How The West Was Lost
The following was written in 2024, before the Trump administration’s full assault on public lands. Before an abysmal winter with negligible snowfall, which plummeted the American West into the worst mega-drought in over 1000 years.
The Fall Orange Spider
“The swung fly is a tactic to tease out a predatory instinct in a fish that months earlier would refuse all but the most accurate cast, presentation, and pattern during Gulper season on the lake. “
The Antelope and The Alternator
“An art installation on Highway 93 depicts a Chinook Salmon crucified on a Utility Pole, a poignant reminder of our current resource management.”
The Dog Days of Caddis
“What’s old, is new again.” Dan Gates dissects working caddis flies.
The Platte River Spider
“Life moves quickly and you never know which fishing trip will be the last with your buddy. Call them and make plans to get out on the river as soon as possible, we could all use more river time shared with a good friend.”
The Orange Asher: a swung trout dry
“During my tailgate meditation, I felt thankful to have spent time on the water with my dog and for the little orange fly that resulted in such great action during the slowest month of the year.”
Dan Gates doesn’t let the cold of winter stop him from finding dry fly action in Utah. Find out what works for him.
Shakey Bealey
The story of this fly involves a hard-to-find run on an easy-to-find river, a snowstorm, and an old park ranger with shaky hands.
George Grant’s Woven Nymph
George Grant and Franz Pott were the best-known tiers of the woven-hackle fly with their Featherbacks, Black Creepers, Fizzles, and Sandy Mites.
Syl Nemes Mother’s Day Caddis
To me, the real magic happened in places like the Shilo Inn convention center and old fly shops with the smell of coffee and moth-balls etched into the wood paneling, or pretty much anywhere an old timer has hot coffee, a hidden flask and time to tell you about the days gone by.
Greenwells Glory
The Greenwells Glory is an old fly with a storied history. I won’t repeat that history here, as you can easily find it yourself. However, I can attest that it catches just as many fish now as it did in 1854 (the supposed year of its creation)
The Way of Winter
While other anglers are fumbling in the parking lot with size 24 flies on 6x drop-shot rigs, the swung fly angler can tie on a single size 18 fly to a gargantuan 4x leader and still have plenty of time to sit on the bank and drink coffee before the hatch begins.
Opening Day: An Ode to the Firehole
Of all the famed water available in Yellowstone, the Firehole is just about as pleasant as fly fishing gets.