Articles

What to look for in a musky rod

Musky anglers face a unique set of challenges which the right tool can help address

by Matthew Reilly - Sunday, Oct 3rd, 2021

Extended grips and fighting butts pull double duty in encouraging a strip set. By choking up on the grip and planting the fighting butt in your armpit, you effectively lock in a downward rod angle, making a strip set more natural (photo: Matt Reilly).

In any pursuit, it pays to have the right tool for the job. In the same way that tying flies on sharp, well-built hooks improves your hookup ratio, having a fly rod that’s designed specifically for your purpose makes your job as an angler infinitely easier, translating into more success. Specifically, in low odds games like musky fishing, where every little advantage skews the probability of success in your favor, having gear that works for you, that can withstand the paces and not fail when it counts most, is huge.

The life and death of a fly rod

Most fly rods are more than just a sum of their parts

by Spencer Durrant - Monday, Sep 27th, 2021

Photo: Spencer Durrant

Fly anglers tend to anthropomorphize the objects of our obsession to such a degree that I often wonder if it’s us or five-year-olds who possess the most active imaginations. Nevertheless, the assertion that fly rods are more than just tools shouldn’t be too hard a claim to swallow. For a group of folks that regularly affirm that trout are capable of elaborate, deductive reasoning, I reckon there’s room for the idea that fly rods are more than the sum of their parts.

A plague on all your trout

Trout are wildlife, too. But much of the environmental community doesn’t seem to care.

by Ted Williams - Wednesday, Sep 22nd, 2021

A wild, native Yellowstone cutthroat trout from the Montana high country (photo: Pat Clayton / Fish Eye Guy Photography).

Of the myriad threats currently facing native trout, few if any are more deadly than non-native fish which were flung around the national waterscape like confetti back in the days when genetics and native ecosystems were irrelevant to managers and anglers.

Researchers closing in on identifying elusive bonefish spawning sites

The discovery is critical to bonefish conservation, scientists say

by Hatch Magazine - Monday, Sep 20th, 2021

A pre-spawning aggregation (PSA) of bonefish in the Bahamas (photo: Tom Henshilwood).

It wasn't that long ago that relatively little was known about how and where bonefish spawn. It was 2013 when scientists discovered that these flats-dwelling fish, who spend the vast majority of their lives in shallow water, actually spawned in water as deep as 164 feet.

Classifying streamers for easier fly selection

This simple system will help you choose the right fly more often

by George Daniel - Friday, Sep 17th, 2021

Photo: Chad Shmukler

Most of us benefit from having systems in place. This is true about almost any activity or pursuit, fly angling included. When variables arise, whether expected or unexpected, having systems in place allows us to methodically troubleshoot our way to a solution. And, if our system is well-designed, hopefully that solution is the optimal one. Over the years, I’ve developed systems I use to solve any number of questions I encounter on the river: what rod to use on any given day, how to construct my leader, how to dress, and how to choose what fly pattern to tie on—including streamers.