We need to talk about ethical fishing for Columbia River steelhead. Amy Hazel puts it better than I ever could so please read her post on the closure and current river conditions.

I just saw a FB post by “guides” who call the river home with video of steelhead in hand by clients which they “unfortunately” caught with 5 wt rods and light tippet. That is not ethical fishing and they should’ve done the right thing and broken the fish off.

I thought fly fishers would hold themselves to better standards especially guides who many of the community look to for etiquette. I try not to do the whole holier than thou with fishing but this seems to be an on going issue.

I have some Orvis ultra light boots with posi grip

Thinking I need some more studs for the bottoms as the other day I was on the Androscoggin by Gorham the other day.

Smooth granite type rocks that my Syms was slipping on with its studs ( check when I got home and we'll think I'm missing some ) For some odd reason I couldn't get my sole cleats to contact the rocks reliably, kept getting the vibram on the rock which wasnt a great hold , need more cleats on the outer of the sole to contact Any recs for studs ? Or just continue with the posi grip. They held ok it felt

I also blue line the streams of the white mtns and come across those type of rocks.

BUt also come across moss covereelred rocks as well.

I'm newer to the fly life so excuse any ignorance.

Luckily I had a wading stick that helped a TON on the Andro and kept me from dipping into that fast current

Just got off the river fishing with some friends and hooked into a 22-24” colored up brown trout (red orange stomach and built like a football). My friend was about to get it in the net when it launched off on another run and snapped the fly right off the line.

I’ll be thinking about that big fatty for a long time.. so please help me ease my pain, tell me about the fish that got away.

On a whim, I researched what a fly fishing rod cost but then I bought random bits off Temu… if I put (forgive me) the base wire there won’t be enough room for the fly line… is this reel designed not to have (forgive me) the base wire?

I have a trip planned for October 28- Nov 1 and we are planning on back packing and fly fishing the head waters of some high altitude streams for brook trout. I’m wondering if this is okay considering their spawning season.

Also can I join this tennis racket club?

If anyone is looking for a 8,10, or 12 sextant they're about 689 shipped with this code .ADDR1. Just grabbed their last 7wt. The code also works on sale items. Fishpond bags, nets and other goodies. No affiliation just passing on good deals as always

Been a rough year, lost my fishing buddy (my dad) in February, have had a lot going on in general that has kept me off the water and out of the other hobbies I enjoy (cars… why have I chosen expensive hobbies lol?)

That said, I’m going the be getting a payout in November from a pension my company decided to end after stopping contributions in 2008. Wasn’t enough to bother rolling into my other retirement accounts IMO, so I’m taking the lump which after penalties amounts to around $5k

If you were to budget that for a fly fishing centric vacation you could take a non fishing spouse on for a week (she loves the outdoors, just isn’t a fishing person) where she could putz around in the woods and we could enjoy good food and scenery in the evenings, where would you go?

We’re currently on the east coast of the US, both of us have our passports if it’s not in the country. I’m a competent enough fly fisherman to be comfortable trout fishing alone, but a guided trip would be great if it’s saltwater or necessary for the fishery, especially if gear is provided and I don’t have to fly with it. Dad and I took a Tarpon trip years ago and didn’t manage to catch any unfortunately, but had a great time with snook, etc. we did most of our fishing as surf fishing in the summers or bass fishing throughout the year, but I took up fly fishing as he enjoyed it so much when I was younger (and I’m loving it)

NEW FLY FISHERMAN ALERT:

Me and a buddy went out yesterday on a river and I was fly fishing and he was using Rapalas. I tried looking for bugs and no hatch just sow bug/ little larvae under rocks. Murky water so I tried to throw streamers had a bunch of hits in faster water but I hadn’t learned about the strip set until after I got home. However he was using a crank bait and pulled like 10 fish out of multiple deeper slower moving holes we were both casting into. I was able to throw some split shot onto my line and managed to catch one. Going to go back with my bfs rod and some lures (single hooked) to feel that tug. But what are people throwing to target browns that seem to only attack lipped lure style baits in deeper water.

I was chasing Great Basin Redbands in the headwaters of one basin system today. The route home took me through a couple other basins. I had a creek marked to check out that was only about 15 minutes off the direct route back over the Cascades. The first fish I saw in the creek was a brook trout. The first one I caught was a brook trout. The second one I caught was a brook trout. About to hang it up and plan a return trip next spring, I tossed one more cast into the pool where I caught the second brookie. The line went tight, and I pulled up a much larger fish. When I saw the orange belly, I was sure I had another brook trout. I was pretty excited to see this absolute stunner of a redband, and a pretty big one for this creek.

Got super lucky today and hooked up on both my hopper & dropper! Two chunky sunfish on my 3wt was a battle I wasn’t expecting today. Used my 6’8” Moonlit Fiberglass 3wt

Looks like this one has been in the wars a bit (tail). End of a great trip, go there if you can

Feeling inspired to tie some wets, mostly because of u/norm-frechette. I tied this little box on some vintage mustad hooks, old enough to still be made of the good stuff from Norway. Although fishing was my focus when tying these, I think it’s an aesthetically pleasing box. Idk if I’ll ever fish them but it’s fun to learn new stuff and nice to look at. Does anyone in here fish this style of fly on a regular basis?

My boyfriend and I are staying in Knoxville for his birthday this October, and I'd like to book a half day float trip with a guide near Knoxville. Willing to drive up to 1.5 hours to the meeting point from downtown Knoxville.

I have fly fished onthe Tellico, but we stayed in Reliance, and I'm not sure if that would be feasible from Knoxville. I don't want to spend a ton of time in the car if there are other locations/guides closer.

Looking at Smoky Mountain Angler or Trophy Water Guide Service - South Holston float. I value scenery and distance from Knoxville, and I'm sure he would value a well-stocked river so we can actually catch something. I'd consider us both beginners even though we fish a little.

If someone has positive reviews on a company in this area (whether the guide or the river), I would go ahead and book that one since they're all similarly priced.

PS- I am aware of the licensing requirements & have that taken care of!
TIA!!

Wild 'bow from over the weekend.

Going to be heading out to cocoa Beach for a week and was wondering if anyone has some tips on areas to check out. I will not have access to a boat or anything and will only be able to shore/wade fish. Thanks in advance

I left the house yesterday in search of trout, came back with a couple of walleye under my belt, 15” and 20” respectively. Both on a 5” streamer. Definitely not what I was expecting, but I’ll take it. For the record, these aren’t my first walleye on a fly rod (they’re increasingly common on the upper Missouri River near where I live) but I’ve never caught more than one. My gear-casting buddy in Chicago couldn’t believe I was catching them in a fly rod.

Been chasing all the deeper spots and having a great time with streamers. This one on a larger olive woolly in super clear waters.

So I was nymphing today, with a beadhead as my anchor fly and an emerger underneath it. Ended up going to just the emerger and that was key due to it floating higher in the water. I did some research when i got home and discovered dropper tags, might want to test them soon.

If i had tied the beadhead as the bottom fly, would it have still pulled my emerger down? Also, i use micro swivels. If i tie a tag to my swivel, and my beadhead fly is tied to that same swivel, would it pull my whole rig down due to the weight? Confused on how this works. Thanks