Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2024 i Fly Fisherman

THE BEST FLY RODS THESE DAYS ALL SEEM TO BE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF $1,000. DESPITE WHAT YOU’VE HEARD FROM LOCAL CURMUDGEONS OR YOUTUBE INFLUENCERS, THAT PRICE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH UNCONDITIONAL ROD WARRANTIES. MOST MANUFACTURERS REPORT ROD BREAKAGES/RETURNS OF ABOUT 1% TO 2%, AND IT’S USUALLY JUST ONE SECTION OF ROD THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED, A SMALL FRACTION OF THE RETAIL COST OF A FINISHED ROD. DO THE MATH AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WARRANTY WORK IS FAR LESS THAN 1% OF THE OVERALL COST OF PRODUCING THE PRODUCT. ANOTHER EASY WAY TO BUST THIS MYTH IS TO LOOK AT ALL THE OTHER TOP FLY-FISHING PRODUCTS AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WADERS, FLY LINES, AND DRIFT BOATS HAVE ALL INCREASED IN PRICE BY SIMILAR AMOUNTS—WITH OR WITHOUT…

IT’S SAID THAT BEFORE THE MADISON RIVER WAS DIVIDED INTO UPPER AND LOWER SECTIONS BY A DAM, IT WAS A PROLIFIC ARCTIC GRAYLING FISHERY. WEST OF THERE, STEELHEAD AND SALMON WERE ABUNDANT IN THE SNAKE AND COLUMBIA RIVER DRAINAGES OF THE NORTHWEST. THROUGHOUT THE EASTERN U.S., BROOK TROUT THRIVED. THE SAME IS TRUE FOR CATFISH IN CHINA, EELS IN GERMANY, CHUBS IN COLORADO, AND DOLPHINS IN PAKISTAN. BUT SINCE DAMS HAVE BECOME UBIQUITOUS WORLDWIDE, FISH HABITAT AND BIODIVERSITY HAVE FALLEN, WORLDWIDE. Dams affect fish habitat, river flow rates, water temperatures, sediments, oxygen levels, timing of spikes and low water levels, and of course, fish passage. “Fish passage,” which goes by other names like “fish migration,” “connectivity,” and in cases of restoration, “fish-barrier removal,” has been a hot topic among conservation-minded…

WE HAVE A FRIEND, PHIL, WHO ONLY FISHES DRY FLIES. IT DOESN’T MATTER TO PHIL IF HE CATCHES A FISH OR NOT, HE SIMPLY LIKES TO STAY ON TOP. MENTION A FAVORITE NYMPH PATTERN AND HE’S LIKELY TO GIVE YOU A HARD STARE AND HEAVEN FORBID YOU SHOW HIM A SQUIRMY WORMIE OR A MOP FLY, HE WILL DISH OUT A VERBAL LESSON (MORE OF A RANT) ABOUT FISHING THE DARK SIDE. Phil is lucky enough to live in a beautiful streamside cabin on an eastern Pennsylvania freestone trout stream, so when the trout are rising, he’s living the dream. When they’re not rising he still strings up his favorite bamboo fly rod, ties on a Crackleback, his favorite attractor fly, and takes his rod for a walk. Phil is…

THE FIREHOLE RIVER FLOWS IN THE CENTER OF THE YELLOWSTONE GEOTHERMAL ZONE, AND AS SUCH IS SURROUNDED BY THE PLANET’S LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF ACTIVE GEYSERS AND HOT SPRINGS. IT IS ALSO AN AREA OF SNOWCAPPED MOUNTAINS, WATERFALLS, WILDERNESS, WILDLIFE, AND WATERWAYS THAT SUPPORT AN ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM THAT HAPPILY INCLUDES WILD TROUT IN ABUNDANCE. THE MADISON RIVER VALLEY IS BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL. FREE-ROAMING HERDS OF AMERICAN BISON WANDER AMONG THE TREES AND REST IN THE WILDFLOWER-COVERED MEADOWS. MOUNTAINS RISE IN THE MIDDLE DISTANCE, AND GEYSERS SEND THEIR EERIE PLUMES OF HYDROTHERMAL STEAM INTO THE BRIGHT BLUE SKIES. AND THEN THERE ARE THE RIVERS AND CREEKS THAT SUSTAIN WILD TROUT AND OTHER WILDLIFE IN A MANNER THAT SEEMS NOTHING SHORT OF MAGICAL OR PERHAPS EVEN DIVINE. The morning was just cool enough to…

IT WAS GENNA’S FIRST TIME FISHING FOR LONGNOSE GARS AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE A MEMORABLE ONE. SHE SPENT HER FIRST FLY-FISHING YEAR TARGETING TROUT IN MONTANA AND COLORADO, AND SOME BONEFISH IN BELIZE, BUT THE LONG WINTER HAD HER LONGING FOR SOME WARMER WEATHER AND NEW CHALLENGES. AFTER FLYING FROM COLORADO TO ALABAMA, HER GOAL—WITH ME AS HER GUIDE—WAS TO CATCH SOME ALABAMA SPOTTED BASS, FRESHWATER DRUM, AND THEN TARGET SOME OF THE RIVER’S TOOTHIER INHABITANTS, NOTABLY LONGNOSE GARS. We had already checked off the other species when we turned the Gheenoe upriver and headed for a large back eddy off the main channel. This deep-water pocket is the perfect location for large striped bass in the spring—and longnose gar throughout the remainder of the year. I had…

