Short Casts

Signs like these have grown common this summer in the West.

Fire Season

It started in May. I got up early one week-day morning, drove downriver to the…
wilderness fires
Wilderness wildfires: good news or bad?

The Dance With Wilderness Fires

It should come as no surprise to anyone here that there are few things I…
The old visitor center at Silver Creek Preserve.

Weather Report: Part 2

In another bit of startling news from the heat-beleagured West, the Nature Conservancy has announced…
Glacial runoff, Hood River, Oregon

Weather Report

Startling and unprecedented heat has left anglers throughout the Pacific Northwest wondering the worst: Is…
Longjaw Leatherjacket, Oligoplites altus

What’s in a Name?

My old buddy Peter Syka, the biologist, is in town, sharing a few choice words…
Shad fishing, Columbia River (Photo credit: Peter Syka)

Shad Me

Like most things fishing, questions about shad, another profligate exotic here in the Columbia River…
Pearsall’s Gossamer Silk, now replicated by Morus Silk.

Got Silk?

Tying up a bunch of size twelve Light Cahill Wets, a pattern Dave Hughes recommends…
trout
Wild trout add color to the landscape.

Timing

We were over on the Wind River, below the falls, poking around in Madrina, my…
Wild steelhead remain the best hope for the future of the species.

Science Says

Epigenetics gets at the fact that although the genetic makeup of steelhead raised in either…
fly fishing
Green Butt Muddler

Variants

At the bench yesterday preparing for the arrival – knock on wood – of summer…
Traditional lacquer, still the best fly-tying head cement money can buy.

The Right Stuff

I hesitate to share the good news about traditional lacquer, still far and away the…
fly shop
The modern era: Not exactly the look of fly shops from the past.

End of an Era?

I’m tying and photographing flies against a book deadline when I discover I’ve run out…