Weekly Update
Harness your inner salmon goddess
Miss Norway, it me. Tying night success, updates from the alchemist's cave, and ten(-ish) fishy links to start your week with trout in the tabs.
Nick Parish
Forever seeking flow.
How To
Arcane specs: Fly fishing tackle measurements make no sense
Decoding the antiquated systems we inhabit in fly fishing, and measuring things, so it all matches up real nice.
Weekly Update
Winter Term registration opens Wednesday
Sign up for Winter Term class, come tie flies on Friday, read CFS in the Financial Times, and watch two Swedish brothers bust chops while contemplating the good life.
Weekly Update
HOA Karens gatekeep eight-pound peacock bass
Don't let the park police keep you off your personal best. Fly fishing stoke from around the world in this week's newsletter
How To
Net benefit
It’s time to stop thinking about nets as a tool for playing offense. Nets protect fish, and ultimately protect your ego.
Weekly Update
Portlanders! Come tie flies on Friday (or...just hang out?)
We're hosting two tying nights in November: This coming Friday, November 7th, and again on Friday, November 21st.
Weekly Update
Tune in to our massive Craig Mathews Q&A
We hopped the Pheasant Tail Simplicity press tour train and had a chance to chat with one of its iconic co-authors, Craig Mathews, about a bevy of topics related to tying flies, the future of conservation, and much more.
Conversations
Talking Pheasant Tail Simplicity with Craig Mathews
From tenkara-wielding biker gangs to roadkill feather ghouls to Yvon Chouinard's "stroke": A conversation with fly angling icon Craig Mathews never disappoints. Hear how Pheasant Tail Simplicity is creating a new generation of fly tiers, observation as the key to angling, and much, much more.
How To
Tie your own flies: Six tips to start fly tying from Craig Mathews
Blue Ribbon Flies co-founder and co-author of Pheasant Tail Simplicity offers six tips for beginning fly tiers to get the ball rolling behind the vise.
Weekly Update
Win a free copy of Pheasant Tail Simplicity
Announcing our Pheasant Tail fall giveaway, a member Q&A on tenkara and creative woodworking projects, tariffs bite the fly fishing industry, and a Leaders roundup of must-reads from around the fly fishing world
Industry
Which Orvis stores are closing?
A phone survey of Orvis' U.S. retail stores revealed which are due to close at the end of 2025 and which will remain open and refocus on fly fishing and wing-shooting.
Conversations
CFS Member Projects: Q&A with Chuck Grimmett
On upstate New York streams, tying tenkara flies, fly fishing woodworking projects, functional design, and building your own fly fishing tools
Weekly Update
Fall is for Pheasant Tail
We're going all-in on Patagonia's latest book, with a virtual book club meeting, fly-tying events in Portland, and a special surprise.
Swinging wet flies and soft hackles
Try out one of the most straightforward presentation styles, for both trout and steelhead
Weekly Update
Free-floating through fall
Fly tying meetups, welcoming a new Intro alum group, and more
CFS News
Thanks for the Member Drive support!
Our September Member Drive is complete, and we've got one lucky winner!
Weekly Update
Big swell off Point No Point
Routines, purposelessness, wrist action, and our Member Drive fish reveal
How To
Making your first fly rod casts: It's not all in the wrist
Whether you're an absolute beginner or recovering gear angler, wrist control is critical to learning to load and cast a fly rod properly.
Industry
What do the Grateful Dead and birdwatching have in common?
Probably just this week's newsletter? From private equity Dead deals to twitcher road meals.
Industry
Brand Dead: Is private equity ruining fly fishing gear?
A surefire sign your favorite outdoor brand is doing the old private equity shuffle? A Grateful Dead collaboration.
CFS News
Two new Explorers stepped up. Will you be next? 🎯
We're rolling in our September Member Drive!
Weekly Update
Go beyond the bobber
Challenging yourself to become a better angler, a book club rundown, and upcoming events.
Books
Read By the River: Nature's Best Hope
Our river nerd book club turns to trees: backyard conservation, native plants, and creating habitat that supports the food web.
Announcing the CFS September Member Drive
Let's fund a Photarium—and find this mystery fish—for fly fishing education
Weekly Update
Do you want the wire worm?
Knowing what you like, and sticking with it.
How To
Back to school: Six tips to get started fly fishing from George Daniel
One of the greatest educators in the angling world offers a roadmap to building your skills in the sport.
Weekly Update
Let's hit the road
What if the secret to life's problems is just getting better at evading them?
Weekly Update
Seeing salmon, seeing snakes, and tying simple flies
Facial recognition, but for fish, our first buzzworm of the year, and a new PCC fly-tying class for Fall Term
Industry
Salmon Vision: The AI revolution comes to salmon conservation
Bringing the power of artificial intelligence to bear on monitoring anadromous salmon populations for faster and more efficient counts, toward more resilient watersheds
How To
How to make your kids hate fishing
Re-writing the old tired playbook of fishing as achievement and productive time in favor of something more curious and explorational.
Learn fly fishing: CFS' complete beginner's guide to getting started
Whether you're completely new to fly fishing or looking to improve your skills, this directory of all the main articles from Current Flow State has everything you need to learn about fly fishing, and be successful on the water.
Conversations
CFSQ&A: What I Wish I'd Known Before My First Guided Float in Montana
Impressions, insights, and lessons-learned when an Intro to Fly Fishing alum takes her first guided float trip in Montana.
Weekly Update
Profiling fly fishing educator George Daniel for PennStater magazine
From inspiration and ideas to executing a feature story, it takes a team, trust, and a little bit of good timing. Sounds like a successful fishing trip, too
Books
Fix your yard, help a fish?
Join us for a discussion of backyard ecology in our Summer edition of the Read By the River book club.
Weekly Update
Pain, pressure, and one hard pull: Hook removal done right
If you stick yourself rather than a fish, know how to get it out.
Weekly Update
Salmon without fish: Lab-grown seafood earns FDA approval, and a spot on the menu at Portland's Kann
With recently-granted FDA approval and a summer slot on the menu at Portland hotspot Kann, lab-grown salmon is in the spotlight. I talked with Justin Kolbeck, co-founder of cultivated seafood startup Wildtype.