Indholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2021 i Fly Fisherman

At first I thought my observations were anecdotal, but then I heard from fly fishers in other parts of the state, and across the country, that their trout streams were overrun as well. In 2020, Pennsylvania sold almost one million fishing licenses—up 19.5% over the previous year. In Montana, resident annual fishing license sales rose to an all-time high of 136,929, up from 116,796 in 2019, an increase of 14.7%. Colorado in 2020 sold a total of 1,331,457 fishing licenses of all types, up from 1,127,792 in the previous year, a 6.5% increase. These stats show a growth in new anglers who hadn’t previously purchased a license, but they don’t show the increased activity by regular license holders who seemed to be fishing two or three times as much as…

In December 2020, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) announced emergency conservation rules governing the winter steelhead season on the state’s coastal and Olympic Peninsula watersheds, including famous rivers like the Hoh, Bogachiel, and Sol Duc. The new rules prohibit bait, require single-point barbless hooks, require the release of rainbow trout to protect juvenile steelhead, closed the season earlier than usual, and most controversially, banned fishing from boats and rafts (although they can still be used for transportation) up and down the coast. The Queets, which is administered by the National Park Service, missed its spawning escapement four years in a row and closed to all fishing February 1. It was a shocking turn of events that immediately escalated into bitter arguments among anglers about the state of…

BLUE HORIZON RESURRECTED One of the oldest, most historic lodges in Belize has been resurrected. The new Blue Horizon Lodge opened for business in 2021 on the same little spit of sand where Lincoln Westby and his wife Perline established Belize’s first fly-fishing-only lodge in 1997. And although the new lodge that sits in the original footprint is now owned and financed by Texan Bill Poston and his company Muy’Ono, Belize’s legendary permit guide Lincoln Westby—who turned 80 in 2021—is still the head guide. Westby, who started as a chef at Belize River Lodge in 1967, has been a guide for more than 50 years, and his guests have landed more than 1,500 permit. Muy’Ono owns or operates 15 different businesses in Belize ranging from high-end private resorts like Thatch…

Much of what I know about the origins of brown trout comes from Matt Supinski’s book The Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus (Skyhorse, 2018). These hardy trout appeared at the boundary of the Eocene and Oligocene ages—a time when glacial sheets were receding, leaving behind the lakes and rivers in the Northern Hemisphere that we know today. “Once brown trout established a dominant inland river and lake niche, their inquisitive migratory natures had oceans and seas at their disposal, which eventually developed a strong urge for them to be migratory nomadic wanderers, adapting an anadromous lifestyle, far away from the small gentle streams and brooks of their Salmo birth. Here they relished their newfound deep-sea environments to grow large and strong, and feed on the bounty of pelagic (Greek word for…

I LOVE A GOOD PARADOX. LIKE BOOZE-BRAZEN MEN HITTING ON THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN THE BAR BY BUYING HER EXPENSIVE DRINKS UNTIL THE MERCIFUL BARTENDER FINALLY INFORMS THEM THAT THE GIRL ACTUALLY OWNS THE ESTABLISHMENT. OR, THE OLD DOS EQUIS ADS ABOUT THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD, WHO FINDS THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH BUT DOESN’T DRINK FROM IT BECAUSE HE’S “NOT THIRSTY.” AND THE REALIZATION THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT FISH IN THE SEA ARE BAIT. And why shouldn’t baitfish get multiple pages of coverage in a magazine where large, beautiful, often exotic, and coveted species grace the cover? After all, if fly fishing on the East Coast is a 1990s teen movie, the striped bass is the popular, handsome football quarterback and the Atlantic menhaden is his not-so-hot…

