Articles

New fly fishing gear: January 2023

Fresh gear to start the year

by Chad Shmukler - Thursday, Jan 12th, 2023

The new Patagonia Swiftcurrent Men's Wading Jacket (photo: Bryan Gregson).

Each year, after the holiday season is behind us all, many anglers start peering ahead. Ahead roughly, say, three or four months—to the somewhat rapidly approaching new fishing season. Or, if you’re a dedicated wintertime angler or live in parts of the country that remain hospitable to anglers throughout the entire year, fishing season never ends.

Giving a nod to both groups, manufacturers are rolling out new wares for the coming year. With rods, reels, waders, fly tying gear, and more, there’s plenty to pore over. Here are a few of this month’s highlights.

Sage intros new SALT R8 fly rod series

Sage's latest flagship saltwater series debuts with 9 brand-new models

by Hatch Magazine - Tuesday, Jan 10th, 2023

Photo: Dylan Schmitz.

Sage announced today its latest flagship rod series, the Sage SALT R8. The new series will replace the venerated SALT HD in Sage’s lineup. Leveraging Sage’s new R8 technology that the celebrated brand introduced last year with its freshwater R8 CORE series, the SALT R8 aims to utilize materials advancements to offer fresh advantages to saltwater anglers.

Southern smallies

An in-depth look at genetically unique smallmouth bass in Oklahoma

by Rob McConnell - Monday, Jan 9th, 2023

Photo: Rob McConnell

The distant sounds of clanking metal and the crunching of gravel under truck tires alerted us that someone was coming down the forest road. We glanced up from the task of packing our camping gear and fly rods into our canoe and kayak as a logging truck barreled out of the tree line, coming to a screeching halt in the middle of the bridge that spanned the small river. A cloud of dust billowed out from behind the truck, washing over the cab and softly settling around us. The door opened with a loud and piercing squeak as a forester climbed out of the cab.

Gear we love right now: January 2023

What's working on and off the water, right now

by Hatch Magazine - Friday, Jan 6th, 2023

Casting for permit with the Scott Wave 9-weight (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Fly anglers are overloaded with gear choices—rods, reels, boots, waders, lines, packs, bags, boxes, vests, apparel and more. It seems harder and harder to know what's worth coveting and what's worth ignoring. Gear reviews are a great way to explore in-depth what might be right for you, but not every piece of gear is suited to a full-length review and, even if it were, there's simply too much of it to get to. With that in mind, we periodically showcase what's working for us right now, to hopefully offer more helpful feedback on gear that's worth a second look.

Tom Rosenbauer Q&A at The School of Trout

A fireside chat with one of fly fishing's most knowledgeable anglers

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Jan 4th, 2023

Photo: Chris Hunt

The fire burned low under a moonless night sky at Harriman State Park, and, for the chief justice of American fly fishing, court was in session.

The gathering was privileged. Attendees had traveled from all over the country and set aside a week of time to, amongst other things, hear Justice Tom Rosenbauer address the audience of acolytes and apprentices — this was the collective Class of 2022 of the School of Trout.