Nick Parish - Current Flow State

Two men posing at dusk with a stringer of fish including one gigantic largemouth bass, one in a red blazer and one in a white tee and red United Airlines cap, Florida, 1980s.

Weekly Update

Thanks, Dads

Dad and Grandpa energy, Riverhorse on the gallop, and more in the Weekly Update

Five men sit on a theater stage looking at a photograph of a steelhead caught on a fly. It is a glorious fish.

Weekly Update

See what Mother Earth is offering

Ways of walking through a changed world

The Deschutes Access Road alongside the Deschutes River

Weekly Update

The CFS Maupin Meetup, recapped

We came, we fished, we won trivia (again!)

Weekly Update

Fly fishing is the ultimate sport for hoarders

I joined Rachel Kramer Bussel on the Finders and Keepers podcast to talk fly fishing's peculiar penchant for gear acquisition. Also: Casting session this Friday in Portland, Ribbon Map updates and more!

Conversations

Magic at the edges: Q&A with cartographer Aaron Koelker

We chatted with map maker Aaron Koelker about how he designed the Lower Deschutes Ribbon Map, his creative process, and what he loves about maps.

Amy Hazel, owner of the Deschutes Angler, holds up a rolled Lower Deschutes ribbon map inside her fly shop, grinning, pointing to the map behind her on the wall.

Weekly Update

Ribbon map roll-out

Ribbon map mojo and the Maupin Meetup, casual casting practice in PDX, registration for PCC Summer Term, and more

A hand holds an unrolled ribbon map of the Lower Deschutes River against a canyon backdrop, with overlaid text reading "The CFS Lower Deschutes Ribbon Map — On Sale Now!"

Weekly Update

Announcing the CFS Lower Deschutes Ribbon Map

The last 100 miles. Six feet long. On sale now!

A fly angler casts at sunset on a mirrored artificial casting pond, with conifers in the background

Weekly Update

Putting in work

Got any early season rituals?

Books

Five Flies with Jesse Lance Robbins

The author of the newly-released "The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere" gives us a glimpse into his fly fishing practice, through the lens of Five Flies

A large stonefly shuck held between two fingers, with the blue Deschutes River visible in the background.

Weekly Update

Big things are hatching

This season is going to be huge, on and off the river.

How To

Two minute tips: Start a new leader

It's the start of trout season around this great continent, and probably time you changed your leader.

Weekly Update

The spey is strong out here

The Sandy River Spey Clave is a reminder of why the PNW is the North American epicenter of two-handed fly fishing.

A fly tier works under a magnifying lens, threading a hook with the close concentration the craft demands.

How To

Tying flies is good for you

Fly tying offers real neurological, psychological, and motor skill benefits. And a growing number of therapists are putting that to work.

FFI Casting Instructor pre-test evaluation form on clipboard in foreground, an instructor and candidate learning fly casting on a grass field under partly cloudy skies in the background.

Weekly Update

Mind in the line

Expect nothing, and other lessons from casting instructor boot camp

Woman practices roll cast on a calm pond at sunset, fly rod raised against a vivid pink and orange sky reflected in still water.

Weekly Update

Embrace what's scary

If we're not doing stuff that's scary, we're not learning.

Angler walks along a meadow stream at golden sunrise, sun flaring through mist above a lush green Vermont valley.

Conversations

CFS Q&A: How fly fishing therapist Tony Parmenter integrates tenkara and EMDR therapy

For the second installment of our series on fly fishing and mental health, we go deep with a therapist working at the forefront of nature-based therapy

Film still of a a brown trout nosing up above the surface of a river in golden light to take an emerging Brown Drake mayflay, amidst a hatch of thousands of insects

Weekly Update

Hatching into spring

This week's update has us ready for spring with a post-Springsteen glow, featuring a new class offering in Oregon and an epic film of a Brown Drake hatch.

A whitewater river flowing through a pine forest overlaid with bold text reading "The Fly Fishing Prescription" and a humorous CFS prescription pad graphic.

