ALT Fly Fishing Magazine is an online publication that posts new issues once a quarter. The latest issue features a short story that some readers of this blog might be familiar with. However, the crew at ALT Fly Fishing has giving the article new life by incorporating some new photos in a stunning layout. It looks great!
Read MoreA bad day fishing is better than a good day at work! This is a phrase I have known since I was a kid, long before I became an avid angler. We have all heard the fishing puns. People who have no interest in fishing have heard the adages and read the bumper stickers. Fishing jokes and phrases permeate American culture and language. But why?
Read MoreHe sniffed for my elusive fishy smell. He dissected each of my answers, searching for my dedication to the righteous fly fishing cause. He must not have found what he was looking for; I was met with his seemingly standard negativity.
Read MoreI am an utter newcomer to the sport of fishing, spin fishing to be specific. I am a neophyte. A tyro. A greenhorn. A babe lost in the woods. I have been fishing for roughly seven months in the seasonal waters of Western Pennsylvania. This is a boast that would be quite impressive for a ten-year-old. However, for a 31-year-old, this means that I have just learned which end of the rod the fish are caught.
Read MoreDenali watched over us as we slid into our waders on the back of Troy’s truck. The clouds were sparse when we pulled up to the creek, which flowed under the Denali Highway. Crisp and clear water slipped around boulders, holding grayling in the seams between the fast and slow water. We were excited to don our waders and take our first steps into the water.
Read MoreEllen and my ears perked up at the sound of truck tires rolling over gravel. It was the telltale sound of a vehicle approaching the cabin. We both looked at each other excitedly, "They're here!" she said, and then promptly scampered off the back porch, through the backdoor of the rental cabin, and onto the front porch. We could see the headlights of Van and Katie's truck as they made their way to the cabin. The truck's headlights bounced along the gravel driveway, weaving through the trees. A weekend of fishing and exploring the waters of the South Fork Caddo River was about to begin.
Read MoreYou can try to dress it up by calling it urban fishing or city fishing. If you do, you’re putting lipstick on a pig. It’s ditch fishing. You’re slinging your fly toward some mutant hybrid fish in flood control infrastructure. These hungry fish are slurping down flies in the muddy water while they swim amongst the concrete slabs, rebar, and bike frames.
Read MoreIt didn’t take long before Kyle and I were scrambling out of the raft in order to portage around a large impassable logjam. We laboriously pulled the raft along the white sandbar until we were clear of the obstruction. Before jumping back into the raft and continuing our float, we walked back to the large tangle of logs and limbs.
Read MoreSoon after moving to Houston, I was walking a man-made bayou with my fly-rod. I was keeping a watchful eye on the water that flowed through the ditch. I wasn’t sure what fish species I could expect to see. I caught sight of a fish slowly swimming to the surface of the water. It opened its mouth like it was taking something from the top-water and then slowly disappeared into the deep murky depths. I had just seen my first spotted gar.
Read MoreIt's summer, and that means it's time to explore the various creeks and streams that Texas has to offer. Fishing small creeks is one of my favorite ways to spend my free time in the summer heat. In this video, I show what my favorite conventional fishing gear is for fishing small streams. The gear that is discussed in this video will be linked to Amazon at the bottom of the page.
Read MoreAaron and I got together for a couple of beers on Friday evening. We wanted to discuss a fly-fishing excursion on the Guadalupe River, north of New Braunfels, Texas. The Guadalupe River holds the southernmost trout population in the United States and It also boasts the largest Trout Unlimited Chapter in the Nation.
Read MoreI think Van would agree with me, Big Piney Creek is one of those rivers that you could float over and over again without getting sick of it. Granted, I think we hit the river when the conditions were just right. If the water had been lower, we would have had to carry the raft for 7 miles. If the river had been higher, this novice oarsman would have been a little sketched-out.
Read MorePittsburgh Steve lay under the RT 366 bridge where it spanned the San Gabriel River. His back was flat on the cool earth and he gazed up at the underbelly of the bridge. The night air was alive with sounds. the rushing water of the San Gabriel and the sounds of insects soothed him. Pittsburgh Steve had a small fire crackling beside him. A catfish was simmering in a pot on the fire...
Read MoreWhile thumbing through an issue of Southwest Fly Fishing, I saw an article about a small creek east of Houston called Village Creek. At the office, the following day, I gave the article to my friend Alex, who read it eagerly. We both decided that this little creek, in the eastern Pineywoods of Texas, absolutely needed its local fish population terrorized by two guys and a dog. Alex and I loaded up the inflatable Flycraft drift boat Friday morning and before the sun rose over I-10, we were heading down the highway eastward.
Read More...My eyes caught something moving high on the bank and I watched as two more stray dogs emerged from the tree line. The two dogs plodded into the shallow water to join their companion. There they all stood for a brief minute, looking upstream at us, then they trotted out of the water and climbed the opposite bank. We were relieved that the strays had little interest in us and we climbed back into the boat and shoved off. We had drifted downstream about 10 yards when a fourth stray dog, this one being much larger and wilder looking, came running down the bank into the water. Its yellow fur was matted with mud in several places. The dog paused for a brief moment as it caught sight of us...
Read MoreAs soon as I realized that the first weekend in June was free from any prior obligations, I immediately called up my two buddies from college. My hope was that they’d have an interest in backpacking into a small freestone stream to fish for native brook trout. As I suspected, both were more than happy to make the drive to northwest PA from the Cleveland area.
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