MONTANA’S BIGHORN RIVER HAS FOR DECADES BEEN CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST TAILWATER FISHERIES IN THE AMERICAN WEST NAMED BY FUR TRAPPER FRANCOIS LAROCQUE AFTER THE BIGHORN SHEEP HE ENCOUNTERED ALONG ITS BANKS, THE BIGHORN IS THE LARGEST TRIBUTARY OF THE YELLOWSTONE. IN ITS 460 MILES, IT RUNS THROUGH BOTH WYOMING AND MONTANA.IT STARTS AS THE WIND RIVER AT THE OUTFLOW OF WIND RIVER LAKE, BUT ITS GEOGRAPHIC NAME CHANGES TO THE BIGHORN AT A SPOT CALLED “WEDDING OF THE WATERS” JUST SOUTH OF THERMOPOLIS, WYOMING. THE ’HORN CONTINUES NORTH INTO THE BIGHORN BASIN AND THROUGH TWO MAN-MADE IMPOUNDMENTS TO ITS EVENTUAL MEETING WITH THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER NORTH OF HARDIN, MONTANA. IN 1967, YELLOWTAIL DAM WAS COMPLETED ON THE CROW INDIAN RESERVATION AT A COST OF $110 MILLION. THE DAM…

AN INVASIVE SPECIES BY DEFINITION IS AN ORGANISM THAT CAUSES ECOLOGICAL OR ECONOMIC HARM IN A NEW ENVIRONMENT WHERE IT IS NOT NATIVE. INVASIVE SPECIES ARE CAPABLE OF CAUSING EXTINCTION OF NATIVE PLANTS AND ANIMALS, REDUCING BIODIVERSITY, COMPETING WITH NATIVE ORGANISMS FOR LIMITED RESOURCES, AND ALTERING HABITATS. In 2004, a fish called a northern snake-head was caught in the tidal Potomac River tributary on the Virginia/Maryland border. The fish—native to Asia—at that time had not previously been documented in any other body of water in the Mid-Atlantic. The discovery caused a national media tidal wave of anxiety, terror, and misinformation that can only be rivaled by the likes of a Hollywood sci-fi movie. Snakeheads sparked many articles, videos, TV interviews, and news shows calling them Fishzilla, Frankenfish, demons that were…

WALTER NEWMAN, A YOUNG FLY FISHER AND FLY TIER FROM LITTLETON, COLORADO, GREW UP JUST ABOUT AN HOUR FROM THE BANKS OF THE FAMOUS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER. HIS FORMATIVE YEARS WERE SPENT FISHING AND TYING ALONGSIDE HIS FATHER, BUT HE GAVE IT UP FOR A PERIOD OF TIME IN HIGH SCHOOL TO FOCUS ON THE EVER-PRESENT DISTRACTIONS THAT GRAB THE ATTENTION OF MOST TEENAGE BOYS; GIRLS AND SPORTS. During his college years, Newman found himself behind the vise again, trying to match the local hatches as best he could. He credits a combination of his South Platte River days as well as a trip to the Gunnison River with the impetus to develop the Micro Matcher, his first commercially available pattern through Umpqua Feather Merchants. Newman says he had great…

THE WEST END OF THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA IS A WILD PLACE, HOME TO THE NATION’S ONLY TEMPERATE RAINFORESTS AND STEEP MOUNTAINS RISING SHARPLY FROM THE PACIFIC COAST. IT’S LACED WITH A VAST NETWORK OF WATERSHEDS FED BY GLACIERS AND NEARLY INCESSANT RAIN. THE RIVERS ARE DYNAMIC AND POWERFUL AND DESTROY DRIFT BOATS EVERY WINTER. THEY CAN SWELL TO MASSIVE VOLUMES, OFTEN CARVING NEW CHANNELS AFTER LARGE STORMS EACH YEAR, AND MOVING GIANT FALLEN TREES AROUND WITH EASE. THEY ARE INCREDIBLE WATERSHEDS, AND THE LARGE, BRAWNY STEELHEAD THAT EVOLVED WITH THESE VOLATILE RIVERS ARE EQUALLY ASTOUNDING. As a youth led by a steelhead-obsessed uncle, it was on the Olympic Peninsula that I became a steelhead angler. I still fish these rivers today, though not as much as I once did. Today…

