The Orvis Fly-Fishing Blog celebrates a rich angling heritage stretching beyond a century, with timely articles, tips, photos, videos, podcasts, and the latest fly-fishing news. We keep you informed about the things you want to know, from improving your casting technique to the art and science of tying flies.
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Photo by Chris Waythomas, courtesy of the Alaska Volcano Observatory / U.S. Geological Survey |
Scientists searching for an explanation for the record-breaking number of sockeye salmon returning to Canada’s Frasier River have come up with an explosive theory. A 2008 eruption of a volcano in the Aleutian Islands may have created just the right conditions for a massive bloom of Phytoplankton, the sockeye’s favorite dish.
Read MoreFly Fishing New Zealand….South Island Revisited Volume 1 from flydogsdownunder on Vimeo.
A great amateur video by two Australian fly fishermen who venture deep into the backcountry of New Zealand’s South Island. They land several trout that would be “fish of a lifetime” for most of us on this side of the Pacific. If you watch the second volume of their series, you’ll get a sense for just how spooky these trout can be, as one of the anglers struggles to get a fish to bite.
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Over on the Classic Fly Rod Forum, Greg Reynolds shows off an impressive collection of post-1940 Orvis catalog and flier covers.
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Photo from the Orvis Archives |
It is very rare when we get the opportunity to hear the inside story about one of the great fishing-tackle legends. But this is exactly what we get with William H. Jordan’s new book Jordan the Rodmaker: A Biography of Wesley D. Jordan at Cross – South Bend – Orvis. Wes Jordan needs no introduction to anyone who has done any serious fly angling. Maker of incredible (and ahead-of- their-time) fly rods from 1921-1926 at Cross Rod & Tackle at Lynn, MA, Wes Jordan moved to South Bend, Indiana and set up the rod shop for South Bend Tackle Company, which he ran until 1938, producing upwards of 5,000 rods per week. In 1939 he moved to Manchester, Vermont…
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Eric Rickstad |
Another gorgeous October morning here in Vermont. Only two weeks left of trout season, so Phil Monahan and I got up before light and met at a stretch on the Battenkill that we both like (which does not equate to a stretch where we consistently catch the river’s wild brown trout…there is not such stretch, for us anyway). A cold night in the thirties meant fog on the river first thing. Jumped some wood ducks first thing and thought maybe I should have hung up the rod and gone with the shotgun instead….
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photo by Phil Monahan |
River Test Project from Matt Dunkinson on Vimeo.
English photographer Matt Dunkinson has launched a film project with a very good friend who is the riverkeeper on the River Test. Here is a small clip of what they have been up to.
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photo by Jan Bach Kristensen |
Fly fishing for redfish (or “red drum,” depending where you’re from) has become an obsession for reporter Mike Leggett of The Austin-American Statesman. His story of chasing tails off the Texas coast, just east of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge,…
Before Tom left for the Bahamas (another tough business trip) he was joined in the studio by Jed Fiebelkorn, host of Trout Unlimited’s cable show ON THE RISE for a discussion on fall fly fishing techniques in the eastern and western United States. In doing so, they also bust a popular myth about trout feeding habits.
Click the play button below to listen to this episode and go to orvis.com/podcast to subscribe to future episodes!
I got an email this morning from Nick Reygaert of Gin-Clear Media, who had noticed we’d posted the trailer for their Tasmania film last week. Nick pointed me to the trailer for the newest Gin-Clear film, “The Source-Iceland,” which offers some spectacular footage from the Land of Fire and Ice. There’s also a New Zealand film, and you can check out that trailer at the Gin-Clear Media Web site.
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