The Art of Patience

Alaska Rainbow

In early July 1995, I was guiding two of my favorite clients of all time—a father-and-son team from Annapolis, Maryland—on the Copper River, which drains into Alaska’s Lake Iliamna. Tom and TJ were skillful anglers who loved the sport, but they didn’t take it, or themselves, too seriously. We were near the end of a pretty good day of catching rainbows on leech patterns and sampling. . .

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Guess the Breed and Win a FREE Orvis Dog’s Nest!

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Take a guess at our trivia question and, right or wrong, you could win a FREE ToughChew® Dog’s Nest® from Orvis!
This breed (which is NOT pictured below) looks similar to a foxhound but is shorter with softer and longer ears. It has a superb sense of smell for tracking. The modern breed was bred in Great Britain circa 1830 from the Talbot Hound, the Southern Hound, and other breeds, possibly even the Harrier.

Let us know your guess in the comment section (click the READ MORE link and scroll to COMMENTS). We’ll pick a random answer, right or wrong, on FRIDAY, March 4, at 3 EST to win the ToughChew® Dog’s Nest® worth up to $185.00!

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Fracturing Our Watersheds

Back in September, we posted about the dangers to trout habitat in the Northeast as the result of increased “hydrofracking” in the region. Here’s a video that offers some frightening anecdotes about damage already done, as well as a chilling vision of the future of Pennsylvania and New York. Unlike the Pebble Mine battle, this fight must be waged against multiple companies in multiple locations. The fact that these extraction operations offer cash payouts to landowners and good-paying. . .

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Murph Training: Stealth

No, I’m not training Murph for black ops missions, nor am I training him in secret. Actually stealth training refers to training Murph when he doesn’t know he is being trained. This is not a revolutionary concept by any means and good trainers do it all the time, but it’s worth talking about. A lot of amateur trainers (such as myself) tend to focus on the training session and forget about the rest of the day. First of all this sends an inconsistent message to the puppy and secondly, it is a lost opportunity.

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Madison in Winter

Winter fishing around southwest Montana is as much about shaking some cabin fever as anything else. Seems like the weather is either warm and windy or bitter cold and windy. So, when we get a day without the wind—be it bitter or warm—a few hours on the water always sounds good to me.

The lower Madison is typically a great winter fishing choice as it offers lots of easy. . .

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The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide Podcast- Sight Fishing for Stripers

In this podcast, I give 15 tips on sight fishing for stripers as requested on our new podcast voicemail line. We also get a call from Iceland with a correction to my last podcast.

Did I leave anything out? Have a sugestion for a future podcast? Call me at (802) 362-8800 or leave us a comment by clicking the READ MORE button.

Click the play button below to listen to this episode. Go to orvis.com/podcast to subscribe to future episodes


If you cannot see the podcast player, please click this link to listen.

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Happy Presidents’ Day!

obama_fishing_east_gallatin

President Barack Obama reacts to missing a strike on the
East Gallatin with guide Dan Vermillion.

To celebrate the holiday, we focus on those Commanders-In-Chief who have cast a fly as a way to relax. First, we offer an account of past angling presidents, from Grover Cleveland to George Herbert Walker Bush. And here’s the story of our current President learning the hard way that fly fishing (like governing) can be both exhilarating and frustrating. For a more in-depth look at the history. . .

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Friday Film Festival 02.18.11

Film Festival2

Welcome to another edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Fest, in which we scour the Internets for the best fly-fishing footage available. We’ve got a five videos to stoke your passion for fly fishing as we wait for spring to arrive. The weather has turned downright balmy up here in Vermont, so the thought of casting big streamers on Opening Day suddenly seems less remote, despite the foot of snow that remains on the ground. Click “Read More” to see this week’s films, and enjoy!

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Interview with TU’s Tim Bristol



As director of Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Program, Tim Bristol has been on the front lines of the fight against the proposed Pebble Mine.

photo courtesy Tim Bristol

In light of last week’s decision by the EPA to assess the potential impacts of large-scale development on the Bristol Bay watershed, I asked Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Program director, Tim Bristol (no relation to the bay of the same name), if he wouldn’t mind answering a few question.

1. Can you give us a brief overview of where the Pebble Project right now? What is the Pebble Partnership doing?

Pebble is claiming to still be in the pre-permitting phase; they have yet to file for permits. At the same time, they continue to give presentations on the the
tremendous size of the ore body, with recent estimates saying Pebble could generate up to 9 billion tons of waste rock. So, at this time, . . .

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How Sandanona Saved Me

James Ross 1

Shooting instructor James Ross sights down the barrel with me to diagnose any problems with gun mount, follow through, or anything else that may cause me to miss the clay target.

photo by Sandy Hays

The final straw was my last shot of the 2010 Vermont grouse season. I’ve never been a good (or even mediocre) shot, but for the first time since I had moved back to the Northeast almost a decade earlier, I had gone the whole season without downing a single bird. I was determined to rectify the situation on that cold day before New Year’s Eve.

But after an hour of fruitless hunting, I was ready to give up and started walking back toward the car along a logging road. I remained alert, but hope was certainly waning as the last gate came into view. Suddenly, the whirring of wings bursting into flight sounded from a pine tree to my left, . . .

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