Spencer Durrant

Simms' latest and greatest wader is truly an impressive piece of gear. It's accompanied by an equally impressive price tag—$999.95. The way I see my role as a gear reviewer isn't to tell you to go buy something (that job belongs to the marketing department). My role is to cut through the marketing fluff, put a product through the wringer in real-life...

By now you've seen the social media posts, web banners, and videos telling you that the latest and greatest rod from Orvis is "four times more accurate" than their previous flagship, the H3. It's supposedly 25% stronger, more enjoyable to cast, and will only run anglers $100 more than the now-discontinued H3 lineup. The new rod - simply called the Helios...

John Gierach once wrote that you forget your troubles while on a trout stream because you “begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they’re not such a big deal anymore.” I’ve fished with John and I’ve read most of his books. I agree with him a lot, but in this instance, I think he’s wrong.  To prove my...

Wader reviews are hard to write. Essentially, what people want to know is will this wader keep me dry? Is it worth the money? Will it last a long time?  I can answer the first question easily, but the last one becomes moot with how often wader lines are updated and because each angler's definition of "a long time" is different. As for the cost-to-value...

Editor's note: Conservation/environmental issues are always complex and suggested solutions are never tidy. Dealing with invasive species, both fauna and flora, is a prime example of the need for nuanced thinking paired with careful practices backed by the most up-to-date science. MidCurrent does not have an official stance on the use of chemicals to...

Lamson is best-known for their fly reels (I have one buddy who refuses to fish anything else) but in recent years their product lineup has expanded to include fly rods. Over the past couple of months, I've had the chance to fish their 9' 5-weight Guru. I've been thoroughly impressed. The Guru is an entry-level stick (priced at $249) with a pleasant...

To quote the philosopher Ricky Bobby, when I first looked at the OPST Micro Skagit rod, I kept thinking that I didn't know what to do with my hands. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Rocky Mountain trout angler. I'm used to wet-wading small creeks, fishing cirque lakes at 10,000 feet, and casting size 22 tricos on tailwaters. I've fished for salmon in Alaska, but...

Not long ago I wrote one of my monthly gear columns on the best winter wading underlayers. That was in January, and it didn't warm up here in Wyoming until May. It's almost October as I write this, and I'm off for an elk hunt in a few days. The air has fall's sharp bite in the mornings, and the peaks of the Bighorns are dusted with snow. All that is to say...

My first night fishing expedition was in Montana, chasing big ol' browns with two friends. Among all the lessons I learned over the course of three summer nights was that I'm not cut out for night fishing. I'm a lightweight who needs sleep, and I don't function well without it. It was that trip (along with a cold elk hunt) that reinforced the need for a...

When a new fly rod comes out, there's almost a laser-like focus on how it'll perform for a variety of trout fishing situations. Will it throw dry flies, but still handle a larger streamer? Does it roll cast well? Is the tip soft enough to handle light tippets? Those are all valid questions, but one that's often left out of the discussion is this: how will...