Best Coffee For Fly Fishing: Early Riser Makes Its Case

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Greg Thomas

You can find and buy good coffee almost anywhere these days, by the cup or the bag. Grocery store, retail coffee chain, online . . . caffein is everywhere and I’m a sucker for it, too.

I prefer not to buy Starbucks cofee because I have a deep seeded contempt for Howard Schultz. He was the guy, remember (and don’t ever forget), that stuck a dagger into the Seattle Supersonics, under the guise that he was doing all he could for the franchise. We had season tickets during a couple of the years that Schultz owned the Sonics, and what he presented on the court was nothing to be proud of. It was post Shawn Kemp (the Rein Man) and before GP left for LA, a time when a fat alcoholic, Vin Baker, sweated buckets for about half the game and then started Jonesin’ for a vodka/Red Bull and Continue reading →

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Adventure: The Wind Rivers and a Mexi-Shack Miracle

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Greg Thomas

The last time I tried to survive on trout for a week, a major summer storm blew into the mountains and temperatures dropped below freezing. A three-season tent and a down sleeping bag kept me alive, but a trio of mountain lakes I’d targeted grew sheets of ice and the cutthroat trout swam deep.

I’d planned on eating fish and I’d planned for nothing else. Unfortunately, in my family hunger is the forbearer of Irish temper and I could feel the anger rising from my body to the brain. Damn it, I raged, this had to be somebody’s fault!

When that storm broke and I finally reached the trailhead I was so hungry and spiteful I considered eating the signpost. I think Continue reading →

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Best Offroad Tires for Hunting and Fishing

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Greg Thomas

This is a pretty tame road in Montana, but I would not hesitate to take Toyo’s A/T Xtreme ties over any rocky and challenging road I could find.

Summer is here and that means fall is quickly to come, and most of us will be out on the land fishing and hunting through it all. We may be restricted to our home waters and state borders—for the most part—this year, but we are fortunate to live in a country that values and protects its wildlife species and offers access to hunt and fish via a network of public lands and the people who Continue reading →

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Best Lake Fishing Tactics: Trolling Flies for Montana Trout

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Greg Thomas

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Launched the boat the other day, rowed 50 yards away from the put-in and was stripping line from the reel when it dug into a gap in my old prototype Hatch and sliced in half. That’s when I remembered having done the exact thing several other times. What to do? I used a blood knot and secured the two ends and cut off the tags and made sure the knot Continue reading →

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Review: Loon Camo Drop Sinkers Get Down To Big Fish

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Greg Thomas

I’m not sure how excited a guy or gal should be about split shot, but I think I’ve found my split-shot solution: Loon’s Camo Drops are made of tin, not lead (meaning they are non-toxic), they come in a variety of volume and container options, and they sink like rocks, straight towards bottom, which is exactly where I want my nymphs ‘bout this time of the year.

Camo Drops can be purchased in square containers that hold six or eight shot sizes, depending on your preferences and what you fish for. And these containers slip nicely into a pack and are Continue reading →

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Is Print Media Dying: American Angler Ends Print Edition, Focuses on Digital

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Greg Thomas

American Angler has ceased publishing print and digital editions and will focus on its digital assets.

If most print publications weren’t struggling right now, and hadn’t been for many years, with full-staffed mainstream titles included in the mix, I would say you could call me a print media killer.

I used to work for a commercial fishing publication called Alaska Fisherman’s Journal and that went under a few years after I stopped working for it. And several years after I took the helm at Fly Rod & Reel magazine that title disappeared. And, unfortunately, I have to announce that American Angler magazine, which I’ve run for the past two years, recently  pulled the plug on its print and digital versions, effective immediately. It makes me feel like print media is dead.

A lot of the American Angler decision has to do with Covid 19, but all editors and Continue reading →

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Kelly Galloup’s Favorite Streamer Flies

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Greg Thomas

A nice streamer chowing brown on Montana’s Big Hole River.

The water is up this weekend and some rivers probably aren’t fishable at this time. Others will be on the marginal side, but may offer some opportunities to fish streamers. All you need is a foot or two of visibility and those bank-hugging browns and rainbows can find your flies. Just don’t yank them back to the boat at warp-speed. Give the fish a chance to catch up.

A few years ago I wrote this post on Kelly Galloup’s streamer tactics, and the flies he likes best to tie and fish. Thought this post on Galloup and his streamers would be timely, given the rise in river levels. If you are headed out this weekend, be careful and make sure to pack some Continue reading →

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Get Bent To The Cork Fly Fishing Newsletter #2

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Greg Thomas

Just letting you know that the second edition of Bent To The Cork, the newsletter I put together for American Angler, is now available. Hustle over to AA.com to sign up for delivery to your inbox. In this month’s newsletter you’ll get a sneak peak at my story on Dean River chinook salmon. And you’ll get links to full stories on the mother’s day caddis hatch, where to find giant muskie with mentions of a 57-incher and a 60-plus incher. You’ll also learn about Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few and his addiction to fishing, especially casting surface flies for steelhead. And you can read a review of Dave Hughes’ classes book, Western Streamside Guide. In addition, you can access the full story on Michigan’s attempts to reintroduce grayling, from Alaska, to some of that state’s most storied waters. Let me know what you think of the read. —GT

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All Time 10 Best Fly-Fishing Nymphs for the Rocky Mountains

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Greg Thomas

Opinions on the greatest nymphs of all time are as ubiquitous as the people who now fish them. In fact, over time nymphs have only gained popularity as anglers learn that trout conduct 90 percent of their feeding under the surface. So, you can sit around in the grass all day, hitting that calabash-style pipe of yours and wait for a hatch, or you can tie on nymphs and actually fish. Your choice of course, but if you opt for the latter, here are some of the most effective nymphs you could ever knot to the end of your tippet. These should work well this summer on your homewaters and elsewhere if we are allowed to travel and fish.

1) Flashback Pheasant Tail

You can keep your beadhead squadrons tucked into their neat little rows. If I need a mayfly imitation I’ll dig into my own box, grab a sparsely tied traditional Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymph, and Continue reading →

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Best Montana Fly Fishing Trips—South Fork Flathead River

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Greg Thomas

It’s time to start dreaming about the best summer fly fishing trips for 2020, and if we are limited to doing so within our state borders this year, I drew a good card—Montana offers a lifetime of fly-fishing adventure and gas is cheap right now. One of the best Big Sky Country trips you could take is to the South Fork Flathead River in northwest Montana. This river flows through the Bob Marshall Wilderness and is loaded with native westslope cutthroat trout. These aren’t the largest trout you’ll ever see, but they average about 10 inches and stretch up to 17 or 18 inches on the large end. The river also offers bull trout, which can range past 30 inches, and you can legally fish them in this river, if you have a special bull trout permit, which you can buy over the counter. You can’t just say one day, I’m going to fish the South Fork and race up there. Access is via horseback, backpacking, or day Continue reading →

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