Articles

Scratching the silver itch

Sometimes the run comes, sometimes it doesn't

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, Jan 6th, 2022

Photo: Chris Hunt

The waterlogged, wrist-thick cedar branch probably came to rest on the gravel bar as the tide retreated. It’s a big tide on Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island — 15-foot fluctuations between high and low aren’t unheard of. But there it sat, this salt-soaked branch coated in sea slime and a few barnacles. It was heavy and sturdy. Just what I needed. I lifted the branch—about the size of a police baton—and brought it down swiftly on the head of the silver salmon I’d spent the last 20 minutes fighting, killing the fish instantly.

Dinner.

The double haul

Questions and answers

by John Juracek - Tuesday, Jan 4th, 2022

Photo: John Juracek

I spend a lot of time teaching fly casting, and the double haul frequently arises among students as a topic of discussion and questions. Many of the questions are ones that arise time and again. So, for anglers that might be wondering about the double haul and whether it’s worth incorporating into their fishing, here are some answers.

The 10 most read articles of 2021

Reader favorites from the past year

by Hatch Magazine - Sunday, Jan 2nd, 2022

Photo: Earl Harper / Harper Studios.

Remember when 2020 came to a close? When most of us eagerly put that pandemic-spiked year into the rearview mirror with zeal, assuming that 2021 would mark a return to all things normal? When we'd gather with friends, return to traveling the country and the globe, and work and play just as we had before a novel coronavirus showed up and turned life upside down? Well, that didn't exactly go to plan. But, at the same time, it didn't entirely not go to plan, either. Life did begin to return to normal—even if it happened more gradually than most of us would have liked or expected.

The Mertrout

All fly fishermen either have something to forget, or something to find

by Jon Tobey - Friday, Dec 31st, 2021

Photo: Mikkel William

Jared pulled off the road, tight to the blackberries, and smiled to himself. Sure, this might be the most famous piece of steelhead water in the world, but you could always find your own corner of the river if you were willing to work a little harder than the guys who stood shoulder-to-shoulder and then bitched about it.

Poppers in the salt might get you more than you bargained for

You can, and should, fish poppers in saltwater—but watch out

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Dec 29th, 2021

Photo: Chad Shmukler

Years ago, while fishing a giant flat in the backcountry of Long Island in the Bahamas, I came across my first “mud” — a busy conglomeration of jacks, snappers and barracudas, and a few bonefish — engaged in a mass of moving fish. SIlvery scales caught rays of sunshine and flashed them back into the heavens as they fed on a ball of bait. The larger fish, like the ‘cudas, were chasing the smaller fish that were probably chasing something even smaller, like bunker or shad.