Articles

How to prepare your camper for the season

Making sure your RV's systems are in tip top shape for another year on the road
Photo: Chris Hunt

Six years ago, I bought a small camper — a hard-sided 15-footer with a “hybrid” pullout that made it just about right for one or two people who wanted a few creature comforts but didn’t need the overall “glamping” accoutrement to enjoy time in the woods.

Basically, those comforts consisted of indoor plumbing — a quick daily shower and the ability to enjoy the morning constitutional without digging a cat hole and enduring a swarm of mosquitos bearing down on my naked rear end.

Review: Irish Setter MudPaw boots

Even with hyper-specialized footwear for everything outdoors, we still need a do-it-all performer
Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain

Way back in elementary school days, I owned only three pairs of shoes: school shoes, after-school shoes, and Sunday-go-to-meetin’ shoes. Items one and three are self-explanatory and were worn only within those narrow and rigidly defined parameters. The after-school shoes were for everything else. And I mean everything.

A blue-winged olive trio

How to fish a blue-winged olive (BWO) hatch
An epic BWO hatch on a cold, miserable spring day on Utah's Green River (photo: Anderson Thomas).

Spring provides a fresh start. A rebirth, if you will. Warmer days and greening of the landscape tells me hatches are on the way. For my home waters and countless other trout streams across the country, the blue-winged olive hatch is one of the season’s first, but it’s also one that provides excellent fishing from the top of the river to the bottom. Not all hatches provide this full-column of opportunity—where trout actively feed on nymphs, then emergers, and finally adults.

Is your fly fishing gear ready for the season?

A checklist and maintenance tips to make sure your gear is ready to go when you are
Photo: Chad Shmukler

If you’re like me, and the one fishing outing you took in January was so cold and miserable that you uttered some semblance of, “I’m too old for this shit,” stowed your gear and waited for spring, now’s the time to pull it out of the closet and get it ready. Spring has sprung across many parts of the country, and it won’t be long until we’re itching to get out and enjoy some fishing with the sunshine on our backs and the fly rod guides free of ice. Having your gear ready to go when you hit the water is a nice way to start a new season.

The flats angler's guide to middle-shelf rum

Forget Kalik, drink the good stuff
Photo: Chad Shmukler

For a lot of landlocked, would-be flats anglers, the last year or so has made travel to the warm, sunny places where bonefish and permit swim impossible, ill-advised, or otherwise difficult. Like most, I have only been able to fantasize about a flats trip. But, with coronavirus vaccination rates accelerating and pandemic-related restrictions easing, those dreams are inching closer to reality.

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