Articles

2013 Fly Fishing Photo Contest Announced

by Colin K. Breck - Thursday, Apr 25th, 2013

We're pleased to formally announce our photo contest for this year. For the most part, the contest will be the same as in years past. That said, we will be doing just a few things differently this year, for a bit of a chance of pace.

This year, once the contest entry period has closed, we'll be opening up the submissions to our readers. We'll ask all of you to vote for your favorites and the judges will make their selections from amongst those that the readers liked the most (along with a few that the judges will select themselves). In addition to giving the readers a say in who wins, we're also running this years contest for most of the season, giving everyone more time to capture that winning photo.

Hundreds of Salmon Smolts Turn Up on the Banks of the Elwha River

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, Apr 12th, 2013

A webcam image of the former Lake Mills on the Elwha River (April 12, 2012),

The difficulty of attempting to undo over a century of human habitat modification is becoming increasingly clear. Complications continue to mount as the dam removal and habitat restoration project, which began last September, attempts to move forward on Washington's Elwha River. According to a report in northwest Washington's Peninsula Daily News, hundreds of dead chinook salmon smolts were found on the river's lower banks after last week's release of almost 200,000 juvenile fish from a hatchery several miles upstream.

According to a biologist that examined many of the dead fish, most of the fish had their gills clogged by sediment from the river, which resulted in the fish suffocating due to an inability to take up oxygen. Staff from the hatchery confirmed that they believed the dead fish were released from the hatchery. Biologists have since called the hatchery release a mistake and stated that they felt the survival rates of the recently released salmon would be "very low". With 900,000 more chinook due to be released by June, hatchery and Fish and Wildlife staff are exploring alternative release methods and sites to avoid a similar result.

The existence and timing of hatchery operations on the Elwha have been a subject of controversy since the inception of the removal project.

Fly Fishing New Zealand: A DIY Primer - Part II

by Paul Snyder - Thursday, Apr 4th, 2013

The road sign of awesomeness.

Routing

Routing is all about the weather. Remember, the next land mass to the south is Antarctica. Weather in New Zealand is about as variable as it can be anywhere on the planet.

Hiring your own vehicle is so much the way to go because the most fantastic moments are often the diversions en route of which you are able to avail yourself in a way that others cannot. If you find yourself here, you’re doing it right.

Sprint for your highest value destination if the weather demands it, or put it off until a good weather window opens up, then work your routing based on the weather forecasts and your time of departure. Always have options B, C, and D in mind before you set out for your day’s destination.

Sage Announces Six New Fly Rod Models

by Ben Kryzinski - Tuesday, Apr 2nd, 2013

Sage PIKE and MUSKY fly rods.

Sage announced today six new fly rod models. Four of these mark expansions of to existing rod series, while the other two rods being introduced are new specialty rods developed by Sage. All of the new additions are now available online and via brick-and-mortar retailers, with the exception of the spey additions to the ONE series, which will be available May 1st.

Sage's new PIKE & MUSKY fly rods.

The ESN (Euro-Style Nymphing) family, which is currently comprised of four different 10' rods, gets a new addition of an 11' 3-weight, complete with mini fighting butt and retailing for $695. The aforementioned new spey rods in the ONE series will come in the form of two travel-friendly six-piece rods, a 13' 7-weight and a 14' 9-weight, retailing for $1200 and $1275, respectively. The ONE series receives another addition, the new single-handed 9' 12-weight rod, designed for big-game species such as tuna and sailfish, for $795.

Fly Fishing New Zealand: A DIY Primer - Part I

by Paul Snyder - Friday, Mar 29th, 2013

Fly fishing on New Zealand's South Island.

Sometime in 2007, after reading one too many fishporn-laden features on trout fishing in New Zealand, I cleared three weeks in February 2008 and bought a plane ticket. Ok, it wasn’t quite that simple, but it was close. One of those features was dubbed, “Do it yourself,” something or other.

After three trips, which were more than 80 percent were self-directed, I have come to realize that article didn’t capture many key points for a successful self-directed trip to the south island of New Zealand in search of big browns and rainbows.