“An undisturbed river is as perfect as we will ever know, every refractive slide of cold water a glimpse of eternity.” ~Thomas McGuane This time of year, the rivers seem undisturbed. Most casual anglers have been pulled away to other business and the rivers are left empty. The cool air and water, along with the shorter days, has triggered a…
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“In a life properly lived, you're a river.” ~Jim Harrison When angling well, you are not at odds with a river, nor a victim to its indifference. You are the river, one with the surroundings, flowing as the river flows. When angling well, your relationship to the water is not mere simile, you are not “like” or “as” a river.…
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“The trouble is, you can't properly present something you don't believe in.” ~Thomas McGuane Which is more important, the right fly or the proper presentation? Once you have exhausted every possibility with regards to a perfect drift, from the angle of approach, to leader build and tippet size, and the fish still refuses to take… it must be the fly.…
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“When we are on the water, our contemplative impulses range from the intense to the nearly absent.” ~Paul Schullery There are times while fly fishing that an angler’s thoughts, like an arrow, point at the smallest target and others when the mind soars like a Redtail past the river bank, the mountains, and disappears over the horizon. These last days…
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“I don't suppose I ever entirely release a fish. I may not eat it, but that does not mean I take nothing from it before I let it go.” ~Paul Schullery With each catch, no matter its stature, anglers are reminded about all the miracles that had to take place for that trout to exist. Imagine surviving a massive infiltration…
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“Most fishermen use the double haul to throw their casting mistakes further.” ~Lefty Kreh As we enter the second week of August, there are a lot of great fishing opportunities to look forward to on the Wood, Silver Creek, Big Lost, and the other fisheries in the Valley and beyond. Keep in mind, with the smaller bugs and lower water,…
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“Fly-fishing is solitary, contemplative, misanthropic, scientific in some hands, poetic in others, and laced with conflicting aesthetic considerations. It's not even clear if catching fish is actually the point.” ~John Gierach What is fly fishing to you? The next time you are waist deep in a river, take a second and reflect. Contemplate your aesthetic considerations. Think about the experiences…
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“The music of angling is more compelling to me than anything contrived in the greatest symphony hall.” ~A.J. Mclane As we move into August, the best fishing is during the most pleasant times of day, and with day time highs in the 80s to 90s, the pleasant times have shifted to the morning and evenings. Along with the shift in…
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“The finest gift you can give to any fisherman is to put a good fish back, and who knows if the fish that you caught isn't someone else's gift to you?” ~Lee Wulff This season, our rivers have been blessed with an abundance of wild fish. The finest gift anglers can give to the trout as the waters warm up…
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“Streams and mountains never stay the same.” ~Gary Snyder While there is a comfortable familiarity to the ritual of fly fishing, it is the unpredictable nature of the sport that brings anglers back. At the heart of this uncertainty is the everchanging river and its inhabitants, the trout. The Wood is a prime example. From fires to floods over the…
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