Author: Justin

How To Fish The Spring Runoff

Justin Nature, Technique

It’s that time of year again.  That’s right, spring is here.  It’s official.  And that means it’s time to fish!

As you drive across your favorite local river on the way to work, you may notice it beginning to swell.  It’s also turning darker in color with each passing day.

runoff2

It’s not secret that fishing the runoff can be a challenge.  A lot of us fly fishers will sit back and keep tying flies as if it’s still winter.  You think to yourself that that high and off color water isn’t great to fish.  You’ll just wait until the runoff has subsided.  Or maybe you’ll drink beer and eat bar food with your buddies while you watch the NCAA tournament. read more

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What Makes a Great Fly Fishing Trip?

Justin Nature, Trips

You already know that I LOVE to fly fish.  I go fishing at least once a week, and I’m often out there with a friend or client playing coach.  And tying on flies.  And netting monster trout.  And laughing my ass off all the while.

It’s what I do.

I’ve lost count of how many trips I’ve been on, but it’s a lot.  Some shorter, some longer…  and sometimes I said screw it and just put all my fishing and camping gear in my truck and started driving.  I didn’t care where I was going.  I just cared that I was going, and knowing I was going to catch trout.  That’s all I care about when I do impromptu trips. read more

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Why Catch and Release Is Important

Justin Etiquette, Nature

You  just caught your first trout.  And now you’re hooked.  The sun sets as you hike back to your truck.  You’re think to yourself, “Do those trout I caught today taste as good as what I buy in the store?”.

I’ve eaten a few of the trout that I’ve caught, I won’t lie.  And they all tasted mighty good.

But I don’t eat the trout I catch anymore…

I’ve grown to appreciate trout for their prowess, might, power, and selectiveness.  With that, I’ve gained respect. read more

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Big Trout and Your Little Rod

Justin Gear, Trips

Hey you.  Yes, you.  I see you standing there in the stream, casting to a big ass trout.  With your little rod in your hand.  You keep breaking off on bigger fish rising in the current, but you can’t figure out why.

You went to the stream today thinking you would challenge yourself by taking your 2 weight rod.  Except it’s not a challenge, it’s a recipe for a zero fish day.

It’s no myth that small stream fishing with a 2 or 3 weight rod is a hell of a lot of fun.  I do it all the time.  Small to medium sized fish are fun with a little rod.  Small stream, short casts, and bush whacking all come to mind when I think about taking my 2 or 3 weight. read more

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19 Ways To Catch More Fish Than Your Buddies

Justin Technique

You’ve been here before. You’re out with one of your fishing buddies. It’s a gorgeous day, the flows are perfect, and the breeze is light and refreshing.

You’re knee deep in 45 degree water with the warm sun shining down on the back of your neck.

Staring at your fly box, you wonder what the trout are eating today. And then your buddy erupts with excitement. “FISH ON!!!”, he exclaims, with a big bend in his rod, and a huge smile on his face.

You set down your rod by the side of the river, and walk upstream to help your buddy land and net his fish. Then you snap a picture of him and the trout so he can post it on Facebook and Instagram for bragging rights. read more

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How You Can Improve Your Life Via Fly Fishing

Justin Nature

It’s Tuesday. You’re sitting at your desk, in your cube, staring at a blinking cursor, trying to get motivated to knock off one more item on your seemingly endless to-do list your boss has tasked you with for the week. You’re coffee mug is empty, and you know that one more cup won’t hurt, but it just might crack you out to the point where you can’t focus at all. And there you sit, watching the clock, trying to at least look busy on the chance that your boss walks by your cube and asks for an update on your current list of tasks. You think to yourself… “This desk job is killing me slowly, one day at a time. And I can’t remember the last time I got out into the wild, took a deep breath of fresh air, and forgot about that damn blinking cursor on my screen.” read more

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Why You Should Hire a Guide

Justin Trips

A friend of mine asked me the other day, “Why should I hire a guide? After all, I can just go fish and figure it out on my own.” And he’s right, except he never catches more than a couple little fish every time he sets out for a day on the stream, which is why I’m writing this.

Do I get a guide every time I go fishing? No, of course not, and I never did, even before I began guiding clients. I will say that my knowledge of the sport, the fish, and the area I’m fishing have all greatly improved as a result of hiring guides in the past. I still go on guided trips at least 5 times every year for several reasons… read more

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Managing Our Resources

Justin Etiquette

There’s always a lot of talk about the environment these days, and rightfully so. Our resources on this planet are limited, and we’ve all witnessed people abusing the planet in a myriad of ways, whether it be throwing something out the car window, cigarette butts on the ground, dumping some garbage in a field in the middle of nowhere, oil spills, and the list goes on. It’s always bothered me when I see litter, and I often find myself picking stuff up that I didn’t leave there, especially when I’m on the stream. read more

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An Epic Trip to Wyoming

Justin Trips

As I sit back and reflect on the 8 days of fishing somewhere in Wyoming this past week, I can’t help but wish I would have planned to stay for at least two weeks.  I also wish I would have applied sunblock more often and more liberally.  Home now, I’m a little worn out after hiking as much as we did this trip, but I’ve got a huge smile on my face.

As usual, we had a great group of guys again this year, and we also got into some challenging fishing.  As it turns out, it had been a very wet spring, and even into July many of the rivers weren’t fish-able.  Whenever the closer water that we favor is running high, or off color, we generally spend a lot of time hunting for better rivers that are clear enough to fish and wadeable.  Unless we’re floating, of course…  Then the river has to be floatable. read more

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Why the HELL do I need all this gear??

Justin Gear
Why the HELL do I need all this gear??

Fisherpeople often comment that they’re always carrying an absolute ton of gear when they take to the water. I, myself have said the same, and truth be told, I’ve often asked myself the same question after a long day of fishing while I iced my back with a cold beer. I of course had another cold beer in the other hand… Anyway, long story short, my back is thanking me and yours can too if you take a minimalist approach.

Before I tell you what the core essentials are, I want to point out that the more crap you have, the more crap you have to keep organized, and additionally, that having more crap isn’t necessarily going to help you catch more fish. There. I said it. And it doesn’t mean you’ll catch bigger fish, either. All you really need are the right tools for the job.  What follows is a basic run down of the essential gear you’ll need to start catching trout.  I’ll be covering the “why” you might use a particular rod, reel, fly line, tippet, fly pattern or boot type in a future post. read more

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