Articles

Meditating on the hunt

Hunting, by basic definition, is not a sporting endeavor

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Tuesday, Nov 14th, 2017

Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain

It was that distinct big-hound bawl booming up from the hollow that got my attention. The sound rolled over top of choppy beagle barks and brought my focus to the mountain bench below. Gripping the shotgun, I focused every bit of my 10-year-old awareness on that Ozark bench and waited as plumes of vapor drifted up with every ragged breath. Dry oak leaves crunched with the rhythm of a running deer. But before I could shoulder the old 16 gauge, the brown form dashed across my lane of view and that familiar white flag of defeat waved goodbye.

This is real silence

Hunters need the mountaintops like fishermen need the valleys

by Domenick Swentosky - Tuesday, Nov 7th, 2017

Photo: Austin Dando

I fish, so I love the valleys. The further you travel upstream and into the mountains, the narrower become the ravines and gullies where trout live. The streams turn to a trickle, leaving a soggy riverbed upstream of flowing water. And somewhere above that is a dry floor of cracked mud, littered with dead leaves and smooth rocks. You can keep going, but before you know it, there’s no stream at all, and you find yourself walking a wooded hollow leading to the top of a mountain.

Iceland for anglers: Virgin fish

How changing traditions change a fishery

by Kris Millgate - Monday, Nov 6th, 2017

The Husey River has four beats. Laxhylur is one of them (photo: Kris Millgate).

I'm situated on a bump of grass rooting its way into the Fljótaá River. My earthen perch is barely bigger than my boots so my balance is precarious. Despite wobbling, I'm content concentrating on the current in front of me. I don't have to worry about snags on my back cast because there are no trees in Iceland. No shade either, but it's the island's first cold snap so I welcome the sun seeping over the top of surrounding ridges dusted white overnight after the northern lights went to bed.

Beads are the best

Flies tied with beads almost always outfish their counterparts, but why?

by Domenick Swentosky - Tuesday, Oct 31st, 2017

Photo: Domenick Swentosky

I’ll fish any fly. Really, I’ll fish anything. I have zero hang ups about synthetic materials or fluorescent colors. I don’t care if the fly is fur and feathers or nylon and silicone. If a plastic minnow caught more trout than a Pheasant Tail nymph, I’d fish it. But the Pheasant Tail is better. Trust me. I’ve fished a lot of nymphs and too many plastic minnows.

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