Gear » Accessories

Fishpond Riverkeeper Digital Thermometer (about $35) 61°F. That's the water temperature where mortality starts climbing fast for rainbow, brook, cutthroat, and steelhead — seven degrees below the 68°F rule most anglers quote. A stream thermometer for fly fishing, even a $12 analog, is the only way to know where the water you're standing in actually...

Images by Maximilian Beauchene This is my second pair of Patagonia’s Yulex Wading Socks. I guide almost every weekend from March through October and fish on my own time; I wet wade through all of it. Five to seven miles a day on foot, river to truck and back, in sand, gravel, and whatever the bank throws at my ankles. My first pair lasted years before it...

The comments section under nearly every premium nipper post reads the same: “Nail clippers are two dollars and do the same thing.” “Fifty bucks for a line cutter?” They are not technically wrong. A two-dollar pair of nail clippers will cut monofilament. So will your teeth. But the tool you reach for more than any other on the water deserves more...

Finding the right pair of polarized sunglasses for flats fishing makes all the difference The most expensive consumer mistake in flats sunglasses is buying blue mirror lenses for shallow water. Blue mirror is built for offshore — for flats, the right pick is a copper or green-mirrored lens in an eight-base wraparound frame, available from Costa, Bajío...

Images by Rick Mikesell The price is $454,623. Might as well get that out of the way first. From there, it climbs depending on configuration and options. Unless The New Yorker starts running long-form pieces on carp fishing, or I get cast on a reality show about urban fly fishing, it sits well outside my financial reality. Both feel equally unlikely. When...

Images by Rick Mikesell Most guides I know carry fly boxes that took them years to build. They added patterns one tying session or shop run at a time, and eventually landed on a selection that works for their water. Most people who pick up a fly rod for the first time haven't had years to figure out the perfect formula for their home water, let alone build...

As spring gives way to summer, fly anglers everywhere begin watching river gauges, tracking hatches, and finding any excuse possible to get on the water. From chasing trout during evening caddis emergences to sneaking away for warmwater adventures while runoff swells the rivers, this season reminds us why we love to fish in the first place. It’s also the...

A large, knotless rubber mesh landing net is the best choice for bass and panfish fly fishing because it reduces fin fraying, cuts hook entanglement time, and — in a direct multi-mesh comparison — came out least damaging overall to the study species. Knotted nylon and knotless micromesh both underperform on at least one critical metric. For warmwater...

Images by Rick Mikesell Fly fishing off a paddleboard creates one consistent problem. Loose line gets pulled into whatever is on the deck, or worse, right over the side. On the Bote Rackham Aero 12’4” Fischer Cutthroat Hybrid SUP, the hatch and port are the main offenders. You can manage it for a bit, but sooner or later, it costs you a shot when the...

Image courtesy of Umpqua Umpqua Feather Merchants has launched Swiftlink, a four-pack collection, alongside Link, a modular magnetic accessory system that connects pack and tools through a proprietary baseplate. The system centers on the Link Base Station, a magnetic mount that clips onto Swiftlink packs or any standard webbing. From there, anglers snap on...