Articles

Tips for fishing this year's epic runoff

Don't let heavy — even unusually heavy — spring flows keep you on the sidelines

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Apr 19th, 2023

Photo: Alex Knull.

Spring runoff in the Rockies and in many other parts of the country promises to be epic this year—some areas may not see perfectly fishable flows until mid-July. Nobody's complaining, mind you. A big winter will fill depleted reservoirs and buy some time for our imperiled trout.

But fishing on many rivers, particularly those that aren't tailwaters, is going to be tough until we get over the snowmelt hump. Even so, patient and crafty fly fishers can find trout in high,dirty water if they employ the proper techniques.

Redington releases new WRANGLER fly rod + combo kit

Redington adds a new option to its lineup of river-ready combo kids

by Hatch Magazine - Tuesday, Apr 18th, 2023

Photo: Farbank Enterprises.

We noted in our recent overview of new fly fishing for April 2023 that Redington seems content to lean into its offering of combo kits designed to simplify the process of getting on the water. Evidently, we were reading the tea leaves correctly, as nary a week later, Redington has introduced another new combo kit featuring its brand-new Wrangler fly rod.

New fly fishing gear: April 2023

What's new on the water this month

by Hatch Magazine - Saturday, Apr 15th, 2023

Photo: Farbank Enterprises.

It’s spring. Depending on where you live, you might already be sweltering in near-record temperatures or still heading out to scrape ice and snow off your windshield in the morning. But regardless of where you call home, the rivers are calling to many of us. Manufacturers don’t care where it snowed last night, and they’re pushing forward with a host of new items for the eager-beaver fly anglers out there. Whether you’re in the market for a new fly rod, a new tenkara rod, some new outerwear or a new pair of wading boots, or something else, we got you covered.

As glaciers retreat, new streams for salmon

Ecologist Sandy Milner has traveled to Alaska for decades to study the development of streams flowing from melting glaciers

by Lesley Evans Ogden - Friday, Apr 14th, 2023

After a day of sampling for aquatic invertebrates, researchers head along a creek in Alaska to their boat anchored in Glacier Bay. The ecology of Wolf Point Creek, which emerged from a melting glacier, has been studied for decades (photo: Lesley Evans Ogden).

Pushing off from the dock on a boat called the Capelin, Sandy Milner’s small team of scientists heads north, navigating through patchy fog past a behemoth cruise ship. As the Capelin slows to motor through humpback whale feeding grounds, distant plumes of their exhalations rise from the surface on this calm July morning. Dozens of sea otters dot the water. Lolling on backs, some with babes in arms, they turn their heads curiously as the boat speeds by.

It looked like he knew what he was doing

Some anglers are no match for the most challenging hatches

by Tim Schulz - Tuesday, Apr 11th, 2023

Photo: Tim Schulz.

I have a friend who casts a fly for neither distance nor accuracy nor stealth. Aside from those limitations, he’s a splendid fisherman. It’s not for lack of strength or dexterity or intellect that he casts with less than average skill. Warren is a farm boy from Catawba, Wisconsin, and he has the farm-boy frame you’d expect: bone, muscle and gristle. He learned to play ice hockey and fly airplanes in his forties.