All that follows was originally posted over at Midcurrent.com. I’ve been given permission to reprint the piece here – most generously I might add – by Marshall Cutchin. Thank you Marshall. In the article, author Phil Monahan interviews the Orvis Fly and Fly Tying Product Developer, Shawn Brillon. Shawn is a talented bug chucker in […]

Last week was glorious. Yes, the weather was miserable. Yes, the kids were a little crazy. But wonder of wonders, mercy of mercies, the water was just right on the one day the boss granted me to fish. Unlike the weather and the kids, the river was perfect, and the company was affable. The steelhead […]

The video isn’t the best. The actors aren’t the best. The fish isn’t the best, but it was all way too much fun for February. Click here for the video.

The video isn’t the best, the actors aren’t the best, the fish wasn’t the best … but it was too much fun for February.

In previous entries, I’ve discussed the inherent misery of winter fishing. Snow. Sleet.  There is ice on the water, and ice in your guides. The air is cold enough to freeze beer; even the pines seem to shiver in the wind. This is especially true if you’re fishing “out there,” in the snow belt, just […]

In previous entries, I’ve discussed the inherent misery of winter fishing. Snow. Sleet.  There is ice on the water, and ice in your guides. The air is cold enough to freeze beer; even the pines seem to shiver in the wind. This is especially true if you’re fishing “out there,” in the snow belt, just […]

Apparently, Ben’s father was once something of a flyfisherman. He traveled the western United States, wetting his line along the way (please ignore the obvious innuendo). He fished an old Garcia fiberglass rod, not unlike the one on which I learned to cast. Attached to that rod was the reel you see below. When Ben […]

Elmer was my great-uncle. He lived in Shushan, New York, and his home stood on an eastern bank of the Battenkill. In the water that cut a swath through his backyard, I caught my first trout on a fly. Elmer was my great-aunt Aggie’s second husband; her first drowned in the river as had her only son. It’s a tragic story, and an […]

Zonkers are terrific streamers. They’re relatively easy to tie, and they produce like few other streamers do. I’m sure that there are hundreds of variations in thousands of fly boxes. The pattern that follows is the one you would find in my box. It is hardly anything groundbreaking, but it is crazy effective. I tie […]

There was a time when nothing – absolutely nothing – would stop me from getting to the river. I remember being an undergraduate student, and working the night shift at a local convenient store. My schedule was set. Classes from three or four in the afternoon until nine or so at night. Grab a quick […]