Articles

Review: G. Loomis Asquith fly rod

Loomis returns to the spotlight with a thousand-dollar splash

by Chad Shmukler - Wednesday, Apr 19th, 2017

Fishing the G. Loomis Asquith on a rainbow-stacked side channel on Kamchatka's Savan River (photo: Earl Harper).

G. Loomis has a long pedigree of making some of the finest fly rods on the market. It’s a pedigree that began with founder and original rod designer Gary Loomis and continued relatively unabated with fly casting freak-of-nature and Rajeff brother, Steve Rajeff. If you’re not familiar with the Rajeff brothers, they’re sort of like the Hanson Brothers, except they don’t have stupid haircuts and they’re actually good at something. Oh, and they can toss casts to the goddamned moon.

Banging the golden drum

Every angler has a mystery fish

by Tom Davis - Tuesday, Apr 18th, 2017

Photo: Jim Bauer

Every angler of some experience is haunted by a mystery fish. Not simply “the one that got away”—the barefoot kid with the cane pole has been through that—but an encounter with the unknown, a temporary connection to an extraordinary force. Like a voice on the phone you can’t forget, or a stunning profile glimpsed in silhouette, it wants identity. Reeling in the lifeless, empty line, you tell yourself that you would have been satisfied just to see it, that a moment of recognition would have made all the difference.

Okefenokee's mudfish

Chasing a prehistoric relic on Georgia's iconic swamp

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, Apr 13th, 2017

Photo: Chad Shmukler

The little yellow ‘bugger landed with an appreciative thunk just along the edges of the lily pads. Mere days from blooming and popping with brilliant yellow flowers, the plants nonetheless created bright green raft atop the dark water, lining the squishy banks of the swamp and providing plenty of hiding places for the fish below.

After nearly 40 years, Florida's Joe Bay reopens to anglers

A long untouched section of The Everglades once again welcomes fishermen in search of snook, tarpon and more

by Mike Hodge - Monday, Apr 10th, 2017

Kayakers on The Everglades Joe Bay (photo: Everglades National Park Service).

More than 6 million people live in South Florida. And given that the lower tip of the Sunshine State appears to be growing every year, this means more fishermen will share less water.

It’s an unfortunate fact of life for many Florida anglers. But there’s a nugget of hope for those who like to fish the Everglades.

The further you walk, the more you leave behind

Often, solitude is worth the distance

by Domenick Swentosky - Tuesday, Apr 4th, 2017

Photo: Austin Dando

It's Monday. It’s 35 degrees. And it's spitting rain.

That combination of undesirables should be enough to give you plenty of space on the river, but you’re looking for more. You want vast stretches of open and rolling water, Class A trout water, big Blue Ribbon water loaded with wild fish. You want it all to yourself for a while, and you’re not going to feel guilty about that.

The rain, the cold and the day of the week will keep most of the unfortunates under a roof, at some meeting in a conference room or making factory widgets. That’s good, but not good enough.