Mindset
Low and clear
Knowing the odds are long—but showing up anyway—is the core of being an angler, and maybe a person, too.
Mindset
Start here. Why do we fish? How do we venture boldly into the outdoors? Mindset encompasses the mental approach to fly fishing, including mindfulness on the water, finding our flow state, and the philosophical side of angling. Think like a river, a fish, a nymph: anything but the anxiety-prone, worried, life-addled person.
Casting
Hold on loosely
Trying to not try so hard.
Mindset
Blowing off the stink
Whether you're buzzing with holiday excitement or feeling that slack tide of the soul, here are ten fishy detours to transport you.
Learn
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.
Craft
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
Mindset
Big swell off Point No Point
Routines, purposelessness, wrist action, and our Member Drive fish reveal
Mindset
Go beyond the bobber
Challenging yourself to become a better angler, a book club rundown, and upcoming events.
Technique
Do you want the wire worm?
Knowing what you like, and sticking with it.
Community
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.
Community
Skate or Fly: How two outsider sports foster the same creative flow state
From boardslides to redsides, meet a few notable skaters who fly-fish, and identify the big areas the sports have in common, built around getting into the flow state.
Mindset
Nirvana on the Deschutes: The salmonfly hatch with no hookups
Deciding to fish the salmonfly hatch on the Deschutes with hookless flies
Mindset
Fish around and find out
Ten ways to make fly fishing a bigger part of your life
Learn
Pillar 1: Mindset
Start here. Why do we fish? How do we venture boldly into the outdoors?
Learn
Take your time: Ten ways to make fly fishing a bigger part of your life
We have a motto around here: "Make fly fishing a bigger part of your life." Here are ten ways to work in more time on the water, and time spent feeling fishy.
Learn
The Intro to Fly Fishing class in the spotlight
A short video introduction to the Portland Community College Intro to Fly Fishing course, courtesy student-angler Nathaniel Chapman
Environment
Immerse yourself with Kwintesencja
Take fifteen minutes, and be transported.
Mindset
A tale for the turn of the year
Wish 2025 an angler's welcome with some intention setting, saying goodbye to Jimmy Carter, summer meetup dates, and the anatomy of a fly-fishing rig
Icons
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
Mindset
What we give up fly fishing
On Adam Phillips, and finding, and re-finding our identities as anglers
Ethics
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.
Mindset
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
Learn
Fly fishing and problem solving
Moving beyond the engineering mindset, and trying to embrace frustration as a key function of learning
Learn
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.
Learn
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.
Mindset
My life story as told by water
Who I am, and how that's shaped my fishing life
Learn
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.
Access
Public access and the ethics of fishing trespass
If a trespass happens in the backcountry and leaves no trace, does it make a mark?