Some readers wonder what I’ve been up to the last few months. I’ll tell you one thing: KEEPING A SECRET! That’s what. Unbelievably hard to do, but now that it’s Mother’s Day, a big reveal seems appropriate. Don’t know what Kel and I are getting yet, but it’s either a Bunyan Bug or a Parmachene Belle! [...]

“Twelve-Weight Bowl” This is on its way to me now. Turned burl, rubbed finished, Alaskan salmon teeth inlay. Flat-out beautiful. People ask me where my art background comes from. That’s an easy answer: my mother, Nancy. Yeah, this is one of hers. She is a woodturner by artistic trade, but also does some carving and metal-spinning (typically [...]

Update: Steelhead is the next DF&F52 on tap for the weekend. Drawing Fish & Flies 52 Permit. In honor of Jose Wejebe. Notes: Wanted something simple, yet evocative for this piece. Nothing more than a flagging tail, a reflection, and the hint of a waterline. This piece deliberately has no edges or visual constraints other than [...]

This little post is in honor of Sage (seen above, peering over my shoulder with his well-practiced—and very effective—”sad eyes look”). He passed away over the weekend. Sage was the beloved dog of a very close friend in Montana, and he has appeared before on this blog as part of various angling adventures. Sage, in all of [...]

A well-worn Christmas greeting, but since I’m a bit laid-up at the moment I had to dig into the archives for something pre-made. And in case you are wondering, yes, the above fish-size ratio still applied in 2011 (and yes, I still hold out hope to alter it in my favor in 2012).

Merry Christmas Eve from FF&W. “Christmas Spey” from last year’s DF52 project.

For fly-fishing veterans on this day: a red, white and blue ‘bow. One of my recent black and white photos of a Tennessee rainbow, tinted in Photoshop using red, white and blue “paint” (with some gold for the fin). Just a way to acknowledge sacrifice and to say “thanks.”

Want to change-up your holiday fly-fishing gift-giving this year? Do the fly fishers you know seem to have everything they need/want already? Then it appears that you’re in luck, since the Eclectic Angler specializes in fly-fishing gifts that are definitely not mainstream. I myself have a build-it-yourself reel kit from the EA (itself a very [...]

One of my clients at last week’s fly-casting clinics in Grants Pass, Oregon, presented me with a rather nice gift: A vintage Bunyan Bug tied by Norman Means himself. This is the “poster pattern” from Norman Maclean’s, A River Runs Through It, and is a fly that, to me, speaks of “old school” Montana like no [...]

What I would have given to have listened to these fourteen minutes at my own commencement. Steve Jobs at Stanford, 2005

My nephew, Alex, is now officially a fisherman. His first fish is proudly displayed above. A nice Wisconsin panfish and a great way to start (I wonder how many kids and panfish have been put together over the years). From what I hear, Alex is now “hooked” (sorry, but I am required by general angling [...]

I’ve seen a few fly-casting tattoos over the years, but this one is the best (at least to me). Saw it in Portland when I was down in the Mississippi district. Not every day that one sees a shadow casting tattoo from ARRTI walking past. I stopped the guy (Bob Stenson) and asked to him about [...]

GB and me at the Vermejo Ranch back in 1977. GB still wears that same red bandana and blue shirt combo, and I still wear a cowboy hat and boots. We also still really like fishing together when we can.  Some things never change. A happy Father’s Day to fly-fishing fathers around the world. I [...]

Just got this out of the blue. Jack Charlton, of Charlton and Mako Reels fame, died on June 9. He died rather suddenly, it seems, from what I’ve been able to find out in the last few minutes. I’d been in contact with Jack this past year, talking reels and catching up a bit. We’d [...]