The question was first voiced several hundred years ago when the grandfather of fly fishing pulled the first roughly-tied fly from the jaws of his primitive vice and mused, “Now what is this fly supposed to imitate and when should I fish it?” Echoing across the centuries, this same question can still be heard [...]
Photo by Mark Jessop of Troutfin Studio“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of 100 battles…” Sun Tzu, The Art of WarWhat is fly fishing if not a childlike game of war? We maneuver and position, count off our successful campaigns in [...]
(This article is a follow up to a previous article titled “Take a Moment and PAUSE” published first in July of 2016 and describing the 5 places around and in the river to identify what foods trout are most likely eating. If you haven’t read that article, take a moment to do so on [...]
Photo credit to Mark Jessop of Troutfin StudiosOften times, the angler who catches the most fish is the one who can best detect and swiftly respond to the lightning quick strikes or subtle takes of trout as they sip a passing fly from the current. The trout we pursue on the fly are a [...]
“No man steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” Heraclitus 535 – 475 BC It is a quote that both excites and haunts me. Read one way, this quote can speak to the life-transforming power of the [...]
Tying into a big trout can be like jumping out of the gates on the back of a rodeo bull. White knuckles wrap around the cork of our rod as we hold on for dear life as the battle commences. Sown into every fiber of the trout’s body and reinforced over thousands of [...]
Photo by: Mark JessopFor many of us, “Keep your rod tip up!” summarized the entirety of our instruction in how to fight and land fish. In my youth, I would snap to Marine-like attention as this familiar call would fire across the river, and redouble the bend of my rod while straining against the fish [...]
The importance of the mayfly in the diet of trout cannot be overstated. In my work as an aquatic biologist studying and sampling trout waters across country, I've seen populations of Blue Winged Olive mayfly nymphs crowding Rocky Mountain streams topping numbers of 1,200 nymphs per square meter, slow moving herds of green drake [...]
It could have been witnessing your first Hex hatch covering the Great Lakes like an armada of small boats, a brown trout rising to the Spring's first Sulphur mayfly on an Appalachian creek, or late summer Green Drakes bringing the river to a boil as every fish in the river seemed to be rising right [...]
