Articles

Fish porn

6 tips for filming underwater

by Kris Millgate - Thursday, Jul 14th, 2016

Photo: Kris Millgate

There’s no such thing as breathable waders when you’re hiking in them in July. Wading boots aren’t for hiking either, but I’m making due. I have a camera pack on my back and it’s heavy enough without extra clothes and shoes tacked on. As I said, I’m making due, but I don’t recommend it.

I hiked this wooded trail in shorts and running shoes with my boys yesterday. It follows Palisades Creek in eastern Idaho. We spied spawners jumping the falls on our adventure and I knew I’d be back. That’s where I’m heading today with my cameras instead of my kids.

The other Michigan Jim

by Tom Davis - Wednesday, Jul 13th, 2016

Photo: courtesy Enger family.

Like most of us who consider ourselves literate outdoorsmen, I’ve been mourning the death—and celebrating the life—of Jim Harrison. A writer of seemingly inexhaustible energy and imagination, he was our reigning poet of the appetites. One of these appetites, of course, was trout fishing, in particular trout fishing in that land lost in time called the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Presence lost

The plight of public lands

by Kris Millgate - Monday, Jul 11th, 2016

The Use of National Forests, published in 1907, is 42 pages. The green book behind it, The Principal Laws Relating to Forest Service Activities, published in 1993, is 1,163 pages (photo: Kris Millgate).

I’m in a hotel room in Galveston, Texas. A thunderstorm is keeping me from saltwater fishing, but I’m entertained anyway. I’m holding a book published in 1907 titled The Use of the National Forests.

I’ve decided to read the whole book in one night based on its enticing introduction:

“To the Public: Many people do not know what National Forests are. Others may have heard much about them, but have no idea of their purpose and use. A little misunderstanding may cause a great deal of dissatisfaction.”

It's Now or Neverglades

Orvis and others urge anglers everywhere to speak up for the Everglades

by Chad Shmukler - Monday, Jul 11th, 2016

An Everglades redfish from our earlier feature 'An awakening in The Glades' (photo: Dan Decibel).

Over the years, we've tried to provide you with innumerous reasons to care about Florida's Everglades. Its value as a world-class fishery is historic. We've introduced you to snook fishing near Chokoloskee and to chasing redfish, black drum, sharks, jack crevalle and tarpon near Flamingo and Alligator Alley.

Hidden in the tall grass

Stumbling out of insulation

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Wednesday, Jul 6th, 2016

Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain

It’s just a weedy field full of the normal browns, blondes and greens of summer. Black-eyed susans and plains creopsis offer splashes of yellow throughout. The sun is cresting over cottonwoods and willows as the first rays illuminate what look like tiny puffs of white smoke across the field. The puffs shimmer in an unseasonably cool summer breeze. I’m puzzled at first. Even after looking over countless fields at sunrise in my four decades on Earth, I’m not sure about what I’m seeing. A second later it hits me. They’re webs. I’ve found a spider metropolis.