Articles

Forgetting to remember

If nothing else, we can maintain our priorities

by Tom Davis - Saturday, Jun 1st, 2024

Photo: Matt Shaw / Matt Shaw Creative.

The dead tree that had fallen over the river was messing up my ability to fish the pool and generally pissing me off. It was pretty skeletal and rickety-looking, though, so it occurred to me that I might be able to break off at least the top portion—enough to create a casting lane. This stream improvement project would render the pool a dead zone for the immediate future but it had the potential to pay big dividends that evening if the Brown Drake hatch I was hoping for materialized. That was my thinking at the time, anyway.

St. Croix outs new dry fly-focused TECHNICA fly rods

The Wisconsin-based rodmaker is touting a best-of-all worlds design for anglers

by Hatch Magazine - Friday, May 31st, 2024

Photo: St. Croix.

St. Croix is rolling out its second major rod series since the rodmaker announced its “return” to fly fishing scarcely over two years ago. Like its award-winning EVOS series, a fast-action performer built for demanding saltwater and freshwater conditions, the Wisconsin-based rodmaker’s newest series is built using MITO functionalized graphene, a technology exclusive to St. Croix.

Tying flies you can see

You don’t require a purist’s blessing to go fly fishing

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, May 29th, 2024

Photo: Chris Hunt

A couple of summers ago, hunched over my tying vise high in the Caribou National Forest, I diverted from my usual Stimulator recipe and kind of went rogue. There were two reasons for my deviation. First, I realized that I’d finally reached an advanced enough age to where my eyesight — even with corrective lenses — was impacting my ability to see dry flies intended for the cutthroats I’d spent a couple of days chasing. Second, I’d just refilled a giant insulated cup with my third vodka and Sprite Zero cocktail, and my brain was just altered enough to consider something different.

Roatan's silvery treasure

Off the coast of Honduras lies an island rich with history and fly fishing opportunity

by Chris Hunt - Saturday, May 25th, 2024

Photo: Earl Harper.

In 1638, the British established a colony on the southern coast of Roatan. Officially, the settlers of Old Port Royal were directed to harvest timber from the forested slopes of the island. Unofficially, the colonists invested quite a bit of time in piracy — Spanish galleons loaded with Central American treasure were frequently intercepted and ambushed, and the treasure often never left the Caribbean.

Fish with someone better than you

Want to up your skills? Hit the water with anglers whose talent exceeds your own.

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, May 23rd, 2024

Photo: Chad Shmukler

I love fishing with really good anglers — anglers who possess those innate fly fishing traits that, while they can be taught, come more naturally to some than to others. It’s fun to watch a really good angler with a butter-smooth cast unleash a haymaker across the river. It’s enjoyable to watch someone with a lot of experience in the salt not only put the cast on the money, but then spend the next half hour battling a big tarpon to the boat.