Spencer Durrant

Island Optics is a name I reckon few anglers have heard of, even though they’ve been in business since 1922. Of course, they didn’t build fly fishing sunglasses back then, but the Florida-based company has over a century of lens-making knowledge that they’ve since applied to on-the-water pursuits. Their lenses are designed for use in the saltwater...

Grundens made waves in 2023 with their first entry into fly fishing waders. The Boundary Waders are a personal favorite of mine, and I've worn them trout fishing in Oregon and chasing salmon in Alaska. The Vector Waders are in the same vein as the Boundarys, but a step below in price. You'd assume that comes with a downgrade in quality and functionality...

I'm not sure if it's a sign of getting old (although many folks here at MidCurrent would take umbrage at my claim to be "old") but this winter hasn't inspired the same level of fishing dedication others have. I routinely look forward to winter fly fishing. The solitude and quiet are the main selling points, as is the fact that nearly all of my personal best...

When you cast a 4-weight Winston, you probably have a good idea of how the rod will behave. The rods are progressively medium-fast, meaning they're quick in close, but the rod slows down at traditional trout fishing distances. You also expect a soft, forgiving tip section that can handle delicate tippets, and some backbone that will punch through wind and...

2024 was a fun year for new fly fishing gear. Looking back, it's surprising just how much awesome product hit the market (including some fantastic new rods). The MidCurrent team has had the good fortune to get our hands on quite a lot of it, and that in-person experience informs the selections we made for the 2024 MidCurrent Holiday Gift Guide.  With...

The folks at Riversmith invited me to sit down for a demo earlier this year for a new product line that was hush-hush. I was intrigued—what new accessory had they dreamt up?—but I wasn't expecting to see the Convoy Collection, a series of purpose-built luggage items for fly anglers. And at first, I wasn't sure what to make of this lineup. A few of the...

Fly anglers spend an inordinate amount of time drooling over rods, and I should know—I do more than enough drooling for all of us. One part of our kit that we regularly overlook, however, is the fly line. Fly fishing revolves around fly line. Without fly line, the fly cast is impossible, and the way we fish doesn't exist. Yet so many anglers are willing...

I picked John Gierach and Bob White up from the Salt Lake Airport on a March evening, and I'm certain I did an awful job of containing my excitement. Through some friends at the Flaming Gorge Chamber of Commerce, I'd arranged to have John and Bob treated to three days of floating the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam, so long as I wrote a story about the...

Of all the rods I've reviewed, I spent the longest time with the Douglas DXF Gen2 before sitting down to write. Usually, rods get sent to me with a timeline (send it back in 5 weeks, for example) but the folks at Douglas were kind enough to send the DXF Gen2 with an open-ended return date. So I've milked my time with this rod because once the review is...

Driving a pickup to fly fish across the Mountain West isn't the wisest financial decision, but it's hard to beat the utility a solid truck offers. Until last Thanksgiving, I drove a little 2012 Toyota Tacoma. It had the inline-4 motor, a 5-speed transmission, and a 4:12 rear axle gear ratio. It got 20 miles to the gallon, and being a Toyota, was as durable...