Author: pmonahan

For many fly fishers, bonefish are an addiction. Whether it’s your first time or your fiftieth, every time you see bonefish tails fluttering tantalizingly above the water or a school of gray shadows gliding across shallow sand, it triggers something deep in the recesses of your mind. It’s a fishy itch that just needs to be scratched. Yet, actually...

What do fly fishing, college pride, and honoring the women in our lives have in common? The TU Costa 5 Rivers Mother’s Day Giving Challenge—a fun and meaningful way to support two incredible nonprofits: Casting for Recovery and Trout Unlimited 5 Rivers Clubs! From April 21 to May 11, TU Costa 5 Rivers College fly-fishing clubs from across the...

Forty years ago, writing in the June 1985 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine, Dave Whitlock suggested a novel approach to catching largemouth bass. At the time, streamers and topwater flies were thought to be the best way to catch bucketmouths, but Whitlock discovered that the nymphs he fished for panfish were also hooking bass. One of the largest bass I ever...

The Fly Fishing Film Tour began with a small group of people looking for something fresh—something something that represented he energy, grit, and soul of fly fishing. Today, these films are part of a new wave of storytelling in fly fishing, and this week's guest on the "Wet Fly Swing Podcast," RA Beattie, has been there since the beginning. In this...

By Rick Mikesell Ross Reels has announced the return of the well-regarded San Miguel fly reel. Originally launched more than two decades ago, the San Miguel has been fully redesigned in Ross Reels’ Colorado factory, blending modern machining and materials with the classic elements that made the original iconic. The new San Miguel features a polished...

Each year, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) carefully counts juvenile and adult coho salmon in North Coast rivers and streams. This work is especially important for tracking the status of endangered populations of Central California Coast (CCC) coho. Last winter, CDFW staff realized they were seeing exceptional numbers of adult salmon...

Looking for a buggy, heavy, fast-sinking Baetis nymph? Curtis from Fly Fish Food walks you through the steps to create his latest version of the Aero Baetis, a pattern he has tweaked a few times over the years. The fly features several elements that will trigger strikes, from a good bit of flash to a dark wing case (suggesting a nymph about to hatch), and...

Question: I keep hearing that I should stretch my fly line before I fish. How and why would I do that? —Bob from Vallejo, CA (via the Ask MidCurrent form) Answer: When you pull your fly rod from its case after a period of inactivity—whether it's been days, weeks, or months—your line has been quietly developing memory that manifests as stubborn coils...

One of the things that has always troubled me about fly reels is a lack of versatility. It just seems that you need a different reel for every type of water and every species you’re fishing for. Even when you have multiple spools rigged with different lines, using the same reel to go from trout fishing, to bass fishing, to saltwater, to Spey casting is...

In 1976, New York Gov. Hugh Carey signed legislation establishing minimum water flows for summer and winter below the dams of the Delaware River system. Angler saw the benefits of these new water regimes almost immediately, in the form of bigger, better hatches of aquatic insects. So more water equals better fishing, right? Maybe not. In the four decades...