MY WIFE KNOWS THE DRILL: IF THE HOUSE CATCHES ON FIRE, THE ONLY THING SHE IS TO SAVE ON HER WAY OUT THE DOOR IS MY BAMBOO FLY ROD. THE GRAPHITE RODS CAN BURN. A similar devotion to vintage tackle is finding a new appreciation from younger anglers. Jason Scott, 35, who worked at the Urban Angler in NYC for a few years after college and now serves as co-chair of The Anglers’ Circle at The American Museum of Fly Fishing (AMFF), said, “Working in the shop, the question always was, ‘How do I get my hands on the newest sh*t available?’ At the time, that meant the fastest.” Now, he’s moving in the opposite direction. “I’ve cast so many rods, it’s nice to step back and see what they…

DAVE SCADDEN’S BACKSLASH XXX Frameless inflatables are quick and simple to use and easily get you into places that don’t get fished much—small streams and/or big rivers with poor ramp access. But with a one-person inflatable you have to try to fish and row at the same time. With the new Dave Scadden Backslash XXX, one person rows while two people fish—just like with a drift boat, but at a fifth of the price—and you don’t need a trailer. The fully rockered, self-bailing raft comes in a single bag and weighs less than 70 pounds. The Backslash XXX ($3,000, davescaddenpaddlesports.com ) has a whitewater-rated hull design, rigid floor, and an integrated motor mount and keel. It inflates in five minutes, and since there’s no frame, there’s no assembly…

BROWN TROUT ARE THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED DISCIPLES OF SUN TZU’S ART OF WAR (TROUT EDITION). WHEN ANOTHER SPECIES OF FISH IS SUPERIOR, BROWN TROUT EVADE. WHEN ANOTHER FISH SPECIES IS WEAKER OR SMALLER, THEY ATTACK AND CONSUME. GIANT SALMO TRUTTA ARE THE CLEVEREST SURVIVORS, AND HOLDING A GIANT SPECIMEN OF THE TROUT THAT FORMED THE ROOTS OF OUR SPORT IS SIMPLY MAGICAL. On my most recent trip to the Great Lakes—with friend and fellow guide Zack Tokach—we decided quickly on a fall trip after a change in weather introduced much-needed moisture across the Midwest. This is an important requirement for migratory fish, especially in small spate streams that are dependent on recent rains for much of their flow. I had fished this same region in a previous year and had…

I AM A LUCKY FLY FISHERMAN. I LIVE IN YELLOWSTONE COUNTRY, AND I FISH THE WATERS SURROUNDING THE PARK MORE THAN 150 DAYS PER YEAR. MOST FLY FISHERS ARE NOT CLUED INTO MIDGE FISHING, WHICH IS TOO BAD. YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT, MIDGE ACTIVITY PROVIDES THE AREA’S FINEST DRY-FLY FISHING, AND IT HAPPENS OVER A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME THAN ANY OTHER INSECT EMERGENCE. Most fly fishers fail to notice fish feeding on midges at the surface. Instead, they knot on a heavily weighted nymph or streamer and begin thrashing the water. I’d rather patrol likely small pools and pockets adjacent to heavy flows, searching for fish that have moved in there to rise to emerging or mating midges. Most of the time I sit on a boulder and…

PANDEMIC IS ONE OF THOSE WORDS THAT MOST PEOPLE ONLY SEE IN THE TITLES OF HORROR MOVIES AND DYSTOPIAN SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS, BUT I HAD BEEN CONSIDERING ITS INEVITABILITY DURING MANY YEARS AS A COUNTERTERRORISM MARINE AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PROFESSIONAL. AND NOW IT WAS COMING, AND I HAD TICKETS TO FLY TO RENO JUST AS THINGS WERE HEATING UP. I PLANNED THIS TRIP FOR MONTHS AND HAD BEGUN TO CONSIDER THE WISDOM OF FLYING ANYWHERE AFTER THINGS BEGAN TO SPREAD FROM CHINA TO KOREA TO ITALY AND BEYOND. BUT I COULD HEAR THE WORDS OF MY FATHER RINGING IN MY HEAD SAYING, “YOU’VE GOT TO KEEP ON LIVING, STEVE.” YES, I UNDERSTAND THE IRONY OF THOSE WORDS WHEN WHAT YOU ARE DOING MIGHT INCLUDE RISKING YOUR LIFE; PEOPLE RISK THEIR…