fishing).

For several years now, we’ve been referring to Skwala Fishing using monikers like “upstart,” “relative newcomer” and so on. All the while, the Bozeman-based company has delivered a slew of innovative, over-engineered fly fishing gear that has been showered with praise by anglers that haven taken the leap into the great unknown. With Skwala now firmly established as one of fly fishing’s premier gear makers, it’s high time we dispense with descriptors that impugn the brand’s legitimacy — even if that was never the intent.

Federal judge hits the brakes on Trump’s plan to fast-track industrial fish farming

Advocates for marine health say aquaculture "has no place in U.S. ocean waters."

by Tristan Baurick - Saturday, Apr 12th, 2025

A large open water shellfish farm (photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images).

President Donald Trump’s first-term push to open the Gulf of Mexico and other federal waters to fish farming has come to a halt in the early days of his second term. Last month, a federal judge in Washington state ruled against a nationwide aquaculture permit the Trump administration sought in 2020.

Simms launches ReCast resale platform for pre-owned gear

The new platform will reduce costs for anglers and waste from discarded gear

by Hatch Magazine - Thursday, Apr 10th, 2025

Photo: Simms Fishing Products.

Quality outdoor gear comes at a price, both literally and figuratively. For anglers looking for high-performance apparel and equipment, cost is often a barrier to entry. The environment pays a price for our outdoor pursuits, as well, when apparel and equipment that we replace and dispose of ends up in landfills, where the polyester, plastics and other petroleum-based materials can take hundreds of years to decompose.

Dear Sycamore Brook

It's not me, it's you

by Stephen Sautner - Tuesday, Apr 8th, 2025

Photo: Jim Leedom.

Dear Sycamore Brook,

I hope you’ve been well. Yes, I’m not using your real name. I want to respect your privacy, and I think it’s better this way.

It’s hard for me to say this, but I’m going to stop seeing you. Please don’t be upset. We had a great five years, and I thank you for that. But things have changed.

Patagonia's wader repair tour wraps up this month

If the river runs through them, Patagonia has you covered

by Hatch Magazine - Friday, Apr 4th, 2025

Photo: Kern Ducote.

Patagonia, more than any other large apparel maker, has a history of encouraging its customers to keep their existing gear in action. Whether through advertising like its infamous “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign, its long-running Worn Wear program, partnerships with repair outfits like iFixit, online and other customer resources providing tips and instructions on how to mend common wear-and-tear, or through hands-on repair clinics and services, the Ventura-based company has long made sincere efforts to keep still-good apparel and other gear from ending up in a landfill prematurely.