Articles

Failing florida’s fisheries and fishing industries

How the fishing capital of the world became a pollution capital

by Captain Mike Connor - Wednesday, Mar 16th, 2016

An Everglades baby tarpon (photo: Dan Decibel).

In much of Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay National Park, the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and Pine Island Sound, there's far less need to tie weedguards on your flies these days. Because of South Florida’s antiquated water management system, which is mostly designed to provide irrigation and flood control at the expense of Everglades ecosystems, the seagrass meadows in these iconic flats-fishing destinations are fast disappearing.

The dirty dozen

12 proven nymphs to catch trout anywhere

by George Daniel - Tuesday, Mar 15th, 2016

Photo: Chad Shmukler

"Keep it simple” is a mantra often recited by many a fly fisher but rarely actually practiced. Let's face it, most anglers love collecting stuff and lots of it. In particular, fly patterns have long been a desired object to tie and or/collect. As I continue to travel more and meet new fly fishers- fly patterns are often the focus point of our discussions.

You can never have enough flies is what many say, but is there such a thing as too many flies? As a recovering fly hoarder, I can say without certainty that yes, you can have too many flies.

Review: Winston Boron III LS fly rod

When pressed to name your favorite trout rod, which do you pick?

by Ben Kryzinski - Friday, Mar 11th, 2016

Fishing the Boron IIIx LS on Patagonia's Rio Frey (Photo: Chad Shmukler).

I get asked fairly often what I think the world's best trout rod is. You want to hear about it? Sweet. Here’s what you need to know.

Angler 1: “Man, I love blue.”

Angler 2: “Blue is okay, but red is better.”

Angler 3: “You guys are smoking opium. Black is, like, the best.”

Angler 4: “No, it’s orange, with a hint of purple, just like a gorgeous summer sunset on the California coast.”

Casting a tenkara rod

The design of a tenkara rod makes casting a simpler and more intuitive process

by Tom Sadler - Thursday, Mar 10th, 2016

Photo: Tenkara USA

Casting demonstrations are a great way to introduce tenkara. For the last couple of years, I have had the good fortune to do tenkara casting demos at The Fly Fishing Shows in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival.

Among the myriad benefits of fishing with a tenkara rod is how easy the rod is to cast. While the fundamental casting principles still apply, the simplicity of the outfit; just a rod and a line, make casting a very simple and intuitive process.

Trout Unlimited's American Ninja Lumberjack

Surely there's a typo there somewhere

by Mark Taylor - Wednesday, Mar 9th, 2016

When he was playing college football, Phil Thomas didn’t exactly stand out among his peers, at least size-wise.

“I was 6 feet tall, about 220 pounds,” said Thomas, who was a relative shrimp on the defensive line at Division III Waynesburg University. But at a couple of recent athletic competitions Thomas has felt differently.

The past two seasons Thomas has been invited to the trials for American Ninja Warrior, a popular TV show based on a competition that originated in Japan.