Articles

Getting your fly gear organized and ready for a new year on the water

Tips on getting your lines, fly boxes, and more ready for the coming season
Photo: Chad Shmukler

Every winter I look forward to prepping for the upcoming fly fishing season. I like to set the stage for a successful season with gear maintenance and preparation. For me, organization is the key to an enjoyable time on the water. There are those who can excel in a chaotic and disorganized environment, but unfortunately, I’m not one of them. The only way I can reduce my anxiety and increase my enjoyment on the water is to maintain some level of fly gear organization.

Could mining impact the Okefenokee?

Have the Trump administration's Clean Water Act rollbacks left one of America's greatest wildernesses in peril?
A boat motors through the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia (photo: Tim Parkinson / cc2.0)

A century ago, the Hebard Cypress company razed what was then considered a nuisance swamp in southeast Georgia of its pond cypress. Some 400 million feet of timber was removed in total, and all this after a canal was dredged to drain the swamp altogether. The former effort was abandoned after only 11 miles had been dug. The idea, of course, was to turn this inconvenient swath of wetlands real estate into timber farms and croplands.

Thankfully, it didn’t work out that way.

Korkers outs new tactically-inspired River Ops wading boot

A bevy of new and existing tech combine in Korkers' latest wading boot
Photo: Korkers

Korkers is one of only a handful of brands in the world of fly fishing that seems intent on continuous innovation. It seems that rarely does a year go by where Korkers hasn’t found and managed to bring to market a meaningful new way to improve the fit, comfort, function, or durability of wading boots—the one piece of fishing gear that probably takes more abuse than any other.

Fly fishing and wind: What to do when it blows

Tips on how to adapt your fly angling on days when the wind kicks in
Photo: Dave McCoy

“Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!” — William Butler Yeats

I don’t care where you live, or which fly rods you use, or what species of fish you like to chase. There’s not a fly fisher alive who wants to wake up in the morning and hear these three words.

“Damn, it’s blowing.”

Wind is a serious problem for anglers. The more it howls, the harder it is to cast. The harder it is to cast, the harder it is to fish effectively. That’s just the way it works.

When the Kenyan rains allow

Rainbow trout in Kenya's Aberdare National Park
Photo: Shane Townsend

“We shouldn’t be fishing this time of year,” John says as I lay my rod in the 4 x 4.

He’s right.

Desiccating drought and an unforgiving equatorial sun have set in and left the soil gunpowder dry. The thirst is indifferent and unyielding in its abuse. People suffer alongside dying animals in the talcum remnants of the maize crop. Farmers pray. And, the traditional rainmakers of the Luhya tribe work in secret. But the rains just won’t come. So, Kenya’s Gura – normally Africa’s fastest river – will give us uncharacteristic access to remote rainbows.

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