Can fly tying inspiration come from an unlikely source like mixed drinks and gourmet cooking? If you’re desperate like me it can. I spent most of this week tracking down scientific information on Carp feed, mating ritual, natural predators, response to stress, and preferred Ph – and endured the traditional dry dissertation that ensured we [...]

40 Rivers to Fish and his pals at Hatches Magazine are looking for a few crazed and desperate fishermen who can lie convincingly, or with a straight face, or both. … and they’re prepared to reward you handsomely for your prose. Hatches Magazine announces it’s first annual “The Season” Contest! “The Season” is for anyone [...]

The science is flawless but the economy might have ramifications for their life expectancy… A $30,000 pollution sniffing Carp is a miracle of modern robotics, like mine they’re likely to ignore flies, but with the hardship suffered by the global fishing community, what’s preventing a canny angler from upending a 55 gallon drum of fuel [...]

I was gazing fondly at the salmon report for 2009, wherein the Pacific Fisheries Management Council claims, “… the ocean’s are what done it!” There’s a passing reference to the continued decline of freshwater assets throughout California, and how the entire salmon run has the biodiversity of Velveeta cheese – wild fish essentially extinct and [...]

Monotheism simply lacks enough deities to curse and I’m contemplating a switch to Norse or Greek “Old Timey” polytheism. Cursing is just one of many conversion advantages; you can junk the Solunar tables and paw through Crow guts to see tomorrow’s fishing forecast, there’s meaning to a bird flying past with a worm in its [...]

Taking a “three buck flyer” on two buck chuck occasionally pays off with materials worth considerably more. We canvas the pages of eBay so you can reap the benefit. Crystal FX from Berocco Yarns is our latest mutt with the potential for a great deal more.

I had the same problem with watercolors as a kid, sooner or later the entire sodden mass was a muddy brown from intermingled color. Dubbing dispensers have rattled around my tying area with similar issue – the top layer becomes a blend of everything I’ve tied in the last couple of weeks. Dander and feather [...]

I’m not sure all those “helpful” spouses would’ve been so eager to dump their gal at the “ladies only adventure day camp” if they’d known Cabela’s was arming them. Gals and guns is no issue, but my girlfriend armed with “non lethal” weaponry would crimp my angling forever. The luxury of a shotgun, assault rifle, [...]

The roar of the motor preceded the scream of wind and shower of leaves, I broke left but evasion was useless, I’d received the Blessing of the Brownline – fertilizer dispensed via propwash – a gift from a leering ex-Warthog pilot, wrestling with his post-conflict internal demons. The Blessing is why I retain a glossy full [...]

In the last installment we looked at the Scientific Angler and Airflo brands and pointed to similarities of taper and how advertising didn’t always correspond to the line’s attributes. Without a standard we suggested every change to a fly line could be spun into a benefit, and how advertising artfully avoids using the same superlatives to describe features and capability. Admittedly [...]