Got word this morning that A River Runs Through It cast member Arnold Richardson died earlier this month. Arnold played “old Norman” in the film, and his gentle casting stroke, trembling hands and old-school knot tying lent a sense of vulnerability and longing to his character. The Helena Independent Record has a very nice and [...]

Here are a few stories excerpted from the end of Chapter Three in Fishing the Film. To put them in context, these follow GB’s discussion of the Dry and Dropper tactic. I have few other dropper-fly stories of my own, and they may appear in another book. Hope you find these enjoyable (and perhaps even [...]

A nice post by my friends at MidCurrent (includng a link to the Writer’s Almanac) listing a few of the fly fishers who left us in 2010. I have some personal additions to that list, and I’m sure FF&W readers likely do, as well. A toast here then, at year’s end, to all of those [...]

Would you be amazed if I told you that I drew this in 30 minutes? So would I! Sorry, but don’t expect this type of thing in the new DF52 project. Still, I think we’ll be able to pull off some nice work for our respective readers in 2011. Yes, Jeff Kennedy and I are [...]

One of the reasons I love to fish is water—the sound, the feel, the smell, the sight of it. Indeed, there are days when fishing is slow and I find myself just watching the water, rod behind my back, hoping perhaps for a rise, but simply enjoying the flow as it fills my senses. But [...]

Drawing Flies 52 Christmas Spey. The last fly of the 2010 DF52 season. This was purely an artist’s choice, do-what-you-please drawing, with no set pattern to follow. Felt like I needed to keep it loose and have some fun, so I took some inspiration from my Jack O’ Lantern Spey. That was what I needed [...]

Drawing Flies 52 Gray Ghost. Overworked this one nearly to an untimely death. Decided that the only way to do something interesting was to scan it and hit it with a Photoshop filter. A cheap way out, I know, but I felt that I had to do something with it, so that’s what I did. At [...]

So, the 2010 DF52 project is in its final two weeks. Hard to believe that a year is almost gone. Sometime between now and Jan 1, Jeff and I will decide on what we’re going to do in 2011 (I think that a book is likely on the list, but I don’t know what else). [...]

As some of you may know, reels are my favorite piece of fly-fishing gear. So, when I saw that I could order the above reel as a kit from The Eclectic Angler, I couldn’t resist (couldn’t resist the $60 asking price, either). Also got a copy of the below book to go along with it: I will [...]

Drawing Flies 52 Winter’s Hope. Attended a dinner party last night, and it unexpectedly ran well into the early part of today, so I ended up with a Friday morning DF 52 drawing. More info later. In the meantime, go see Jeff’s Winter’s Hope here.

Sent in by Marc Fauvet. A dynamic shot of an FF&W Yamame trout tee used in distance casting (did you know that FF&W tees are guaranteed to add 10 feet to your cast?*). Do you also want to look this good on the casting field? Well, just click here and buy, buy, buy! *Neither did [...]

Drawing Flies 52 Bright Fox. Liking Jeff’s choice of wet fly this week. Based this drawing directly on the pattern shown over at “Hatches” (which is a nice tying mag, by the way). The whole process went so much better than last week’s debacle. Jeff and I have been talking wet flies a fair amount [...]

Adding to the review of The Lost World of Mr. Hardy from yesterday, here’s a little old-school remembrance that I wrote for a Japanese magazine some years ago… – – – – – – – – – - My first great reel was a Hardy Princess, given to me on my thirteenth birthday in anticipation [...]

“It was all done properly…” Yes, it was. And yes it is, in this lovingly crafted documentary from filmmakers Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier. This is not a film made by fly fishers about fly fishing; it is a film made by filmmakers (who also fly fish) about an era, that if not completely lost, [...]