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Moving Water Poster

Artist Dave Hall has released the first poster in his Moving Water series to support the efforts of The Henry's Fork Foundation.

The first poster is titled "Dawn on the Henry's Fork", and it depicts a fog-laden Henry's Fork with the caption "If you're lucky, there are places you go back to."

In an interview with MidCurrent, Hall said he chose the image because most people will never have the chance to witness Henry's Fork at dawn.

"Anyone who's walked the Henry's Fork at dawn and any number of other rivers around the country knows that scene. It's gone when the sun's up and the air warms. It's ethereal and an experience I find extraordinarily beautiful."

Dennis plying the waters of Thailand (photo: David Lambroughton).

Umpqua Feather Merchants has announced that its founder Dennis Black passed away this morning.

Black is known as a pioneer of fly fishing who revolutionized the industry by working with over 150 expert tyers to increase the production of quality, hand-tied flies. Black's efforts throughout the years helped to reduce the negative stigma associated with flies tied overseas. Part of this accomplishment was driven by Black convincing American expert tyers to allow young women to tie their designs at his factory in India. Dennis is also known for rewarding the creativity and skill of professional tyers with his own unique royalty payment system.

In over 40 years, Black has worked with expert tyers, like Dave Whitlock, Mike Lawson and Randall Kaufmann, to build five separate fly-tying factories in India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Today Umpqua Feather Merchants is known for having some of the best fishing flies constructed of the best materials on the market. Black is also a commercial tyer himself and has been credited with launching the careers of many talented amateur and professional fly tyers.

A few of the test subjects from this year's field.

See our updated for 2015-2016 list of best fishing sunglasses.

As we’ve noted in previous “best of” features, that term should be taken with a grain of salt. Even though the internet is flush with lists of the best of this or that, the reality is that few -- if any -- of the outlets that publish such lists can claim to have sufficiently tested the field well enough to declare any one item the best.

What you’re reading is more accurately described as our favorite fishing sunglasses of 2013. That said, what follows represents a year of on-the-water testing of dozens of pairs of fishing sunglasses -- including offerings from a diverse array of manufacturers -- in a wide variety of circumstances and environments in which one might find themselves when pursuing their fishy quarry.

It’s also worth noting that we’re changing the format this year a bit. While we’ve previously highlighted specific pairs of sunglasses that we consider standouts amongst the crowd, this year we’re selecting the best lenses across a group of categories. The reality is, virtually every sunglass manufacturer offers a select set of lenses spread across a number of frames and, when it comes down to it, it's the lens that matters. Frames are not without consequence however, far from it, and given such we’ll be listing recommended frame choices for each of our selections.

Finally, if you're still making light of your fishing eyewear, stop. We've heard fishing guides describe high-quality, polarized sunglasses as equally important on-the-water gear as your rod, line and flies. Being able to see the fish you're after is often significantly more than half the battle. Even if it means stealing from your rod or reel budget in order to be able to head to the stream with high-quality sunglasses, doing so should be done without pause.

Enough housekeeping. On with the list.

The rod.

If you're a bamboo fly rod aficionado or would like to be but haven't been able to justify the lofty price tag that comes with bamboo, you can take a shot at winning on from the makers of the documentary Where the Yellowstone Goes. The filmmakers are giving away a custom made bamboo rod that was used in the film. Prizes in the contest include the rod, a Sweetgrass custom bamboo fly rod valued at $995, some copies of the movie's soundtrack on CD, and few other "goodies" donated by the contest's sponsors. If you're really intent on winning, participants who purchase anything from the online store before 12/25 will also receive an additional 5 extra entries for the giveaway.

Where the Yellowstone Goes follows fishing guide Robert Hawkins and his small crew as they travel the Yellowstone River, the longest free flowing river in the contiguous United States. Director Hunter Weeks (10 MPH, Ride the Divide) illustrates the lives of various locals living in cities and dwindling towns alongside the Yellowstone, while exploring the history and controversies of the famous watershed. The film has been called "joyous to funny to heartbreaking" by the Huffington Post.

Light Like Daggers

There’s no heat left in the sunshine by the time it reaches the bottom of Cattail. Every last joule has been poached by blue crystal skies and what finally descends is ice cube cold, diamond sharp. Light like daggers. If focused on tinder through a magnifying glass, it would freeze-dry and shatter rather than ignite.

The only warmth to be found leaks between interleaved wool and fleece, seeps through Gore-Tex and polypro, or vents through chapped lips in short jets of steam as we climb the icy stairways of water. How can one be so hot and so cold at the same time? Each extreme, heat and chill, feeds the other in the thermal yin and yang of insulating layers.

From an inner breast pocket, my old-man specs immerge, coated with a warm sheen of sweat that frosts almost audibly as glacial rays bend through the glass; lenses become lozenges more fitting in a tumbler of scotch than on the bridge of my nose. But the copper john needs to get deeper so I squint through the translucence and clumsily add another shot.

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