Picture of the Day: High-Water Special

Bridger and Big Trout

Twelve-year-old Bridger put aside his preference for dry flies and worked a deep
nymph rig on the Missouri to great effect.

photo courtesy Brandon Bodecker

Our excessive snowpack and torrential rains of May and early June have led to some challenging times for anglers and outfitters alike in Montana. I am usually guiding on the Smith River this time of year and don’t get to spend a lot of time with my family, so when my 12-year-old son Bridger said,. . .

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Tom Rosenbauer’s Secret Tips for Fishing Terrestrial Flies

If you think terrestrial imitations are only for summer fishing, you’re missing a great deal of dry-fly action. The normal thought is that trout ignore land-bred insects in the spring and early summer, until mayfly and caddisfly hatches dwindle with the heat of summer. They ignore terrestrials about as much as you ignore chocolate mousse when out to dinner.

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TU Getting Kids into Fishing

How did you first get into fishing? Was it your dad, brother, uncle, mom, or neighbor who brought you out for your first time on the water? Trout Unlimited is helping to get today’s kids out on the water and into fishing in an age when there are fewer opportunities for kids to get outside, let alone fish. Check it this great video about how kids are getting involved in fishing and conservation through TU.

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Tuesday Tip: Mending as a Process

I remember the day the light bulb went off for me. I was standing shin deep in a small New Hampshire stream under the colorful fall foliage canopy while several brook trout rose in front of me. I was a rookie angler but had finally managed to learn how to cast without embarrassing myself. It wasn’t pretty, but it was beginning to work. However, I knew little about. . .

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Trout for a Good Cause II

DSC_2830

Casey Peltier tries her luck for native brook trout.

photo by Phil Monahan

Back in September, I posted about a great day of fishing I shared with Casey Peltier, who had bid on the trip in a Casting for Recovery auction. CFR is an organization that holds the annual auction to raise money for their programs, which combine fly fishing, counseling, and medical information to help breast-cancer patients and survivors focus on wellness instead of illness. This year, Casey was again the high bidder for a day on southwestern Vermont waters because she wanted to share the experience with her husband, Alec. Instead of a fall trip, they’d decided to head north from. . .

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The Benefits of Fishing Locally

 

mary fish

 

Because I was raised in a family of fly fishermen, the sport has become a necessary component of my lifestyle, as integral to my identity as my DNA. With that being said, I am constantly looking for ways to fish more often. I think for women especially, as passionate as we may be about the sport, there are specific barriers that can make it difficult to get on the water. While I’m lucky to work in an industry that surrounds me with “fishing buddies,” many women have a hard time finding people to fish with; and fishing alone is not always the best idea, especially in more remote locations.

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