Newsletter
Finding your fly lab
Another critical element in establishing your home waters: having a place to test things out. Plus a new book from Robin Wall Kimmerer and the many (gnarly) faces of lamprey.
Nick Parish
Forever seeking flow.
Newsletter
Avoid this one mistake when buying your first fly rod
How's that for a clickbait title? CFS' first-fly-rod buyers' guide, Winter classes open now, and a push against crude fly names.
Newsletter
Ground yourself on our home planet
Establish The Big Here on the way to finding your home waters. Also, two fun fly fishing films, and registration opening for Winter term class.
Newsletter
A time to mend
If you can manage your line, you can manage your life.
Newsletter
Some lines on knots
When it comes to fly-fishing knot tying skill, it's truly a tale of the haves and the have-knots. OK, ok. I promise not to get things too twisted up here, pun-wise at least.
Newsletter
So long summer, come winter's hope.
If you start summer steelheading earlier than October, does it get less bittersweet?
Newsletter
Invest in Your Angling, and Your Community: Join a Fly-Fishing Club
There's a great new documentary out about the wonderful benefits of joining a club. Guess what? Joining a fly-fishing club is even better, and will make you a better angler.
Newsletter
Remembering John Gierach
Recalling the shaper of a Platonic fly-fishing reality, in his own words
Newsletter
High-torque and low-torque activities
Digging in on the progression from Aspen Extreme to Trout Bum (RIP John Gierach), Grant Petersen CFS GOAT, SalmonSuperHwy lauded by the White House, and more
Newsletter
Fly-Fishing in the Italian Alps Part 5: The Packing List
It's not the be-all end-all Ultimate Fly Fishing Destination Packing List, but it's what I wound up bringing to Italy, where the trout fishing is much like at home.
Newsletter
Fly-Fishing in the Italian Alps, Part 4: Nude beaches and remote reaches
In Piemonte, on the Sesia and Mastallone rivers, anything is possible with the right attitude.
Newsletter
Fly-Fishing in the Italian Alps, Part 3: Young marble giants
Searching for slabs on the Passer river in Südtirol / Trentino Alto-Adige, part of our five-part series on fly-fishing in Italy
Newsletter
Fly-Fishing in the Italian Alps, Part 2: Blowouts, high water, and mystery trout on the Swiss border
Can you help identify this strange trout variant? Salmo truta helvetica?
Newsletter
Fly-Fishing in the Italian Alps, Part 1: Decoding access
The first in a series on fly fishing in the Italian alps, on getting licensed in Italy, and the main differences between fly fishing in Italy and the USA.
Newsletter
What we give up fly fishing
On Adam Phillips, and finding, and re-finding our identities as anglers
Newsletter
Hot weather and trout fishing
A few top tips—and one essential piece of gear—can help keep fish safe when the temps get high.
Newsletter
How to not look like an idiot when you first start learning to fly fish
Three ways to conquer the self-consciousness that comes with beginning fly fishing and start building your fly fishing practice
Newsletter
Fly fishing and problem solving
Moving beyond the engineering mindset, and trying to embrace frustration as a key function of learning
Newsletter
The Five Permissions: How to be a great fishing friend
Take me fishing. A simple request, a schmaltzy commercial, a pivotal role. Here are five permissions you can give yourself and your fishing friend to create space for connection.
Newsletter
Forest fires and fly fishing
Do forest fires hurt fly fishing? An update from the Clackamas river fire zone.
Newsletter
Fools rush in: on finding, hooking, and losing a trophy trout
Reflections on an epic face-plant, remembering Bill Walton
Newsletter
Opening days and opening dreams
Opening up, setting intentions for the new season
Writing
The best fly-fishing books ever written
Books that will improve your fly-fishing. A definitive list of all the best fly-fishing books, from beginner to technical methods, from entomology to romantic lore and conservation. And, of course, great writing.
Newsletter
Signs of summer: Salmonflies are on!
It's big bug time on the Deschutes, the most wonderful time of the year.
Technique
The roll cast: A basic fly-fishing cast for tight spots
Whether it's the first cast you learn or the second, the roll cast is a hard-working and versatile arrow in your casting quiver.
Environment
Thinking in watersheds
Understanding watersheds, and the different types of rivers we're going to encounter when fly-fishing
Technique
Fly-fishing with indicators: When and how to use them
All about indicators, floats, suspenders—whatever you call the thing every other angler calls a bobber.
Technique
Fly presentation and drag-free drift
You've rigged up your rod, landed your cast in the right place, your fly is on the water...and, it's waterskiing. Tactics and tips to maintain a drag-free drift that's irresistible to fish.
Environment
Reading the river: The Thalweg
Find the fast water for keys on where to row, where to put your flies, and how the river wants to be.
Environment
How to read a river: Riffles, runs, and pools
Digging one level deeper to understand the different features we find in a river
Gear
From reel seat to tippet: understanding the anatomy of a fly-fishing rig
The knee bone connects to the thigh bone...the thigh bone connects to the hip bone...digging into all the things that attach to your fly rod, from reel seat to fly line to tippet.
Gear
How to buy your first fly-fishing rod
There's one mistake I want to help you avoid when you buy your first fly rod.
Knots
The ultimate guide to fly fishing knots
The do's and do-knot's fly fishing knot tying. Find out what you need to know, what you don't, and how to build your skills and have confidence in your fly fishing knots
Environment
Scouting 101: Keys to finding great fly fishing spots
Scouting fly fishing spots can be a major challenge for beginners. It depends on combing through lots of sources of information to find places where you might find great water, then verifying those hunches in real life.
Environment
Finding your Home Waters with the Big Here Quiz
Start your journey to find your home waters by grounding yourself on your home planet.
Connection
Setting your fly-fishing intentions: The CFS Check-in
Check-in with your goals and intentions at the start of every fishing season, or calendar year.