We’d worked our way almost completely around the shoreline of the small lake, with just a couple hammer-handles to show for it, and I was starting to wonder if there were big pike beneath the dark water after all. I’d thrown all the patterns I could think . . .
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Recipe for Adventure: Baled-Out in Chilean Patagonia
My Recipe for Adventure has all the classic elements that compose a memorable adventure: an exotic locale, mystery, and a bit of dumb luck. Have you ever been in a familiar situation, and then all the sudden see something so out of . . .
Read MoreStory: The Trout Stream That No One Else Wanted
With a sparsely attended Catholic church at one end and a Taco Bell at the other, Benmont Avenue is representative of the hard times that have befallen many American mill towns. This is not the scenic Vermont of postcards, but instead a hardscrabble . . .
Read MoreClassic Story and Photos: The Meat Mongers of Spring
Written by: Drew Nisbet, Orvis Fly Fishing and Wingshooting Community Leader
This savage brown ate a streamer, even though its last meal had not yet been digested.
Photos by Drew Nisbet, Orvis Buffalo
As winter releases its icy grip on the Northeast in late March and into April, many anglers look forward to warm spring days of fishing to rising trout on their favorite tailwater or freestone . . .
Read MoreStory and Photos: Two Days of Trout in Utah
February in Park City, Utah, is well known for fantastic skiing, snowboarding, and all things winter. But for me, the best part is that none of those people are on the blue-ribbon trout waters nearby. It also helps to have awesome friends send you . . .
Read MoreArmed to the Teeth: The Northern Pike of Wollaston Lake
Photo by Joel Ruby
“Can we please change this fly?” Guide Dan Lembke–all six-foot-eight, two-hundred and ninety
pounds of him–was sitting in the center of the boat, rebuilding my wire leader
and considering what fly to tie on, . . .
Classic Story: Patience Pays Off in Alaska
The huge rainbows that Alaska is famous for are not always easy to catch.
All photos by Jeremy Kehrein
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. . .
Read MoreStory and Photos: The Search for Big Browns on the South Island
Written by: Matt Smith It was day one, in a sudden downpour. I was wadered up in mid-December, feeling the wind and wishing I had worn one more layer. A bit of thunder rumbled nearby for good measure. Knee-deep in the rain-swollen Wangapeka, on the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand, I … Continue reading “Story and Photos: The Search for Big Browns on the South Island”
Read MoreWhat’s Your “Confidence” Fly? Here Are Two of Mine.
The Parachute Hopper is my go-to pattern for summer fishing on mountain streams.
Photo by Sandy Hays
One August afternoon on a southern Colorado river, my guide handed me one of the more godawful dry flies I’d ever seen—an abomination constructed entirely of foam, rubber, and. . .
Read More“Trout Eyes,” by William G. Tapply
Sometimes, seeing is believing.
Photo by Sandy Hays
The Bull Shoals dam was holding back water, and the White River was running low and slow and clear. Local trout maestro Wayne Reed had led John Barr and me through some woods to a . . .
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