Articles

AFFTA announces industry-wide 'Day for Bristol Bay'

It's time for fly anglers to put some skin in the game

by Chad Shmukler - Thursday, Jul 25th, 2019

Commercial fishing in Dillingham, in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska (photo: Pat Clayton).

Next month, the fly fishing industry will set aside a Day for Bristol Bay. One day for anglers, fly shops, brands, outfitters, lodges, guides and more to dedicate their support to protecting the world's greatest wild salmon fishery. One day to pool their collective efforts—and to put their money where their mouths are—to generate funding to fuel the efforts of the Bristol Bay Defense Fund.

This is heaven, Joe.

And this land is their land

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Jul 24th, 2019

Photo: Chris Hunt

I had just finished leveling the camper when Morgan pulled up in his white sedan. It’s a process—leveling the camper—made a bit more complicated thanks to a slightly hyper mutt running around while I work the jacks, wondering why we can’t just go straight to the creek.

“Who cares if your feet are above your head?” Phoebe seemed to ask. “The cutties are waiting.”

And then there was Morgan. Super nice. Polite. Hat in hand.

Not even a hint of skunk

Without dark, you’ve got no light. Without down, you’ve got no up.

by Todd Tanner - Friday, Jul 19th, 2019

The author, circa 2005.

Some of you might remember It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, the animated Halloween cartoon that featured Linus, Snoopy, Lucy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang. One particular line out of that classic 1966 TV show still rings true. When the kids asked him how he’d done trick-or-treating, poor Charlie Brown, who was wearing his sad-sack, many-holed Ghost costume, answered, “I got a rock.”

I got a rock.

Could a sex change operation be the key to restoring native trout?

Scientists are attempting a novel approach to eradicating non-native brook trout in the West

by Chris Hunt - Tuesday, Jul 16th, 2019

Photo: Will Griffiths

Several years back, on an early September day, two fishing buddies and I trekked into a southwest Montana trout stream outside of Ennis, where we spent the day catching pan-sized rainbows, virtually at will.

The day left us spoiled, feeling gluttonous, and as we sat at a bar in town after hiking out to the truck, one of my buddies lifted his mug of amber.

Review: Alpacka Raft Oryx Packraft Canoe

At a mere 11-pounds, Alpacka's tandem Oryx is a go-anywhere workhorse

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Monday, Jul 15th, 2019

Photo: Jeremiah Watt

How is it that no matter which direction we paddle, it’s always into a headwind?

That was the question I kept asking after two days and 20 miles of shoulder-throbbing strokes. I was in the Boundary Waters aboard Alpacka Raft’s interpretation of the flat water canoe, the Oryx, hoping to enjoy the mystique of the North Woods, encounter some wolves, and hook up with a few bruiser smallmouth bass.