Articles

Southern tailwater trout

Tips on heading south for big, plentiful, wintertime trout

by George Daniel - Wednesday, Feb 10th, 2021

A tailwater-fed brown trout from the South Holston River in Tennessee (photo: CJ Lord).

Limestone streams, spring creeks, and tailwaters can offer year-round fishing opportunities even in the coldest regions of the country. Die-hard fly fishers embrace freezing temps, numb fingers, and shorter feeding windows on countless streams and rivers located in these colder, northern climes. While I enjoy the beauty of streams and rivers draped by snow-covered backdrops and the peacefulness of streams and rivers devoid of angling pressure, there’s a force that pulls me south each winter.

Spawning trout 101

How to spot redds, spawning trout and char, and more

by Ben Kryzinski - Monday, Feb 8th, 2021

Bull trout pair on a redd in Lolo National Forest in Montana. Note the clean gravel, which the fish have scrubbed of algae, a telltale sign of a spawning redd (photo: Aubree Benson / cc2.0).

There is an important distinction between fishing to spawning trout and char and fishing during the spawn. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the latter, but practicing the former might get you drawn and quartered in some parts of the country where casting over active redds means you might be pulling big fish away from a nest or a mate.

Pasture-raised trout

Bulletproof fishing on Patagonia's river of dreams

by Chad Shmukler - Monday, Feb 8th, 2021

Photo: Chad Shmukler

As it creeps up on 1am, we reluctantly drain beers and each say our goodbyes. Not just handshakes, but embraces, a common occurence on fishing trips where kinships among strangers form faster than they do in the regular world. But there’s a current of guilt running through the small group of us that are headed out early in the morning for a daylong pilgrimage to the Blanco River.

Avoiding crowds through better casting

Catching more, larger, and more larger fish aren't the only benefits of improved casting

by John Juracek - Monday, Feb 1st, 2021

Fishing the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park (photo: John Juracek).

Do better fly casters catch more fish? Among the anglers I talk to, the prevailing belief is yes, they do. Most anglers also accept that better casting leads to catching larger fish. And, by extension, that better casting results in more larger fish. As for me, I believe all of it. I’ve watched it happen over the years with casting students of mine. Better casters do catch more fish, larger fish, and more larger fish.

Two more 2021 Fly Fishing Show destinations cancelled

Pleasanton, CA and Lancaster, PA join the list of cancelled Fly Fishing Show destinations

by Hatch Magazine - Friday, Jan 29th, 2021

Show goers browse a booth at The Fly Fishing Show (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Back in November, The Fly Fishing Show announced that it was cancelling or rescheduling dates at most of its 2021 destinations due to complications arising from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, including cancellations of dates in Edison, NJ and Marlborough, MA, two of the shows' most popular destinations. Unfortunately for show goers, today The Fly Fishing Show announced cancellations for two more popular show destinations.