Fly Fishing

Oprah and Gayle pose with guides Brian and Jenny Grossenbacher. photo courtesy Grossenbacherphoto.com

Today is the big day, when the world gets to see Oprah Winfrey fly fishing. News leaked online a few weeks ago that the talk-show host and her best pal Gayle had fished with Bozeman-based guides (and my pals) Brian and Jenny Grossenbacher on Yosemite’s Merced River. Field & Stream’s Kirk Deeter got the scoop interview with Brian, in which we learn that Oprah was actually a quick study when it came to learning how to fly cast. Check your local listings.

Anglers sneak up on a small mountain stream to avoid spooking the trout. That orange bag should be left far behind on the bank, though. photo by Sandy Hays

Watch a heron stalk its prey in the shallows of a pond or a river, and you can clearly see why stealth is so important to anglers of all kinds. Yet many fly fishermen still act as if the fish were deaf, blind, and stupid, which keeps anglers from having the kind of success they desperately want. A good fly fisher is always aware of his surroundings and how his place in them may be tipping off the fish that something’s amiss. Here are five ways you can be more like that heron:…

I’m starting to think that being a partner in Worldcast Anglers is a pretty good job. Last week, we posted a picture of a monster taimen that WCA Jim Hickey caught on his recent trip to Mongolia. Now, his partner Mike Dawes offers a report and some great shots from his journey to Argentina in search of golden dorado. These guys work like dogs all summer, . . .

11.02.10 Update: Back in September, we told you about a new DVD from New Zealand’s On the Fly Productions. Yesterday, the video was released and is now available for purchase.

The advent of digital video has led to a marked increase in the number and quality of fly-fishing movies in recent years. Pioneers such as Felt Soul Media (The Hatch, Running Down the Man, and Red Gold) and the now defunct Angling Exploration Group (Trout Bum Diaries I – III) raised the bar, spurred by the success of the Fly Fishing Film Tour. But, for the most part,. . .

This 121-year-old mounted brown trout—caught in Loch Stennes on mainland Orkney, Scotland, in March 1889—is expected to fetch as much as $4,800 at auction this month. Photo courtesy The Courier

Bonhams’ auction house in Edinburgh, Scotland, will be the scene of an exciting sale on November 11, when a 121-year-old mounted brown trout goes on the block. Caught in 1889, . . .

Reds On The Rise from Bay Street on Vimeo.

The Vermont trout season ended yesterday, but I found the perfect cure for my blues sitting in my email this morning: a cool redfish video sent by the guides at Bay Street Outfitters in Beaufort, South Carolina. Having frozen my butt off on the Battenkill Saturday morning, . . .

Bonefish Big Eye Josh, Spokane

Enter the Orvis Fly Fishing Photo contest for your chance to put your photograph on a future cover of the The Orvis Fly Fishing catalog, win a $1000 Orvis Gift Card or complete Helios Fly Rod Outfit and help preserve rivers and streams in the United States! Enter online at www.orvis.com/fishphoto.

Orvis Vice Chairman Dave Perkins puts an 8′ 6″ 5-weight through its paces. Photo Tim Bronson

A couple weeks a go, we posted about some switch-rod testing down at the office pond. Well, it turns out that this kind of thing is a regular occurrence around here. This morning, the Orvis rod-design team brought some test models of the new Superfine Touch series out on the lawn at Orvis HQ for Vice Chairman Dave Perkins to test. A complete redesign of the old Superfine series, these new rods are designed for…