Essay | guide-site-copy

TYING FOR SPRING

FIRST CAST MUSKY

MISTLETOE HUNTING

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TYING FOR SPRING

To be completely honest, I often put the fly rod down and throw a spinnerbait when the water is higher than usual, and with any significa...

THE CHUCK STORIES: JIM AND THE RAFTS

The story I’d like to try to tell begins in the late 80s, though it doesn’t really. It really starts before that, with a wild boy in Clif...

A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Musky are curious critters. If you follow this column, you know that I spend what probably amounts to an unhealthy amount of time conside...

"BAD CONDITIONS"

Fish enough, and keep track of the weather and conditions, and certain patterns begin to emerge. Like, for example, when it’s worth going...

A FIRST HUNT

I can’t remember my first hunt. The first time my dad took me, gun-toting, afield in the pursuit of real game. But I know that it was a h...

2019 IN REVIEW

The older I grow, the less I care about material things. Sure, as an angler, material things—such as boats, gear, etc.—can facilitate exp...

MURPHY, YOUR GIRLFRIEND, AND SALMONID AGGRESSION

It is generally unwise to state rules in fishing, without qualifiers. I’ve learned so quickly in answering questions from clients on the ...

A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

High water. It’s the bane of any river fisherman or fishing guide, and I’m sure I’ve opened my last three columns bemoaning it. When the ...

TWO FEET SQUARE

There are many reasons I fish, solitude being one of the foremost. But I love people, and relish the opportunity to meet new ones, especi...

STILL THE SAME

The rapid was still in sight. Its white symphony took first chair to the wind, and the cold followed third—silent and subtle, but heard. ...

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