Articles

Connections

by Steve Zakur - Wednesday, Jul 23rd, 2014

Yesterday afternoon I had the water to myself. During the dog days, the Farmington is one of the few local places to reliably find trout. Weekends it can be crowded but mid-week you can still find places to be alone. I fished and caught in solitude until rush hour. The road across the way, unnoticed through the afternoon, suddenly had a spurt of life. It was the only indication of the rhythm of elsewhere.

A little while later I heard commotion in the small lot behind me. Late of some workplace, three guys entered the pool above me. While they were a hundred yards off the quiet of the valley and the reflective quality of lazy water made their banter easily heard. These three took up what seemed like the usual spots and the cliche, stream-side taunts bounced back and forth. Portly guy was into fish quickly and rated a few hoots while his buddies struggled. Before long the abundance of the Farmington yielded bent rods for the lot of them.

Deep in the Weeds

by Mike Sepelak - Monday, Jul 21st, 2014

I fully expected to bump into Mowgli and Baloo, bopping their way through the jungle. Or to have some hideous children-of-the-corn moment. Or to simply lose my way in the sea of seven-foot black-eyed susans, never to be found again. It was delicious.

I'd asked Mac, somewhat skeptically, if waders were really necessary. My early glimpses of the sweet little stream seemed to belie the need to get wet, and it was bloody hot, but he had nodded and I reluctantly suited up. Good thing too, for without that slick outer surface I might still be out in that deep Wisconsin meadow, tightly wrapped in bright green tendrils.

Instead I slithered my way through the growth, pausing in the occasional gaps of matted grasses formed the night before by bedding deer, listening to the constant drone of bees, enjoying nose-to-nose stare downs with curious hummingbirds, and following the sound of running water - often the only clue that a stream was near.

IFTD 2014 'Best of Show' Winners Announced

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, Jul 18th, 2014

Sage's "Best of Show" winning SALT fly rod.

At its annual "party at the pond" last night, IFTD announced the winners of its new products showcase at this year's show. Over 1,000 attendees voted, selecting their pick for the best product in 28 different categories which included several new women-specific categories. Simms and Sage stood out from the crowd, with Simms walking away with seven total awards and Sage winning both fly rod categories as well as taking home 'Best of Show' honors for its new SALT fly rod series.

Other multiple category winners included Nautilus, which swept both fly reel categories and Fishpond, which received honors in both the chest pack/vest, eco-friendly product and the luggage categories. The full list of winners at the 2014 IFTD show in Orlando, Florida follows.

The Dog Days of August

by Todd Tanner - Thursday, Jul 17th, 2014

An angler makes his final casts to rising trout during sunset on the Missouri River in Montana.

A few months ago, while I was working on a climate essay for Fly Fisherman magazine, a well-known angler dropped me a note and mentioned that he no longer enjoys fishing the West during July and August. His reason? Summers out here have gotten too hot, and the fishing isn’t as good, or as reliable, as it used to be.

That’s a valid point, and while my buddies who own fly shops or guide services here in Montana don’t usually broadcast this info, I can tell you that our summers are indeed hotter and smokier than they used to be; a fact confirmed by our longterm temperature records and the increasing frequency of major wildfires. It also seems as if our winds are stronger, which makes sense. More heat in the atmosphere translates to more energy, and that energy has the potential to manifest itself as more wind.

Now as a story line, this pretty much sucks. The trends are heading in the wrong direction, at least for those of us who like cold mountain streams and rising trout, and barring strong, concerted action to reduce our fossil fuel emissions and put the breaks on climate change, the future is likely to be bleak. In other words, we’re not doing our kids or grandkids any favors by ignoring the overwhelming scientific consensus on global warming.

Chasing Lightning

by Steve Zakur - Wednesday, Jul 16th, 2014

There are days when the pull of the water is strong; the burden of the workaday world has tipped the balance and out of sorts I will go despite conditions, and hatches and the real possibility of catching. I go for other reasons, I tell myself, but mostly I go because I want to be shocked back to that other person by the charged particles delivered through a tense, alive line. I also go because, like most anglers, I am an optimist filled with hope.

Indiana isn't a very trouty place. That doesn't mean one can't find trout in the state, though I'm not sure you can, but it's not a destination that one would pick for an adventure if one were a trout angler. The long car drive to Indiana was for camaraderie and carp. There were likely other reasons too but those were the primary motivators that caused Jonny and I to drive thousands of miles during five days in June.

The fishing in Indiana was a bust. After a week of great company and mediocre angling we had only managed some smaller largemouth and a couple of handfuls of bluegills. Our lack of opportunity was primarily attributable to what the weather gods had delivered. The rivers throughout the region were muddy and full. The carp flats roiled, not from the fat bodies of eager fish, but wind driven flood waters. Even in the numerous lakes and ponds it appeared the fish were off of that something they were supposed to be on. Not far from downtown Indianapolis, we watched a large pod of carp feed in an unreachable eddy. In a way is was comforting to know that the fish were actually there. It was also deeply disturbing.