“…..this is Dylan. I don’t suppose you want to got to Africa with me to chase monster tarpon from the beach and then track gorillas in the jungle with pygmy trackers at the end of the month?”

As a kid I fished the resident cutthroat population this water offers, but seldom ventured towards the mouth. And thus an afternoon outing before a family get-together turned into a two day obsession working the skinny water into the tidal salt.

Not long ago I was new to fly fishing myself. It seemed like the thing to get into when I relocated to the Pacific Northwest. I had no clue what to do, not that I know much more now. I started out with a 5wt rod, reel and line combo with a starter video on casting.

I always struggle with the response, because this is a flawed question. As a flawed person, often my response isn’t ideal. But you’re ok to ask it, because you likely don’t know enough at this point to know the right question to ask. And that is ok! Learning is a big part of the fun of this sport!

Proper fish handling techniques are simple and can be applied across species. The more techniques you employ increases the likelihood that released fish will survive to spawn (or be caught again). Keeping sportfish populations strong begins with individual fish.

We lost all of our non-smoked meat in the 3-day power outage, so it’s time to stretch what we have until the freezers are full again.

So, smoked salmon chowder it is.

This freshly released new rod series from ECHO just hit the scene in November 2022.  Read this in-depth review to see how it does against some of the top rods on the market!