This is a bit of straight-up post laziness, I admit, but it also is useful from an educational standpoint, especially if you are into/curious about the CCS system for measuring rod properties. As many of you know, I am putting in a bit of time up at Gary Loomis’ new North Fork Composites. Part of [...]

Yep, a pure lazy well-timed re-post. True, there is a perma-linked page over in the sidebar, but my web stats say the pages often get missed, so here it is again. This is an almost-verbatim snip from my Nature of Fly Casting book about one potential aid in grass-casting. And yes, you’ll probably see it show up again [...]

I’ve been putting in some time up at Gary Loomis’ new North Fork Composites (NFC) rod-blank project (blog is here). When the company was getting underway, there was a discussion about using Dr. Bill Hanneman’s Common Cents System (CCS) for providing additional (and “objective”) blank data, and NFC decided to run with it. The CCS [...]

If I’m going to order a bunch of these things, I might as well know what to order, right? So, let me know! (Just as a note, no matter what material(s) I run with, the tees will be made (manufactured, not just printed) in the U.S.)

Thinking of a few FF&W-styled tees. American Apparel 50/50 material, Portland printed, JB art. Let me know if there’s interest…

I have a small pile of fly-fishing still-life photos that have sat mostly untouched on my hard drive (until now). I think such shots often capture the unnoticed or under-appreciated details of our fly-fishing lives. I’ll be adding more of these as FF&W moves ahead. I hope that some will spark memories for you of [...]

Some kids go to summer camp. This kid (me) goes to rod camp. Or more specifically, rod-building camp. I hadn’t built a rod in more than 20 years—until this week. And now, I’ll be building them left and right. Or, more often than not, semi-building them: Find the spine, press-fit the handle, tape on the [...]

A bit of “re-play” from an old “Fly Fish America” article (which I think made the rounds three times in various states of tune). – – – – – – – – – - The use of droppers is a staple technique for many fly fishers around the world. During opportunistic (“eat what comes by”) [...]

I occasionally get e-mails asking about roll and Spey casting on grass, and ways in which to make land-bound practice more useful. What follows is an almost-verbatim snip from my Nature of Fly Casting book about one potential aid in grass-casting. – – – – – – – – – - It can be difficult [...]

When the sad day comes and your waders are pin-holed, seam-taped, and hot-patched beyond saving, you have only a few choices (Common Threads isn’t quite there yet): Burial is often first on the list, preferably with a dousing of single-malt (for both you and the waders). This option, however, tends to create a long-lasting landfill [...]

I originally wrote this for the Federation of Fly Fishers’ newsletter, “The Loop.” Figured it couldn’t hurt to post it here, too. – – – – – – – – – - In the U.S. leader and tippet material diameters are typically measured in thousandths of an inch, with tippets also given an additional “X” [...]

Want one of these (for free)? Have a video camera? Check out the Hook.TV contest.