Current Flow State Fly Fishing Weekly Update archives

Scenic view of the Deschutes River winding through a desert canyon at sunset. The river reflects soft pink and purple twilight colors from the sky.

Weekly Update

Check In on your angling, and your advocacy

Pre-season is the best time to recalibrate, set new angling goals, and realign your advocacy aims.

A man in an orange hat swings flies in a Pacific Northwest river

Weekly Update

Seeing more fish with science

One TU chapter is recruiting citizen scientists to locate hidden Brook Trout in the NYC suburbs, using state-of-the-art eDNA sampling. Can they help me find a winter steelhead?

G.Loomis Asquith fly rod with fifteen North Fork Composites Golden Tickets arranged on vintage landscape photograph

Weekly Update

A tale of two fly rods

North Fork Composites' Gary Loomis announced this week he's rejected private equity advances, and launched $100 Golden Tickets good for North Fork blanks to help the company grow. The company he founded and sold, G.Loomis? It now charges over $1,500 for its Asquith rods.

Weekly Update

Under a snow moon

Exploding trees, the Michael Jordan of pikeminnow, fly fishing with a baby on board, Michigan smallies, and more in this week's newsletter.

Pacific Northwest river with clear water flowing over rocks through forested canyon in winter

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.

Learn

Where I'm calling from

Here's a little bit of a Station Identification to introduce myself, and give you the lowdown on what we're all about around here.

Cambarus scotti crayfish on stream bottom with orange claws and banded body pattern among rocks and leaves

Fly tying

Now's the time to look closer

When that winter metabolism slows down, take a closer look to see what's really going on.

Angler holds largemouth bass over calm water at golden hour, water dripping from the fish's mouth and belly in cinematic riverside setting

Film

Hunkered down and having fun

All fish tales are tall tales. What kind of stories will you tell this year? A special crop of fly fishing films to start things off right.

A big green Dumpster floating down a flooded, turbulent, muddy river, with splashing all around it.

Environment

Two Dumpsters drifting

On the second day of Christmas, the atmospheric river gave to me...

Aerial view of winding Limay Medio river through green valley with dramatic red rock cliffs at golden hour under stormy sky

Fish

This year's favorite fish

Reflecting on some favorite friends (finned and non-finned) after a great year, and ten fishtastic links to start your fly fishing week off right.

Two anglers fly fishing from a raft on a turquoise river, surrounded by lush green vegetation with snow-capped mountains rising dramatically in the background.

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.

Fish

Waiting for winter (steelhead)

An earnest start in the search for a dreary season chrome lifeline, six months until TroutFest, and ten fishy links to start your week off right.

"Miss Norway at Miss Universe in salmon costume with silver sequined body and metallic orange wings representing Norway's famous fish, shown in two poses on lit stage"

Pheasant Tail Simplicity

Harness your inner salmon goddess

Miss Norway, it me. Tying night success, updates from the alchemist's cave, and ten(-ish) fishy links to start your week with trout in the tabs.

Weekly Update

Winter Term registration opens Wednesday

Sign up for Winter Term class, come tie flies on Friday, read CFS in the Financial Times, and watch two Swedish brothers bust chops while contemplating the good life.

Weekly Update

HOA Karens gatekeep eight-pound peacock bass

Don't let the park police keep you off your personal best. Fly fishing stoke from around the world in this week's newsletter

A misty river scene, with a background conifers and dark orange autumnal foliage and large wet rocks in the foreground

Weekly Update

Portlanders! Come tie flies on Friday (or...just hang out?)

We're hosting two tying nights in November: This coming Friday, November 7th, and again on Friday, November 21st.

Weekly Update

Tune in to our massive Craig Mathews Q&A

We hopped the Pheasant Tail Simplicity press tour train and had a chance to chat with one of its iconic co-authors, Craig Mathews, about a bevy of topics related to tying flies, the future of conservation, and much more.

Weekly Update

Win a free copy of Pheasant Tail Simplicity

Announcing our Pheasant Tail fall giveaway, a member Q&A on tenkara and creative woodworking projects, tariffs bite the fly fishing industry, and a Leaders roundup of must-reads from around the fly fishing world

A man floats through a rapid reeling a fly rod

Fly tying

Free-floating through fall

Fly tying meetups, welcoming a new Intro alum group, and more

Mindset

Big swell off Point No Point

Routines, purposelessness, wrist action, and our Member Drive fish reveal

Film

What do the Grateful Dead and birdwatching have in common?

Probably just this week's newsletter? From private equity Dead deals to twitcher road meals.

Technique

Go beyond the bobber

Challenging yourself to become a better angler, a book club rundown, and upcoming events.

A drift boat floats in the midground, anchored at the side of Montana's Madison river

Technique

Do you want the wire worm?

Knowing what you like, and sticking with it.

A man sits on the tailgate of a truck, facing the camera, with fly fishing gear on either side of him, ready to give a briefing to a beginner before setting out.

Learn

Back to school: Six tips to get started fly fishing from George Daniel

One of the greatest educators in the angling world offers a roadmap to building your skills in the sport.

Travel

Let's hit the road

What if the secret to life's problems is just getting better at evading them?

Safety

Seeing salmon, seeing snakes, and tying simple flies

Facial recognition, but for fish, our first buzzworm of the year, and a new PCC fly-tying class for Fall Term

Community

CFSQ&A: What I Wish I'd Known Before My First Guided Float in Montana

Impressions, insights, and lessons-learned when an Intro to Fly Fishing alum takes her first guided float trip in Montana.

Published Elsewhere

Profiling fly fishing educator George Daniel for PennStater magazine

From inspiration and ideas to executing a feature story, it takes a team, trust, and a little bit of good timing. Sounds like a successful fishing trip, too

Books

Fix your yard, help a fish?

Join us for a discussion of backyard ecology in our Summer edition of the Read By the River book club.

Safety

Pain, pressure, and one hard pull: Hook removal done right

If you stick yourself rather than a fish, know how to get it out.

A lab-grown block of salmon sits in the middle of a white plate, with curiously rounded edges.

Conservation

Salmon without fish: Lab-grown seafood earns FDA approval, and a spot on the menu at Portland's Kann

With recently-granted FDA approval and a summer slot on the menu at Portland hotspot Kann, lab-grown salmon is in the spotlight. I talked with Justin Kolbeck, co-founder of cultivated seafood startup Wildtype.

Conservation

Leaders: Wisdom never expires

It's the June edition of Leaders, our links roundup, featuring the big public lands battle, the wisdom of guides and land-watchers, gear reviews, technique primers, and more.

A sequence of skateboarder David Gravette riding a miniramp with fly-fishing waders on, and then riding to catch a fish.

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.

Events

TroutFest 2025, debriefed: We came, we saw, we fished...we won the trivia contest!

Here's what went down at the first-ever Maupin Meetup during the Deschutes River Alliance's TroutFest.

A black and white book book cover is overlaid onto a backdrop of a river at sunrise. The book is titled Wisdom of the Guides and features a grizzled-looking man with a white beard looking

Technique

Tap into the Wisdom of the Guides

Gleaning advice for taking your first guided fly-fishing trip from legendary fly-fishing guides and a tome that's stood the test of time.

Mindset

Nirvana on the Deschutes: The salmonfly hatch with no hookups

Deciding to fish the salmonfly hatch on the Deschutes with hookless flies