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WELCOME TO VOL 2/ISSUE 4 (AUGUST 2022)

My family holds stock in Alaska Airlines and has so since its inception. My dad is the illustrator who created the Eskimo on the tail of that company’s planes. We’re deeply invested in the Pacific Northwest and our connection to Alaska remains as strong as ever …

I live in Montana where trout are king. When I travel to Alaska, I usually do so for salmon and steelhead, which I can’t find in Big Sky Country. Oh, I’ve leeched up some big fall rainbows on the Kenai Peninsula and the Naknek River, but I’d never really …

DOMESTIC TRAVEL

What’s the opposite of “finesse” as it relates to fly fishing? Power? Water flogging? Brute force? Trico mayflies and grasshoppers dominate August fly fishing in Montana but imitating the two insects might as well be different …

The fate of your fishing trips may be written in the stars, but deciphering such valuable intel requires consulting the moon first. The moon’s sway over the oceans dictates when, where and how you should fish, or even …

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

It was easy to see the Tongue of the Ocean’s black-and-blue water from the air. Its color contrasts sharply with the turquoise brine that coats miles of white sand flats …

Being in the fly-fishing travel industry is tough. I travel around the world, scouting locations and trying my best to catch fish while collecting footage and photos along the way …

The impressive aerial display performed by a large group of spinner dolphins had us all mesmerized when a warning from the bridge of A-fin-ity, a fabled 39-foot Billy Knowles out of Puerto San Jose, Guatemala …

I was on the southern section of Andros, one of the Bahamas’ Out Islands, speaking with Leslie, a guide at Bair’s, a luxury Bahamian lodge specializing in fly fishing for bonefish …

SPECIES PROFILE

FISHY TALES

I knew the Magalloway in western Maine was considered the second-best river in the United States for big, wild brook trout. I read the stories and watched YouTube videos of anglers landing eighteens, nineteens, twenties. Deep, thick, thrashing fish …

DRINKS

So you’re finally heading to the Bahamas for a much needed attitude adjustment. You’ll hit the flats, stalk bonefish, enjoy the sun’s warmth, and then chill back at the lodge, exchanging fish tales with fellow fly anglers over …

BOOK REVIEW

Few books about fly fishing penetrate the mainstream consciousness. Even fewer become significant—the average non-fishing reader could name three or four fly fishing stories at most (all fiction). The Feather Thief is the very rare book about fly-fishing to carry real cross-over appeal …

SALT WATER

The first time I ever saw a mako shark was in San Diego in 2006. I’d heard stories about fly fishing for them from my buddy, Dr Steve Ward, and he’d convinced me to join him on a trip with Capt. Conway Bowman, who specializes in catching mako sharks on a fly rod. But makos are far from the prototypical fly-fishing target …

ART

Cuba. A more complicated topic can’t be found for refugees of that island, of which I am one. My family received political asylum when I was three. At that time my father was a covert revolutionist against Castro when Fidel turned communist. When it was clear that my father’s name was on the list to be detained or killed …

TRAVEL TIPS

So there you are at the airport, passport in your pocket, tickets in hand. At long last you’re about to embark on a lifelong-dream trip to chase bonefish and giant trevally on the sparkling flats of Christmas Island, and you’ve thought of everything. Your rods are slotted away snuggly in their tubes, your reels …

TECHNICAL

Snook have been a top fly-fishing target of mine for over 50 years. My first was a feisty 5-pounder in a roadside ditch, caught on a fiberglass Fenwick rod that was heavy and as soft as a noodle. I was 15 then, and I have since fished for this challenging species in myriad neighborhoods, ranging from beaches to inlets and passes …

As I retrieve my fly a dark olive form takes shape a few feet back. Moving completely into the picture the musky’s general demeanor appears lazy, somewhat unimpressed by my offering. I quickly move into my boat-side repertoire attempting to alter that fish’s mood …

GEAR

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING: Mixed Playlist

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TYER'S BENCH

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