In September, Grundéns appointed Nicolas Cederström Warchalowski as its new chief executive officer. Warchalowski most recently served as CEO of the well-known sport-fishing company Rapala VMC. But what many people don’t know is that he’s been an ardent fly fisher since he was a teenager, and that was a big part of his decision in taking a new role at Grundéns USA Inc. headquarters in Poulsbo, Washington. Warchalowski grew up fishing for sea trout on the West Coast of Sweden and in his first months as a Washington resident has pursued coastal sea-run cutthroats and rainbow trout on the Yakima River. His dream is to catch a wild steelhead on the Olympic Peninsula. Even though he’s from Sweden, he prefers Skagit tackle over the Scandinavian style of Spey tackle and…

EACH YEAR, ABOUT 4 MILLION PEOPLE VISIT YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. ALMOST ALL OF THEM STOP TO VIEW YOSEMITE FALLS, WHICH AT 2,425 FEET LAYS CLAIM TO BEING THE TALLEST WATERFALL IN THE UNITED STATES. THAT TITLE IS, HOWEVER, SOMETIMES DISPUTED AS THE WATER DOESN’T DROP THAT DISTANCE IN A SINGLE LINE. WHAT MOST PEOPLE SEE FROM A DISTANCE IS TWO TIERS OF FALLS: UPPER YOSEMITE FALL (1,430 FEET) AND LOWER YOSEMITE FALL (320 FEET). BETWEEN THE TWO—AND HIDDEN FROM THE VIEW OF THE MILLIONS OF TOURISTS WHO THRONG ALONG THE ROADWAYS, PICNIC AREAS, AND TRAILS—IS THE MIDDLE CASCADES, A SERIES OF VERTICAL WATERFALLS THAT ACCOUNT FOR A DROP OF 675 FEET. THEY ARE COMPLETELY HIDDEN FROM ALMOST ALL PARK VISITORS DUE TO THE FORCES OF GEOLOGY AND EROSION. THE MIDDLE…

THIS IS A STORY OF A TROPHY WILD TROUT FISHERY EDGED TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION, BUT RESILIENT ENOUGH TO REVIVE ITSELF. IT IS A STORY OF PEOPLE’S CONNECTION TO A WATERSHED, THE PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, AND ONE OF HOPE. IT IS A FOLLOW-UP TO A SAD STORY WRITTEN ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO IN THIS SAME MAGAZINE, DESCRIBING THE POTENTIAL DEMISE OF A FISHERY KNOWN AS HOMINY CREEK. THIS IS WHERE HOMINY STANDS. In 2005, Tim Zink wrote an article, “Where Hominy Falls,” that would help define a career and passion and take a young hill child through a master’s degree in fisheries biology, a decade in stream restoration, and finally, give me an opportunity to return home to begin something of great importance to our people.…

IN RECENT YEARS LIGHT, STRONG, AND RESPONSIVE GRAPHITE RODS HAVE DRAMATICALLY ADVANCED THE ART OF SPEY FISHING. COMPACT TWO-HANDED RODS LESS THAN 12 FEET LONG WITH 2-, 3-, OR 4-WEIGHT FLY LINES ARE A JOY TO CAST AND FISH, AND PROVIDE ANOTHER EFFECTIVE OPTION FOR COVERING YOUR FAVORITE TROUT WATERS. THIS NEW TACKLE—AND A LOT OF EXPERIMENTATION—HAS MOVED SPEY TECHNIQUES FROM THE WORLD OF SALMON AND STEELHEAD INTO THE REALM OF TROUT FISHING ON STREAMS AND RIVERS OF ALL SIZES. TACTICAL CASTING The basic presentation in Spey fishing is to cast across the current and allow the fly to swing and swim across the stream to a point where it hangs in the current directly below you. The objective of Spey casting is to efficiently pick up the line from…

AS MANY READERS KNOW BY NOW, I GENERALLY FIND PERDIGONS AND THEIR COUSINS TO BE PRETTY BORING FLIES. SIMPLE THREAD BODIES, OVERSIZED BEADS, AND LITTLE ELSE. THEY DON’T DO MUCH TO FLIP MY SWITCH AS A CREATIVE, PROBLEM-SOLVING TIER, THOUGH I HAVE WITNESSED FIRSTHAND HOW WELL THESE SIMPLE FLIES ACTUALLY WORK. I CAN’T SAY I HAVE CHANGED MY OPINION MUCH, BUT ZACH VANDEHEY’S APPROACH TO HIS PICKY EATER PERDIGON GIVES ME HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. VanDeHey, a 39-year-old Oregonian, has spent time as a competition angler and has gone as far as qualifying for the fly-fishing national championship this year in North Carolina. It’s the third step in qualifying for Fly Fishing Team USA, but previous commitments will keep him from competing along with the likes of another Perdi-lover you…