Stories & Essays

Amelia Earhart is famous for her flying exploits, but her life wasn't limited just to that pursuit. Once, she flew to Wyoming to try her hand at fly fishing, which is detailed in this excellent story from Outdoor Life. You will need an Outdoor Life+ subscription to read this story, as it's behind a paywall.

In this story over at the Orvis blog, Phil Monahan shares five fly fishing lessons he had to learn the hard way. Hopefully, the rest of us can learn from Phil's mistakes, like slapping the water with your rod tip when you're mad. If you're wondering, that's a great way to break a fly rod. You can read about that mistake, and all the others, here.

In this poignant story over at Gink & Gasoline, Louis Cahill reminds us why it's important to pay attention to the little fish in a river. You can read the story here.

The Continental Divide Trail spans over 3,000 miles from Canada to Mexico, and offers incredible fly fishing along its length. Joshua Bergan, over at Fly Fisherman Magazine, wrote an excellent story detailing some of his fishing excursions on this trail this past summer. You can read his story here.

In this recent post over at the Orvis blog, Phil Monahan takes readers on a fishing trip for smallmouth bass in Canada. Phil's story makes me want to book my own trip up north really soon. You can read it here.

In this great story over in Hatch Magazine, Tim Schultz introduces us to his friend Warren, who has a bit in common with Lee Wulff. Unlike Lee, though, Warren is no expert angler, which makes this story all the more interesting. You can read it here.

If you're in the mood for a fun, whimsical story that pokes fun at some of angling's greatest cliches - all while teaching you a good lesson - then you need to read this piece by Tim Schultz in Hatch Magazine. The story should be familiar to anyone who's fished for more than a few years. You can read it here.

If you're like most other trout anglers in America right now, you're suffering under a blanket of snow that doesn't seem like it'll melt soon. So, now is as good a time as any to read through some classic fly fishing stories. This one from Phil Monahan over at the Orvis blog is definitely worth your time. He tells a story about a trout stream that no one...

Have you ever felt like you didn't know what you were doing? As if all the rules of fly fishing changed, and you were the last to know? Dom Swentosky has, and he details how those feelings can lead to a loss of confidence, in his latest story over at Troutbitten. Read the story here.

In this story by Tucker Ladd, over at Gink & Gasoline, we're treated to insight on the mental aspect of fishing for permit and steelhead. Though the two fish occupy vastly different environments, they require similar mental toughness if you're set on catching one. You can read the story here.