Is it time to update the venerable Royal Coachman? Perhaps the most recognizable fly in all of fly fishing history, it needs another facelift - something uniquely “new millennia.” My vote is to include nose piercings and rename it to the Pierced Plantagenet, it’s arguably trendy, possibly even extreme.

If video games are the first introduction to the Great Outdoors, how can the reality keep pace with the expectation? Games for Nintendo, Wii, and the xBox bustle with nonstop, fast paced, fishing - and the reality is droll by comparison. Is this the new “Mark Trail” - and will Wii replace the father-to-son tradition of the outdoorsman?

Was I to choose one of the 12 Lakemaids from the Lakemaid beer promotion, I would have to do so carefully. It’s likely they’ll inherit traits of the fish they represent, so the predatory and agressive flavors would have to be watched carefully. I think I’ll stick with the Lakemaid beer alone - too much risk involved with consumating the relationship.

Tom Chandler of the TroutUnderground took me on a whirlwind tour of the Upper McCloud river. Not much catching but the scenery was inspirational as the river is swollen with snow melt and the falls are in full plumage.

Tom Chandler of the Trout Underground educates me on the awesome responsibility of the Public Angling Trust, and how some things are best left unmentioned. A candid interview with Wally the Wonderdog results - wherein I stuff dead and decaying food into the sausage-dog hoping for long lived flatulence.

The Sierra Club has launched a web portal aligning themselves with traditional outdoorsmen, hunters and fishermen. The environmental lobby needs all the votes it can get - and so do we.

We’ve seen clothes that can store and generate power, what’s always been in doubt is what we need the power for….
The Boys at MIT have answered part of the mystery with the HCID (Handwear Computer Input Device), a glove based computer interface currently destined for the military.
“Old Guys” use fishing to “get away from it all” [...]