Articles

Interview: Montana Brothers Rodworks' Dan and Doug Daufel

An interview with two of the world’s most interesting fly rod designers

by Todd Tanner - Thursday, Feb 2nd, 2023

Photo: Dale Spartas

For at least the last 30 years, the majority of fly rod manufacturers have moved in the same general direction. Fly rods have grown stiffer and faster, which means they require more force to bend and they’re harder to cast. At the same time, the consensus among America’s top anglers seems clear. Today’s rods are not as much fun to fish.

EPA issues final determination blocking development of Pebble Mine

Thirteen years later, Pebble Mine's millions of opponents finally have something to cheer about

by Hatch Magazine - Tuesday, Jan 31st, 2023

Spawning sockeye salmon gather at a creek mouth in a lake in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Thirteen years after tribal communities in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska first petitioned the federal government to use its authority under the Clean Water Act to protect the watershed from the threats posed by the proposed Pebble Mine, those communities finally have something to celebrate. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized 404(c) Clean Water Act protections that will stop the proposed Pebble Mine from being built at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.

Trophies

The night I fished Alligator Bend with the men of letters

by Tim Schulz - Saturday, Jan 28th, 2023

Photo: Tim Schulz.

When my friend Jerry Dennis invited me to join him and his friends Chad Pastotnik, James McCullough, and Tim Tebeau for a few days on the Trophy Waters of the Au Sable River, I worried I’d be out of place in this group of tremendously talented writers and artists. But like Jerry, his friends’ kindness and humility matched their accomplishments. I would be okay.

Book review: Fly fishing Houston and southeast Texas

A guide to urban fly fishing in one of the U.S.'s largest metropolitan areas

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, Jan 26th, 2023

Photo: Chris Hunt

The directions were a bit odd for a meet-up to go fishing. I’ve joined fishing buddies at campsites, mile markers, highway intersections and rural road crossings. I’ve met up at bars and convenience stores. Once I met a buddy from Utah at an abandoned liquor store in the middle of nowhere in southeast Wyoming.

But Rob McConnell’s directions for me as I drove north out of Houston were the strangest I’d ever heard.

Gold medal fisheries take the booby prize for access

The Gunnison and Taylor Rivers, recently designated as gold medal fisheries, suffer from significant access issues

by Chris Hunt - Monday, Jan 23rd, 2023

Photo: Justin Forman

In late August of 1989, I sat on the end of my bed inside my Crystal Hall dorm room enduring a bout of internal strife. My roommate hadn’t showed up, and it looked like I might have a single room for my first semester at Western State College of Colorado (Now Western Colorado University). Beer? Or fishing?

I know, I know, don’t they go together like feet and socks? Yes, but this is a nuanced story, so bear with me.