Current Flow State Fly Fishing Weekly Update archives

Amy Hazel, owner of the Deschutes Angler, holds up a rolled Lower Deschutes ribbon map inside her fly shop, grinning, pointing to the map behind her on the wall.

Weekly Update

Ribbon map roll-out

Ribbon map mojo and the Maupin Meetup, casual casting practice in PDX, registration for PCC Summer Term, and more

A hand holds an unrolled ribbon map of the Lower Deschutes River against a canyon backdrop, with overlaid text reading "The CFS Lower Deschutes Ribbon Map — On Sale Now!"

Weekly Update

Announcing the CFS Lower Deschutes Ribbon Map

The last 100 miles. Six feet long. On sale now!

A fly angler casts at sunset on a mirrored artificial casting pond, with conifers in the background

Weekly Update

Putting in work

Got any early season rituals?

A large stonefly shuck held between two fingers, with the blue Deschutes River visible in the background.

Weekly Update

Big things are hatching

This season is going to be huge, on and off the river.

Weekly Update

The spey is strong out here

The Sandy River Spey Clave is a reminder of why the PNW is the North American epicenter of two-handed fly fishing.

FFI Casting Instructor pre-test evaluation form on clipboard in foreground, an instructor and candidate learning fly casting on a grass field under partly cloudy skies in the background.

Weekly Update

Mind in the line

Expect nothing, and other lessons from casting instructor boot camp

Woman practices roll cast on a calm pond at sunset, fly rod raised against a vivid pink and orange sky reflected in still water.

Weekly Update

Embrace what's scary

If we're not doing stuff that's scary, we're not learning.

Film still of a a brown trout nosing up above the surface of a river in golden light to take an emerging Brown Drake mayflay, amidst a hatch of thousands of insects

Weekly Update

Hatching into spring

This week's update has us ready for spring with a post-Springsteen glow, featuring a new class offering in Oregon and an epic film of a Brown Drake hatch.

"Fly Fishing Is my Therapy" bumper sticker with wet fly illustrations and mountain silhouette on the tailgate of a white pickup truck.

Weekly Update

Hearing "Fishing is my therapy" bothers me more than it should

It's not a replacement for penicillin, or a good therapist, but for the next few weeks we'll be sharing all the proof you need that fly fishing is good for your physical and mental health.

A screenshot from a vintage-looking airplane shows a man leaning out of a small airplane, with the title lettering TOP SPORTSMAN superimposed

Weekly Update

Get to know the Top Sportsman

Tarpon-chaser Dick Fisher is looking to catch more than just a silver king. Aren't we all?

Anglers wading the Sandy River below the Stark Street bridge, dip-netting for smelt on a gray winter day.

Weekly Update

Abundance, past and future

An unsuccessful smelt season on the Sandy, a celebration of female anglers, and the release of a suppressed report on the state of nature in America

9:49 AMA moss-covered old tire lying flat outdoors, its interior filled with soil and sprouting weeds, with a rusted abandoned vehicle and bare trees visible in the background.

Weekly Update

We are busy being born

Private equity is buying Michigan dams, George Daniel gives beginner students advice, salmon and steelhead get a win on the Columbia, and more.

A person in jeans swings in a hammock while looking at their phone

Weekly Update

Death to shitty flow

How junk food flow states and being stuck in the machine zone prevent us from achieving excellence in life, and our angling.

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

Weekly Update

Low and clear

Knowing the odds are long—but showing up anyway—is the core of being an angler, and maybe a person, too.

Weekly Update

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

Weekly Update

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

Industry

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.

Weekly Update

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

Weekly Update

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.

Meditations

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.

Fly fisher wading in a river beneath clear blue skies and a forested hillside with evergreens and bare deciduous trees in autumn colors.

Weekly Update

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"

Weekly Update

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