Articles

There will be flood

Shaping water within limits

by Kris Millgate - Monday, Apr 3rd, 2017

The Portneuf River, by definition, ceases to be a river as it throws through a cement chute in Pocatello (Photo: Kris Millgate).

Counties south of me are filling sand bags because the Snake River could bulge banks this spring. The Portneuf River will probably do the same. The Portneuf washes over more than 120 miles in southeastern Idaho. From the willows it weaves through in the high country, to the cement chute it is shackled to in Pocatello, the Portneuf is a waterway that struggles.

Owning a boat: Why you should, and shouldn't

The fly fishing pros and cons of taking the leap into boat ownership

by Mike Hodge - Wednesday, Mar 29th, 2017

Photo: Mike Hodge

We all want what we can’t—or don’t—have. It’s human nature. I thought fly fishing would settle me enough that I wouldn’t thirst for more, but it seems as if there’s always a better way to catch more fish.

I started out wading, then went to a kayak, then a canoe, then a paddleboard and finally a boat. Twenty five years after my first cast, I graduated to a skiff, a 14-foot Riverhawk.

Dreaming Maine

Discovering a classic northern landscape

by Matthew Reilly - Tuesday, Mar 28th, 2017

Photo: Matthew Reilly

As a fly fisherman I do a lot of dreaming—of fish I’ve yet to catch, fish I’ve caught, and fish I’ve gotten to know personally, even without catching them. I dream of places—places I’ve been and fallen in love with, places I’ve not yet been, and places I’ll probably never have the chance to touch.

Rain gear required

Big storms equal big fish

by Kris Millgate - Monday, Mar 27th, 2017

Thunder bumpers are common in spring on Idaho’s Henry’s Fork of the Snake River (photo: Kris Millgate).

It’s late afternoon in early spring and bad weather is coming in quick. The wind picks up as bright sun slides behind dark clouds. I recognize the overpowering signs of wet trouble rumbling down the canyon, but I’m not rowing away from it. Neither should you.

A late Winter's day dream

You might want to think of this story as an utter fabrication

by Todd Tanner - Wednesday, Mar 22nd, 2017

Since the odds are pretty good that you don’t live down the road in northwestern Montana, you might want to think of this story as a complete and utter fabrication. After all, it’s not likely that there’s a ton of snow outside your window right now, right? Your weather in Virginia or Texas or California or wherever you happen to be reading this probably doesn’t owe half it’s punch to a northern Pacific rain event and the other half to an Arctic front that extends from the Washington/ Idaho border all the way to eastern Minnesota.