Articles

Review: Vedavoo Beast Sling Pack

Everything you need and nothing you don't makes Jack a happy angler

by Paul Snyder - Monday, May 8th, 2017

Photo: Yoshinori Nakazawa

Long before I started taking gear into the field with the intention of writing about it, I was pack obsessed. As manufacturers have refined their designs over the last decade or so, advancements in build, comfort, weight and features have often been hard to resist. 10 years or so later, and the packs we anglers get to choose from before we head out to to water are better than they’ve ever been.

Seafood Watch downgrades (some) wild steelhead to "avoid"

Monterey Bay Aquarium's decision is a step in the right direction, but far from enough

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, May 5th, 2017

Photo: Gary Vonherohe

Anglers are a group that seem to need constant reminders of how influential they can be when organized and motivated. Recently announced changes by Seafood Watch, a service provided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium that guides thousands of consumers in their seafood buying decisions, should serve as just such a reminder.

In the belly of the brown

Are brown trout eating too many native, western cutthroat trout?

by Kris Millgate - Thursday, May 4th, 2017

Bradley Stokes, Idaho Department of Fish and Game fisheries intern, analyzes the contents of a brown trout’s belly. Three white fish and some bugs (photo: Kris Millgate).

Long, stringy probes drop down. A loud, gassy generator starts up. The jet boat’s captain applies throttle and the work begins. It’s a frenzied few minutes of fish going belly up while electricity streaming into the water stuns them long enough for quick capture.

One full net after another empties into the tub in the middle of the boat. Spawning rainbows, native cutthroats, pucker-lipped whitefish and predatory browns stewing together in the after shock.

Review: Korkers rear-entry Hatchback wading boot

Korkers' reinvents getting your wading boots on and off

by Spencer Durrant - Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017

Korker's rear-entry Hatchback wading boots, overlooking Utah's Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (photo: Ryan Kelley / @VisitFlamingGorge).

Korkers made waves in the angling community when they announced their rear-entry wading boot which features a BOA lace system located on the back of the boot. Many people, myself included, questioned that design choice. Laces on the front work. Why mess with a good thing?

Gear tips to elevate or start your smallmouth game

An all smallmouth gear primer: rods, reels, lines, flies and more

by Matthew Reilly - Monday, May 1st, 2017

Photo: Matthew Reilly

When I started fly fishing I didn’t have a lot of gear. I didn’t have much money, and I didn’t have a driver’s license—let alone a car—to get me places that weren’t within a few hours’ walking distance. It was just me, a pair of boots, and a three- and five-weight with a handful of flies I’d built myself, not following the directions in the fly tying books.