A Fishy Tale

A Fishy Tale

In my youth, I chanced to date a girl whose family had a cabin on a lake. The lake was Bay Lake, just north of sprawling Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota. Going to the cabin was an escape from reality. Annie’s father took good care of the place, and when we made...

Earning My Keep

Cameron the Weim — Hat Retriever Extraordinaire! I have written many times that I like hunting, pointing and retrieving birds. It’s the life of a top sporting dog — me. Now comes this new duty — hat retrieving. The other day Mike and I were at a high country lake —...

Vista Lands Iconic Fly-Fishing Brand Simms

As all seasoned fly fishermen know, rivers tend to reach a kind of perfection in the waning light of the day. The drift boats have left the water, wind that foils a back cast often subsides and the mercury-like water of the river reflects the greens, browns and...

Anglers in Bolivia to Strike Gold

Is this the world’s greatest freshwater gamefish? Hop a Cessna Caravan and leave the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia  and its 2.5 million inhabitants and it isn’t long before you’re swallowed by millions of acres of untrammeled jungle. The forested hills and valleys...

The Good Life

Crisp, clear air and cold water are the sources of life. It is a life implemented with guns and flyrods, populated by beautiful birds and dogs and fish stippled with rose-moles bright as neon. It is a life of vast grassy space where dogs can run to their heart’s...

Dead Fish Tell No Lies

To think that this box might hold Harry’s legendary Atlantic salmon was too much for the club members to bear. Postmortem jurisprudence. I believe that’s what they call it. This “executor of a will” responsibility is indeed an objectionable bit of...

Walk Your Way Through the Colors

Mike Stidham, the critically acclaimed, self-taught artist, paints fishscapes. One summer evening a year ago, Mike Stidham left his studio and drove a few miles to a heavily fished stretch of the Provo River where it spills out of the Wasatch Mountains through the...
Cane Pole Magic

Cane Pole Magic

A cane pole, whether used from shore or in a boat, is wielded by a simple, graceful motion in which the angler lobs the baited hook. The image is as enduring as it is appealing, something straight from a Norman Rockwell cover on an old Saturday Evening Post. A...
An Old Man’s Memories of August

An Old Man’s Memories of August

This fisherman’s fairytale is far from folklore… A true story of giants, fairies, heroism and romance stay alive in an old man’s memories. Once upon a time long ago and far, far away, there was a boy. “Wait,” someone will shout. “That sounds like an...
A Fascination With Fly Rodding

A Fascination With Fly Rodding

From the time I was first able to tag along without completely impeding his fly fishing, Daddy let me accompany him on short after-work outings to nearby trout streams in my native Great Smokies. My father was a dedicated fly fisherman and one of those wise mentors...