Tactics & Techniques

  Drag kills. Drag can ruin a perfectly fine presentation and mean the difference between a catch and a refusal. The worst part of it is that sometimes you don’t even realize it’s happening. We’ve all been there. We know what’s hatching, we know what the trout are keying on, and we even have the […]

  With only half a day to fish last week, I opted for home waters. I was due to pick my two kids up at daycare that afternoon, so I didn’t want to wander too far in my travels and waste most of my day on the road rather than on the water. Considering the

  I can match almost any hatch, but the “no see ums” are the toughest of all. To me, the term “no see ums” describes any insects that are too small to see on the water without squinting until your eyes hurt. They can be midges, tiny terrestrials (such as ants), or any number of

  Blue lines on a map typically represent streams or some other type of water, but to anglers they mean much more. In modern vernacular, these crooked little lines have come to symbolize a whole style of fishing. For some, “blue-lining” refers to a passion that leads anglers into remote places in search of native

  I’m pleased to announce that my article “Trickle Trout” which appeared in the March/April 2019 issue of American Angler recently received the Trout and Coldwater Resource Award, sponsored by the PA Outdoor Writers Association and Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited. Although American Angler has since ceased publication, I’ve decided to post the article, in

  I used to be a dedicated one-fly nympher, always fearing I’d spend more time untangling two flies on my leader instead of actually fishing. Last spring, though, I gave in and started fishing two nymphs, or as some call it “a tandem rig,” and my catch rates increased considerably — but not at first.

  The traditional way to fish streamers and wet flies, and perhaps most common, is to swing them. This is probably how they were originally meant to be fished and can produce results with minimal amounts of effort. In fact, you don’t even have to know how to cast well in order to use this

  I’ve been fortunate to catch many big fish on a fly rod in my lifetime. Even still, for as many that have found the bottom of my net, just as many have won the battle and left me heartbroken. Every time I tangle into a heavy trout I have to slow things down in

  I’ll admit, I’ve caught the fever. I’m obsessed with big brown trout, and there’s no better time to catch them than in the fall when the majority of people have turned their attention to hunting or sitting at home watching football. But don’t forget fall fishing. This is when brown trout spawn, after all.