Fly Fishing Blog: Tips for All Levels

Alaska Will Change Forever: Go Now

Alaska, a land renowned for its wild, untouched landscapes and abundant wildlife, offers some of the most spectacular fly fishing experiences in the world. But with increasing popularity and looming...

A black ant on a leaf beside the water, the shape trout eat all summer

Fishing Terrestrials: Hoppers, Ants, Beetles and Crickets

Terrestrials do not hatch, they fall in. How wind, bank grass and time of day decide where trout eat hoppers, ants and beetles through the hottest part of summer.

A salmonfly adult on a streamside rock, dark wings folded flat over an orange body

Identifying a Salmonfly and Golden Stone Hatch

Stoneflies hatch on land, not on the water. Why that single fact means fishing the banks, when the salmonfly peaks river by river, and how to fish golden stones.

A Pale Morning Dun mayfly on the surface, pale yellow body and upright grey wings

Identifying a Pale Morning Dun (PMD) Hatch

Pale Morning Duns are the defining hatch of a western summer. How to identify them, when they emerge by region, and why trout eat the emerger instead of your dun.

A young angler fly fishing independently along a river

The Day You Stop Holding the Rod

There's a moment where you have to stop steering your kid's cast and let it be theirs. Here's how to know when it's coming and how to hand it over.

The rail of a boat on flat Alaskan water at dawn, low mist over a distant shoreline

Lodge, Fly-Out, or Road System: How to Pick Your Alaska Trip

The first decision about an Alaska trip isn't a river — it's whether you're buying a week or a day, and whether your party cares about fish at all.

An angler kneeling on an Alaskan riverbank holding a sockeye salmon in full red spawning color, mountains behind

When to Go Fly Fishing in Alaska: The Season, Month by Month

The six weeks everyone fights over aren't always the six weeks you want. How Alaska's season actually runs, from June streamers to October flesh.

Two anglers kneeling in an Alaskan river holding a pair of rainbow trout, autumn grass behind them

What You'll Actually Catch Fly Fishing in Alaska

Everyone books Alaska for the salmon. Here's what's actually swimming in front of you — trophy rainbows that eat streamers, plus Dolly Varden, grayling and pike.

Algal mats drifting across a canyon lake at dusk, seen from a rocky shoreline

Imitate or Provoke: Choosing a Stillwater Fly When the Fish Won't Match

Lake trout eat for more than one reason, and only one of them is hunger for the thing you're imitating.

A flat calm lake under morning fog, with a dark conifer shoreline in the distance

Indicator, Long Leader, or Straight Down: Three Ways to Present a Lake Fly

Once the fly is at the right depth, you still have to decide what it's doing down there. Three deliveries, three depth ranges.

Alpine lake with a pale shallow shelf dropping into deep green water at the break

Depth Is the First Decision: Finding and Holding the Right Level on a Lake

A river hands you the presentation for free. A lake makes you build it, starting with a depth you can actually reproduce.

Angler on a skiff holding a permit horizontally over clear turquoise water, dorsal and tail fins fully visible

Permit on the Flats: Accuracy, the Drop, and the Eat You Have to See

Belize permit guide Damien Nurre's approach — spook them or catch them, fish the drop, and set on what you see rather than what you feel.

Tarpon jumping clear of the water with its mouth open and gills flared on an open saltwater flat

Tarpon on the Flats: The Cast, the Strip-Set, and the First Ninety Seconds

Capt. Joel Dickey's casting drill, his 60-20-20 leader, and the hookset — everything that decides a tarpon in the first ninety seconds.

Angler in a camo sun hoody holding a bonefish just above the surface of a shallow tropical flat

Bonefish on the Flats: How to See the Fish Before You Cast

Nervous water, tails, and pushes — the flats skill that has to click before your casting matters. Plus the lead, the shrimp strip, and the strip-set.

A kid exploring the riverbank and finding wildlife while fishing

Let Them Chase the Snake

The day your kid stops fishing and starts flipping rocks isn't a failed trip. Here's what the research says about why that hour outside still counts — and how to...