Features Overview
A selection of narrative non-fiction, travel writing, sponsored content, and good old fashioned journalism.
How To Waste Your time steelheading
The flight from Vancouver to Terrace, British Columbia is one of the best in the world. It’s 1 hour and 45 minutes of pure glacial and mountain porn, interrupted only briefly by a winding logging road or a mysterious cabin. The number of river systems you pass over in this short flight will make you squirm.
Combat Fishing on the Salmon River
There is a bridge over the Salmon River in the center of Pulaski. The river bends on the North side of this bridge, and on the inside bank of that bend we got our first idea of what we were up against. 15 fishermen stood shoulder to shoulder, some swinging big streamers, others beads. Some guys had spinning rods and as far as I could tell...
Why Tarpon Fishing is a Joke
“So did you hear about the clown that humiliated a little boy?” says Paul from the poling platform.
Fly Fishing for Sustainability: Indifly
The Indifly model allows indigenous communities to preserve their local heritage without extracting their finite resources. The 501(c)(3) charity helps the community to understand the value of the natural resources at hand, and how they can rely on those resources in the long term.
Thomas & Thomas: The Article We Would Eventually Write
“By the time you’ve bought everyone else’s rod, you’ll say, ‘I really want a Thomas & Thomas’,” says owner Neville Orsmond. Once you take a look into the history of this prestigious company, you’ll want one too.
Surf Casting With The Patagonia nano puff pullover
When I first bought the Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody, I had steelheading in mind. t’s windproof and water resistant, not to mention incredibly lightweight at 12 oz. On a spring or fall day of steelheading you wouldn’t need anything more, and in the winter it would make for the perfect layer.
New York City Kayak Fishing
I met Elias Vaisberg just as the sun was coming up in Staten Island. We had planned to meet at 6, but when I arrived at 5:45 both kayaks were ready and we were in the water in no time.“Watch your latte”, he laughed as I rolled over my Starbucks cup and into the kayak. Fishing guides are like that.
How Brown Trout Got to America
Currently, there are brown trout in almost every state in the Continental US, yet every single one of them can trace its routes across the Atlantic Ocean.
An American Fly-Fisherman in Cuba
Pioneer or idiot? I had no idea when I first arrived in Havana on what would ultimately be a fool’s errand to catch sportfish on the fly.
Salmon Fishing Below the Equator: The Patagonia Experiment
When you think of Chinook Salmon, you probably think of the Pacific Northwest and some of the more famous rivers like the Skeena or the declining population on the Columbia River. What you probably don’t think of is South America, and more specifically the Patagonia region. I know I certainly didn’t.
Why Did the Government Kill Every Fish in a River?
A couple months ago, we published an article about a proposed poisoning of Soda Butte Creek outside of Cooke City, Montana. The proposal, supported and enacted by various government agencies and non-profits including Trout Unlimited, was aimed at removing invasive brook trout from a stream that used to be dominated by the Yellowstone cutthroat trout.
The Curious history of the american shad
Author and fisherman John McPhee called the American Shad “The Founding Fish” in his book by the same name. That’s a fair title for this silvery fish, which usually weighs in from 3 to 8 pounds. The shad holds a unique place in American history as a food source that made sustainable colonization successful in the early days and beyond.
Gear review: RepYourwater big sky shirt
When RepYourWater came out with the Big Sky Performance shirt, we decided we had to try it out. And what better place to give it a whirl than the Big Sky state itself? Although I have to admit, I was a little hesitant at first. I wasn’t sure what I could possibly write about it… a shirt is a shirt right?
The Mystery of the costa rican rainbow trout
Trout are not indigenous to Costa Rica, yet they thrive in the spring fed mountain streams of the rainforest. Their abundance and willingness to take a fly rival some of the best trout streams in the world. But how did these trout get there?
Catching the Uncatchable: Jako Lucas
South African born Jako Lucas is one of the fishiest guides on the planet. His guiding resume includes places like the Seychelles, Mongolia, Norway, Zambia – throw a dart at a map and he’s probably guided there.
The biggest fish ever caught
The biggest confirmed fish ever caught on rod and reel belonged to Captain Frank Mundus, who was the inspiration for Captain Quint in Jaws.
Catch Bonefish, Save Bonefish
Good news! The easiest way for anglers to help the bonefish population is by catching them!
How to Fish in Cuba (If You Have no Money)
It’s been a hell of a year for Cuba. Pope Francis, President Obama – even me – have visited the island nation, marking a turning of the tables for the way that modern world perceives and accepts Cuba’s socialist system.
The Reason You can't have bananas on a boat
Fishermen have always been a superstitious bunch, but one of the strangest myths is that bananas are bad luck on a boat. Any serious fisherman has a horror story about when someone unknowingly brought a banana on the boat, the price for which can range from catching no fish to total shipwreck.
WTF is Tenkara?
We hear about it more and more as tenkara videos and photos show up in our favorite magazines and blogs. We stumble upon the inevitable booth at a trade show, or a dedicated section in even the most traditional of fly shops. Satirical videos have popped up making fun of it, and some of rod & reel’s most respected anglers openly shunned it as “cane pole fishing”. Simply not fly-fishing, they said. But no press is bad press I guess, and even though tenkara looked like a fad a few years ago, I think we can safely say that it is here to stay.
Cuba: Zapata To Launch New Mothership
Angling Report announced that Fly Fishing the Run – a Latin America based fishing service – has been selected as the new operator in Las Salinas/ Zapata National Park. This news is particularly exciting because Zapata is only 3 hours drive from Havana’s Jose Martí International Airport.
Top 10 fishing bachelor party ideas
There comes a time in [almost] every man’s life when there must be a bachelor party thrown in his honor. Many men choose the traditional and less imaginative route – drinking to the point of unconsciousness with a private and probably abusive stripper. But some more enlightened gentlemen choose to get all the boys together for one epic fishing trip before the wedding day
The Poisoning of soda butte creek: a controversy in montana
Over the past few months, various government agencies have debated poisoning 38 miles of Soda Butte Creek in southern Montana in order to eradicate brook trout, an invasive species that is compromising the genetic integrity of the Yellowstone Cutthroat trout. I went to check it out.
Quiz: Can You Recognize These Baby Fish?
Identify these 15 juvenile sportfish by looking at their picture.
The Top 9 Cities For Fishing
Do you love to fish but can’t leave the city because of work? Here are the top 9 cities for fishing in the United States.