What the research actually says about fly fishing and mental health

Here's the proof: Why fly fishing makes you feel better mentally and physically.

"Fly Fishing Is my Therapy" bumper sticker with wet fly illustrations and mountain silhouette on the tailgate of a white pickup truck.

Weekly Update

Hearing "Fishing is my therapy" bothers me more than it should

It's not a replacement for penicillin, or a good therapist, but for the next few weeks we'll be sharing all the proof you need that fly fishing is good for your physical and mental health.

A screenshot from a vintage-looking airplane shows a man leaning out of a small airplane, with the title lettering TOP SPORTSMAN superimposed

Weekly Update

Get to know the Top Sportsman

Tarpon-chaser Dick Fisher is looking to catch more than just a silver king. Aren't we all?

Anglers wading the Sandy River below the Stark Street bridge, dip-netting for smelt on a gray winter day.

Weekly Update

Abundance, past and future

An unsuccessful smelt season on the Sandy, a celebration of female anglers, and the release of a suppressed report on the state of nature in America

9:49 AMA moss-covered old tire lying flat outdoors, its interior filled with soil and sprouting weeds, with a rusted abandoned vehicle and bare trees visible in the background.

Weekly Update

We are busy being born

Private equity is buying Michigan dams, George Daniel gives beginner students advice, salmon and steelhead get a win on the Columbia, and more.

A person in jeans swings in a hammock while looking at their phone

Weekly Update

Death to shitty flow

How junk food flow states and being stuck in the machine zone prevent us from achieving excellence in life, and our angling.

C&F Design fly fishing fly boxes and foam inserts displayed on water background with text "The Ultimate Fly Storage"

How To

You only need one fly box

In Praise of C&F Design, the ultimate fly organization system

Scenic view of the Deschutes River winding through a desert canyon at sunset. The river reflects soft pink and purple twilight colors from the sky.

Weekly Update

Check In on your angling, and your advocacy

Pre-season is the best time to recalibrate, set new angling goals, and realign your advocacy aims.

A man in an orange hat swings flies in a Pacific Northwest river

Weekly Update

Seeing more fish with science

One TU chapter is recruiting citizen scientists to locate hidden Brook Trout in the NYC suburbs, using state-of-the-art eDNA sampling. Can they help me find a winter steelhead?

A screenshot of the homepage of castback.com.

Industry

CastBack: How two Michigan pals launched a fly fishing gear marketplace

The CastBack origin story has all the makings of a classic buddy comedy: Co-captain the wrestling team in high school, go into the service, start fly fishing together, then start a peer-to-peer e-commerce market for used fly fishing equipment. Why not, right?

How To

How to buy a used fly rod: Six steps to get started

Secondhand is all the rage. And buying a used fly rod can be a great way to get into a better fly rod, faster. But there are plenty of caveats. Here are our tips, some sources, and a checklist to follow.

G.Loomis Asquith fly rod with fifteen North Fork Composites Golden Tickets arranged on vintage landscape photograph

Weekly Update

A tale of two fly rods

North Fork Composites' Gary Loomis announced this week he's rejected private equity advances, and launched $100 Golden Tickets good for North Fork blanks to help the company grow. The company he founded and sold, G.Loomis? It now charges over $1,500 for its Asquith rods.

CFS News

Get ready for the Maupin Meetup!

Come one come all to Current Flow State's third-annual early-summer meetup, coinciding with the Deschutes River Alliance's TroutFest in Maupin, Oregon, May 28-31.

Weekly Update

Under a snow moon

Exploding trees, the Michael Jordan of pikeminnow, fly fishing with a baby on board, Michigan smallies, and more in this week's newsletter.

Two men, a younger and an older, at the console of a skiff boat tear-assing through the ocean are looking at each other. The older man drives the boat.

How To

Trout ain't tarpon

Sure, the silver kings might not even be on the same angling planet as rainbows, but here are ten tarpon tips, tricks, and concepts from legend Andy Mill that can be applied to any fishing situation.