Haida Gwaii, British Columbia Round Two

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Greg Thomas

One of the most remote steelhead outposts on earth is Haida Gwaii, which consists of two magical islands off British Columbia’s northern mainland coast. I visited the islands several years ago and vowed to return. Last week I made good on that promise.

These islands aren’t well known in the steelheading circles and,
in fact, prior to the trip, when people asked where I was going in British Columbia, they asked the predictable questions—Bulkley? Skeena? Copper? Vedder? Squamish? Etc. When I told them Continue reading →

Posted in British Columbia, CANADA, Culture, Spey, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Montana Wild Filmakers Busted By FWP, NFS

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Greg Thomas

A well-known local film company is in hot water for not following laws in film and fishing while shooting a piece on fly fishing for Montana’s bull trout, which is only legal on a few waters in the state. After a two year investigation Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the US Forest Service are throwing the law at Montana Wild. Read on for the full story from our friends at Angling Trade.

By Geoff Mueller, via Angling Trade

If you commit a crime—and hope to get away with it—best not film those exploits and share them with the public. Case in point, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) and the United States Forest Service’s (USFS) last week released results from a two-year investigation targeting Montana Wild, the Missoula-based flyfishing film company that did just that.

Montana Wild produces hunting and fishing videos on its website and is owned and Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Culture, Montana | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

New Protections for Great Bear Rainforest’s Old Growth and Nimmo Bay Resort

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Greg Thomas

This is not an end-all solution to what plagues British Columbia in general and the Great Bear rainforest in particular, but this is great news for the continued health of this wonderful area, including its fisheries. The Great Bear offers unbelievable vistas and a rich variety of angling options, ranging from winter and spring steelhead, to spring and summer kings, to fall cohos, Continue reading →

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Patagonia’s New Waders, 2016—designed and endorsed by the Wader Task Force

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Greg Thomas

I had a chance to test Patagonia’s new waders in August while fishing several streams in East Idaho. Patagonia has placed a lot of effort into these waders with the goal of creating the best wader on the planet. They had to: in past years inconsistent manufacturing practices caused too much variation in the performance of PG waders so the company formed the Wader Task Force to make their waders the best they could be.

I only got a couple days on the water and the waders performed nicely, but I’m going to give them a more arduous test when I pack them with me on several trips during 2016, to see how Continue reading →

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Redington’s Elements: The Art of the Spey

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Greg Thomas

Here’s the second installment of Redington’s video series called, Elements, which shows short clips that artfully describe what we love about fishing. If you’ve thrown spey rods you know what this one is all about. If you haven’t but want to this shows how the cast, alone, can be mesmerizing and make a day on the water. I always equate spey casting to shooting Continue reading →

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Caddis and Baetis Declines on Montana’s Missouri River

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Greg Thomas

None of what you are about to read should arrive as a surprise, as hatches do shift in strength over time. That’s been the case on Idaho’s Silver Creek, ditto on Montana’s Big Horn, and now on the Missouri River.

Recently, comments from anglers prompted Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to study the composition of aquatic macro invertebrates on the fabled Missouri and this is what they may have learned: dry fly fishing may not be as good as it used to be but the opportunities to drift scuds and sow bugs may never have been better. Or something Continue reading →

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How To Get Through Winter: A Fly Fisher’s Guide to Big Dreams

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Greg Thomas

It actually rained in Missoula, Mont., yesterday and it’s expected to again today. That makes the existing snow on the ground patchy at best. Roads are a mess of slush. Potholes go six inches deep. Piles of snow near the sidewalks are cruddy with dirt and salt. Roadkill, including feral cats, are now being revealed by Continue reading →

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Elements: Redington’s New Video Mini-Series

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Greg Thomas

Yesterday we ran a video from Redington’s series called Find Your Water. Today we are showing you a clip from Redington’s new video series called Elements, a mini-series about the moments that define fly fishing, meaning the little things: repetition, hope, landscapes, presentation casts, and rushing waters. The first episode, called RISES, is a glimpse into Continue reading →

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Redington’s Find Your Water: Tarpon

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Greg Thomas

Winter here in Montana. But not everywhere. Check out this video from Redington’s Find Your Water series and maybe it will make you feel a little warmer, certainly jealous. But don’t sit there and whine about it. Mexico. Belize. Bahamas. Florida Keys. Glades. There are options, right now, to fish for tarpon and snook, and to do so in warm weather. So Continue reading →

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Bundy’s Occupation of Malheur Wildlife Refuge Is A Sham

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Greg Thomas

There are two pieces on the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge worth reading here, one being a great opinion piece from the New Yorker, and the other an opinion I wrote for Fly Rod & Reel back in September, shortly after having attended The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s media summit in Bozeman, Mont. I walked away from that gathering with a clear understanding that federal lands do not belong to states (or ranchers). They belong to us. And these tracts of federal land Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Culture, Oregon | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments