"Fishing is like that. It keeps you off balance, surprises you. It takes humility to learn, to accept that you may need a lesson or two even in your advanced stage of enlightenment." – Kevin Nelson The best fly fishermen are confident, but humble. The confidence comes from knowing that if you keep an open mind, keep striving to…
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"There is time to go long, time to go short and time to go fishing." – Jesse Livermore Fly Fishermen understand anticipation; after all, our sport is predicated by watching and waiting. And as one season slowly turns to another, patience is required. Anticipation is piqued. There is a time for snow, turkey, and family. In the meanwhile, notch…
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"For the supreme test of a fisherman is not how many fish he has caught, not even how he has caught them, but what he has caught when he has caught no fish." – John H. Bradley The best laid plans of rivers and men often go awry; fly fishing is, after all, a sport rife with uncontrollable variables. Sometimes the…
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"There is only one thing wrong with a fishing day-- its staggering brevity." – Zane Grey The experience of time while fly fishing is somewhere between "a watched pot never boils" and "time flies when you are having fun." A fishing day resembles a drama full of anticipation and uncertainty punctuated by moments of glory and devastation. As a result,…
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"Fishing is fundamentally a game of chance, and at heart we are all gamblers." - Dorothy Noyes Arms Fly fishing is often rife with uncertainty, ambiguity, and misadventure. These are the elements that make fly fishing interesting and keep anglers yearning for more. Some days, however, the fishing stars align: the weather is perfect, the hatch is abundant, and the fish…
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"The poetry of the sport hooked me long before I learned the prose." - Judy Muller There are those who fish with precision, making each cast direct and to the point. And there are those who fish with the fly in the air as much as it is on the water, making each presentation as if it is a prayer. Some…
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"Never throw a long line when a short one will serve your purpose." - Richard Penn Trout take a fly with astonishing speed…and as quickly as they take it they spit it out. To ensure a solid hook set, an angler should be as close as possible to their quarry and make a short cast. The problem, in September the water…
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"THERE IS NO TAKING TROUT IN DRY BREECHES." - Cervantes September is a magical time on the waters around the Wood River Valley. The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler, and the fishing pressure is light. Our local tailwaters have dropped and our freestone rivers are close to base levels making wading a cinch. Still, you can’t take trout…
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"Yellowstone River closed in response to on going fish kill." ~Montana Fish and Wildlife Website The parasite that is killing whitefish and trout in the Yellowstone is present in many rivers in the West and under normal conditions healthy fish are resistant. The extremely low flows on the Yellowstone River and warm temperatures has weakened fish immune systems making them…
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"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." ~ John Wooden It is as true in fly fishing as it is in basketball. A successful fly fishing outing is dependent on preparation. If you are planing on coming to the Sun Valley area, your preparation should include a visit to our store. Access to local knowledge about hatches, water levels, water…
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