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Pillar 1: Mindset
Start here. Why do we fish? How do we venture boldly into the outdoors?
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.
Video
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
Newsletter
Immerse yourself with Kwintesencja
Take fifteen minutes, and be transported.
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
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.
Mindset
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.
Mindset
My life story as told by water
Who I am, and how that's shaped my fishing life
Mindset
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.
Mindset
Public access and the ethics of fishing trespass
If a trespass happens in the backcountry and leaves no trace, does it make a mark?