Articles

In the belly of the brown

Are brown trout eating too many native, western cutthroat trout?
Bradley Stokes, Idaho Department of Fish and Game fisheries intern, analyzes the contents of a brown trout’s belly. Three white fish and some bugs (photo: Kris Millgate).

Long, stringy probes drop down. A loud, gassy generator starts up. The jet boat’s captain applies throttle and the work begins. It’s a frenzied few minutes of fish going belly up while electricity streaming into the water stuns them long enough for quick capture.

One full net after another empties into the tub in the middle of the boat. Spawning rainbows, native cutthroats, pucker-lipped whitefish and predatory browns stewing together in the after shock.

Review: Korkers rear-entry Hatchback wading boot

Korkers' reinvents getting your wading boots on and off
Korker's rear-entry Hatchback wading boots, overlooking Utah's Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (photo: Ryan Kelley / @VisitFlamingGorge).

Korkers made waves in the angling community when they announced their rear-entry wading boot which features a BOA lace system located on the back of the boot. Many people, myself included, questioned that design choice. Laces on the front work. Why mess with a good thing?

Gear tips to elevate or start your smallmouth game

An all smallmouth gear primer: rods, reels, lines, flies and more
Photo: Matthew Reilly

When I started fly fishing I didn’t have a lot of gear. I didn’t have much money, and I didn’t have a driver’s license—let alone a car—to get me places that weren’t within a few hours’ walking distance. It was just me, a pair of boots, and a three- and five-weight with a handful of flies I’d built myself, not following the directions in the fly tying books.

Finding Buddha on the Sauk

What do you mean you cannot buy beer before 6AM?
Photo: Dave McCoy

I work like a dog between two jobs and never get to do any of the things that I'm working so hard to get to do. So when my buddy Buddha asks about fishing the Sauk before closing day tomorrow and do I want to come, I answer “hellyeah.” I refinish floors until midnight, pack, go to bed, get up at 3 and pace until 5:30 when I can take off.

The show circuit

How fly fishing expos help protect and build a future for anglers
The East Idaho Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo hosts 140 fly tiers in Idaho Falls, Idaho (photo: Kris Millgate).

I’m the minority in age and gender at this show, but I don’t mind. I know a majority of the faces at the East Idaho Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo and they all have a smile and story for me. I talk hockey with Arn, drones with Roger and beer with Lonnie. All this before I make it halfway around the fly tying tables.

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