CFS Update
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.
Latest
CFS Update
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
CFS Update
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?
CFS Update
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.
Meditations
What we give up fly fishing
On Adam Phillips, and finding, and re-finding our identities as anglers
CFS Update
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.
CFS Update
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
Meditations
Fly fishing and problem solving
Moving beyond the engineering mindset, and trying to embrace frustration as a key function of learning
Meditations
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.
CFS Update
Forest fires and fly fishing
Do forest fires hurt fly fishing? An update from the Clackamas river fire zone.
Dispatches
Fools rush in: on finding, hooking, and losing a trophy trout
Reflections on an epic face-plant, remembering Bill Walton
CFS Update
Opening days and opening dreams
Opening up, setting intentions for the new season
Books
The best fly fishing books ever written
Books that will improve your fly fishing. A definitive list of the best fly fishing books, from beginner guides to technical methods, from entomology to romantic lore and conservation. And, of course, great writing.
Dispatches
Signs of summer: Salmonflies are on!
It's big bug time on the Deschutes, the most wonderful time of the year.
How To
You could just roll cast your entire life
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.
How To
Thinking in watersheds
Understanding watersheds, and the different types of rivers we're going to encounter when fly-fishing
How To
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.
How To
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.
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.
How To
How to read a river: Riffles, runs, and pools
Digging one level deeper to understand the different features we find in a river
How To
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.
How To
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.
How To
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
How To
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.
Meditations
Finding your Home Waters with the Big Here Quiz
Start your journey to find your home waters by grounding yourself on your home planet.
Meditations
Setting your fly fishing intentions: The CFS Check In
Check in with your goals and set new fly fishing intentions as spring starts creeping up
How To
Essential fly fishing gear for beginners: What you need (and what you don't)
There are only four pieces of essential fly fishing gear you really need to get started.
How To
What is fly fishing? Why do we fish? A very short introduction
For as long as humans have lived near rivers and oceans, we’ve fished. And I’d argue that fly fishing is the closest to how our ancestors did it. Read on for a broad introduction to the sport, the differences between fly and bait fishing, and more.
Meditations
My life story as told by water
Who I am, and how that's shaped my fishing life
How To
Five reasons to start fly fishing
Nobody fly fishes because it’s easy. So why do they do it? Here are five reasons why I fly fish, along with two anti-reasons.
Books
Icons: Percival Everett
On trout fishing and the truth: "For all the aggravation a trout can cause, it cannot think and does not consider you. A trout is very much like truth; it does what it wants, what it has to."
How To
Streamers and triggering trout aggression
Here are two examples of videos depicting the most visible and dramatic types of eats you'll ever get: territorial brown trout going after streamers.
Dispatches
If These Walls Could Talk: Fly-Fishing Guide Wisdom on the Rogue River
Proof that fly fishing guides have gotten no less droll and cynical over the years.
Books
Stepping inside the Angler's Club of New York
If you get a chance to visit the Angler's Club in New York City, take it. It's the nucleus of the sport's North American origins.
Meditations
River time: A manifesto
For me, a river is a sacred place. Any old river will do. It's a nice bonus if trout live there. For when you step into a river, you step away from false time, and surround yourself in what's real.
Books
Icons: William James Lunn, River Keeper of the Test
Lunn's extensive restoration and reclamation work on the Test is a must-read for anyone interested in the practice of taking care of a river.