Recent Posts
Thomas and Thomas Avantt – Backyard Casting Review
As might have been expected from my last post on the Thomas and Thomas (T&T) Avantt, I ordered one in six-weight with fighting butt and aluminum reel seat. Once I got it from Emerald Water Anglers (EWA), I looked over…
Storage Organization for Fly Tying
This year I was determined to get back to tying my own flies for Puget Sound fishing – for both searun cutthroat trout and Coho salmon. In particular, I wanted to expand beyond variations of Clouser minnows. And that meant…
Saving the Heron Forest
There is a 2.2 acre tract of woods at the foot of Olympic Drive in Gig Harbor, across from the Tides Tavern, that has been home to a heron rookery and the occasional homeless person. The State of Washington designated…
Thomas and Thomas Avantt – Shop Casting Review
I had been looking for a special fly rod for the last year. My medical adventure of late 2016 through early 2017 provided me with a good amount of time to think about what’s important in life. I came to…
Lefty Kreh, Tight Lines and Fair Winds
I read that Lefty Kreh died today, March 14th, 2018 at the age of 93. Lefty lived a remarkable life – from combat veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, to tropical saltwater fly fisherman, to an innovative instructor who…
Day Zero and Hook Choices
Look at the two hooks above. The top one is a TMC800s; the one below is a Daichi X452. They are both excellent size-six saltwater hooks. If it’s not clear from the photograph, the TMC is a thicker-wire hook than…
Reflections on a Ferry Ride
I drove to a fly shop in West Seattle to test a fly rod a few days ago – more on that in a future post. After leaving the shop, I turned on the navigation system in my Outback to…
Resident Coho: First One of the Year
It had been a while since I’ve been fishing and I knew it was time to get out. Yesterday’s afternoon ebb seemed like the perfect opportunity so off to the Narrows Park I went. I chose to leave my waders…
Chauvinist Flyfishermen
Amanda Monthei is an outdoor writer, flyfisher, skier and a wildland firefighter. In her latest blog post, she describes her experiences representing The Flyfish Journal at fly fishing shows in New Jersey and Atlanta. In particular, she describes her encounters…
Remembering Vasili Arkhipov – One Person Can Save the World
We live in an age of cynicism and desperation, beset by crises that appear insurmountable. Whether it is political strife, economic upheaval, climate change or tensions with other nuclear-armed states, the problems appear to be so large that no single…
