Under a snow moon

CFSers,

Look up tonight or tomorrow. That's the Snow Moon, the first full moon of February. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, you might have too much snow. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we don't have enough—we're at historic lows, still. A Snow Moon miracle is needed.

There are many other names for this February moon: Hungry Moon and Bony Moon to evoke wintertime deprivation. The Bear Moon, for newborn Ursidae. The Ice Moon, the Sleet Moon, the Midwinter Moon, and the When Trees Crack Because of Cold Moon.

I got a note from a friend in Michigan this week who told me due to the extreme cold the seemingly apocryphal phenomenon of exploding trees was in the news. Lo, my man, that happened so much they named a moon for it.

For more general moonliness and investigation of an object our species has been contemplating and living in sync with for millennia, read Brian Isett's "Theia" in the latest Emergence.

Theia – Brian Isett

Pondering the age-old question his young daughter will inevitably ask—Where did the Moon come from?—biologist Brian Isett uncovers the story of how the Earth got Her seasonal song.

Emergence MagazineBrian Isett

We've crossed Imbolc, midway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.

A time of beginnings.

Spring is on its way, ready or not.

PDX F3T Meetup 📆

This Saturday, February 7th, a group of CFS pals is hitting up the Fly Fishing Film Tour's Portland stop. The F3T is a stoke-fest, premiering 10+ short films from all over the world, showcasing the sport's premier filmmaking talent and some epic fishing.

We're meeting up beforehand at a nearby bar, and then heading over to the theater to experience the thrill and spills and great giveaways the show has to offer. Get a ticket to the show here, and then RSVP for our group meetup if you want to join us!

ICYMI: Trout ain't tarpon
Sure, the silver kings might not even be on the same angling planet as rainbows, but here are tarpon tips, tricks, and concepts distilled from legend Andy Mill that can be applied to any fishing situation.

Get the wisdom

Leaders ➰

Ten fishy links to get your week started on the fishy foot.

Mindset 🧘‍♂️

Due West Anglers summons the immortal spirit of Ed Abbey in response to public sentiment data showing it's no longer considered manly to care about the environment (and, well, presumably a whole host of other stuff too). "I can't imagine that Edward Abbey, author of "The Monkey Wrench Gang", famed environmentalist...was worried about being manly enough to his peers." (Due West Anglers)

Data doyenne Amanda Shendruk at Not-Ship found some fun research revealing folks' favorite birds to watch. When asked to rank the they got watching certain birds, UK study participants' top three were the Long-tailed Tit, Robin, and Goldfinch. Bottom three? Carrion Crow, Magpie, and Woodpigeon. Apparently we liking small and colorful birds, as another study showed, is something folks around the globe have in common. (Not-Ship)

Environment ⛰️

One of my least thought-through dreams, or, really, elaborate fishing fantasies, involves become a commercial pikeminnow angler in the Columbia. See, the states of Oregon and Washington, eager to remove these salmon smolt eating-machines, are so eager to protect their hatchery investment they pay anglers a cash bounty for them. Annette Cary of the Tri-City Herald reported on the 2025 results, and told us a little more about the "Michael Jordan of pikeminnow fishing." This legend earned almost $160k last year, living aboard his boat ("modified...to be the Batmobile of pikeminnow fishing") for five months and catching over 15,000 pikeminnows. SWOON. (Seattle Times)

Tools 🎣

This conversation between two Fulling Mill product folks on fish hook design has a big takeaway: There's no standardization in modern fishing hooks. I've been on this soapbox before, but was still a little shocked. Come for the baffling lack of standardization ("we don't get samples. Hook factories run nonstop. Setup is expensive. Everything is designed from drawings and measurements") stay for the photo of Tom Rosenbauer tying flies in a pitch-black room. (J Stockard Fly Fishing)

Technique 🤺

🎥 This week's video pick is the third and final installment of the Wild Fly smallmouth trip to Michigan, focused on finding smallmouth bass that will eat on the top. If you're just catching up to this series it's worth watching episodes 1 and 2 as well. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the program Schultz Outfitters is running in SE Michigan is the premier smallmouth bass fly fishing operation in the country. (YouTube)

Visit Captain Chris Meyers on his tropical casting island as he breaks down how the pause should work in a proper fly cast. If you've ever seen a metronome used in fly casting (or remember that from The Movie), the reason for that tool is the pause. We need the fly line to almost fully unfurl before we start our casting stroke in the opposite direction. As you become more advanced in casting you'll get to know the three sins of the pause—creep, drag, and drift—but for now the main idea is the higher the line speed, the shorter the pause. (Midcurrent)

Conservation 🌲

The House approved a bill that, through the unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act, would undo a mining moratorium created around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota at the behest of a Chilean copper mining conglomerate. This would pave the way a mining method with toxic byproducts to infiltrate one of the purest watersheds in North America. (Midcurrent)

Kyle Frost writes about how the Boundary Waters issue gives lie to the phony across-the-aisle influence group called "Nature is Non-Partisan" (NINP) (Here and There)

Startup public lands-focused media property RE:PUBLIC (run by former Outside mag editor Chris Keyes) totes up the damage done in a year by the new administration, and, while some efforts have not stood up in court, it's still been a series of bombardments against the status quo. It's quaint to recall a year ago when the public lands issue the republic's most pressing concern, but we're all adults, and able to do more than one thing at once. (RE:PUBLIC)

Community 🏘️

Seattle Times photographer Kevin Clark captured Wes Rostomily (manager at Patrick's Fly Shop) with his daughter Maisie on his back, searching the sound for cutthroat in Seattle's Carkeek Park. Now that's what I call daddin'. Just keep those loops open and make sure the hooks are de-barbed. (Seattle Times)

That's it that's all! Current Flow State is a weekly newsletter from me, Nick Parish.

Have you ever cast a fly rod while wearing a baby? Tell me on Bluesky 🦋, Instagram 📸, YouTube 🎥, or the Fishcord 💬.

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