Newsletter
Pain, pressure, and one hard pull: Hook removal done right
If you stick yourself rather than a fish, know how to get it out.
Technique
Fly fishing techniques to learn that will help you get the most out of your time on the water, including casting methods, presentation skills, mending, achieving a drag-free drift, and advanced tactics. Photo by Carl Heyerdahl / Unsplash
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Pillar 4: Technique
Casting, fly presentation, dry flies, nymphing, streamers and more.
Newsletter
No drag, just drift
Striving to get even with the flow
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Vivid indicators of life
Wading for caddis, fishing nymphs with suspenders
Newsletter
Rolling your own
If you wish to make a fly rod from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
Newsletter
River reads, post-hibernation edition
Grand Canyon dreaming, communing with the fishes, Jackson County's finest, Tokyo shopping, and a great smallmouth bass learning opportunity
Newsletter
Watersheds and watching flies
Zoom out to conserve, zoom in to observe, zoom over to the Grand Fir tonight to have a drink and a bite.
Newsletter
Read By the River, 2024
Sometimes, literally. The five favorite (mostly) fly-fishing books I read this year
Newsletter
A time to mend
If you can manage your line, you can manage your life.
Newsletter
Fly fishing and problem solving
Moving beyond the engineering mindset, and trying to embrace frustration as a key function of learning
Newsletter
Fools rush in: on finding, hooking, and losing a trophy trout
Reflections on an epic face-plant, remembering Bill Walton
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.
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.
Technique
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.
Technique
Dapper Don: Stalking large browns with a long rod
Inspiration on moving to a more sight-fishing, patience-oriented trout approach.
Technique
Adding movement to your wet fly swing: Lift it like Leisenring
Once you're through the main drag-free-drift area, it's never a bad idea to try to impart some motion in your flies. The Leisenring Lift is a great way to accomplish just that.