News

Yesterday, saltwater fly-fishing icon Stu Apte celebrated his 95th birthday. One of the pioneers of catching tarpon on a fly, Apte built a name for himself through feats of angling heroics (including 44 world records) and endless self promotion. We posted a great profile of Apte by Jim Chapralis back in 2011: Stu Apte’s angling philosophy demands the best...

Earlier this week, Trout Unlimited released a new film, “Horses and Highwater: Restoring Tincup Creek,” documenting the restoration of the Salt River Watershed and the people who made this incredible project come to life. Located in northwest Wyoming and southeast Idaho, the Salt is a blue-ribbon fishery for native Snake River cutthroat trout and wild...

Do you love fly fishing and fine timepieces? If so, check out the remarkable Olmsted and Humboldt GMT watches from Oak & Oscar, a Chicago-based company celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025. On the sport-specific page of their website, they proudly declare, "We're an American watch company . . . with a fly-fishing problem." This is especially evident...

Although there have been big changes over the last 20 years in how fly fishers view "trash fish," there are still plenty of species for whom we feel little romance. In Hatch Magazine, Steven Sautner asks why we feel this way: Among anglers, fallfish almost universally disappoint. Their biggest offense is rising like trout and tricking you into casting for...

Fly fishers have long created a hierarchy of trout in the U.S., based on nature. At the top of the pyramid are native species, caught in the waters they've inhabited for millennia; next are wild trout, born in the river through natural propagation; and at the bottom are stockers, fished reared in  hatchery and planted for anglers to catch. But over the...

The great Tom Rosenbauer is on the other side of the podcast equation this time, as he chats with Hayden Sammick of Backcountry Manifesto about how folks can get started in fly fishing. In typical Tom fashion, he seeks to break down barriers and demystify the sport, explaining that it doesn't have to be complicated or difficult: "It's not snobby. It's not...

This week’s Tying Tuesday features everything from an imitative dry fly to a ridiculously gaudy nymph, to a flashy streamer—with a buggy beetle thrown in for good measure. We kick things off with a variation on the classic Comparadun that uses synthetic fibers, rather than deer hair, for the wing. I particularly like the way that tier Brandon Moon uses...

Written by: Rick Mikesell Recently, I got a first look at Patagonia’s new premium wader, the Swiftcurrent Expedition Zip-Front, and I am initially impressed with their top-of-the-line wader offering. Here are a few highlights that really caught my eye: Solid Build Quality Right out of the box, you immediately notice how well-built they are, and every...

A few weeks ago, we posted about what the fly-fishing future is in the mountains of North Carolina after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Here's an excellent video from Field & Stream that looks at how the "Forgotten Coast" of Florida was affected by the same storm. Gulf Coast fly fishing guide Evan Snow is used to dealing with hurricanes. On...

Capt. John McMurray is a renowned big-tuna and striped-bass charter captain based on Long Island, New York, and he's been a leader with the New York arm of the Coastal Conservation Association and a long-time advocate for menhaden conservation. He’s also an oft-published outdoor writer, who currently blogs for the Marine Fish Conservation Network and has...