Articles

Never give up on bonefish

Bonefish can sometimes be remarkably generous with second chances

by Chris Hunt - Tuesday, Nov 29th, 2022

Angler Jock Conyngham makes a second cast a fleeing Bahamas bonefish (photo: Chad Shmukler).

The dejected slump in my shoulders must have been palpable. We'd pushed into a skinny maze of mangroves in search of big Mayan bonefish along the Mexican border with Belize, and we found them. But I was sure I’d blown my chance to bring a nice fish to hand.

Adrielle, my guide for the day, spotted two big fish – maybe 5 pounds each (bigger than average in this corner of the world) – lurking along the cover line, just as I pointed my rod at the deliberately moving bones.

"Yes!" he said enthusiastically in my ear. "That's them. Cast!"

Does competitive fly fishing have a future in the U.S.?

Will the vibrant fly fishing competition circuit found in Europe make its way to America's shores?

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, Nov 24th, 2022

The award ceremony at the 30th annual FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships in Krosno, Poland (photo: Stanislaw Szydlo / cc2.0).

After Team USA won its first international fly-fishing competition over the summer — a team win in the FIPS-Mouche Masters (over 50 division) World Fly Fishing Championship in Madonna de Compiglio, Italy — it was safe to wonder if competitive fly fishing could actually take off in the United States.

But, according to one prominent member of America’s international fly fishing team, it’s not a likely proposition.

Euro streamers: Buying, tying and fishing 'jig bombs'

4 simple concepts for effective jig streamer fishing

by George Daniel - Wednesday, Nov 23rd, 2022

Photo: George Daniel

Euro-nymphing tactics have become popular among fly fishers for a variety of reasons. The patterns are easy to tie, the rigging and casting is simple and, most importantly, the flies achieve depth faster than any with any other nymphing tactic. When it comes to fishing below the surface, depth is paramount—and often can make the difference between a mediocre day on the water and a great one. My mentor Joe Humphreys likes to say that the difference between an okay nympher and a great nympher is one split shot.

The last moment of silence

A sneak peek at a chapter from Matt Harris' new book, 'The Fish of a Lifetime'

by Matt Harris - Tuesday, Nov 22nd, 2022

The Eg River in Mongolia (photo: Matt Harris / "The Fish of a Lifetime").

The last hour of the last day. I edged out into the run and lengthened the line before flexing the long Spey rod. The line sliced out towards the deep, emerald-green slot gleaming under the low cliff, and I settled into the meditative rhythm of “cast and step”. As the huge fly started to wake back across the glassy green water, the wind dropped and, once again, everything fell silent.

Learning to row, from the pros

Want to learn how to row? Go to the experts.

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, Nov 18th, 2022

Photo: Chad Shmukler

On the 24th of May in 1869, O.G. Howland set out with his brother Seneca on the Green River in Utah with eight other men, each a member of the historic Powell Geographic Expedition. Led by American naturalist John Wesley Powell, the expedition aimed to complete a cartographic and scientific exploration of the Green and Colorado Rivers, traveling into stretches of river and canyon that no white men—and in areas, even no Native Americans—had ever set eyes on.