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Winter desperation

I'll be the first to admit it...I can be sort of a snob about fishing. Aside from eel fishing, I don't fish conventional tackle. During Swiss winters, this stubborn refusal generally means I don't see...

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Carp Resolutions

Unfortunately, I don't live in Montana, British Columbia, Alaska, Scandanivia, Maine, Kamchatka, or any of those other places where fishing opportunities are practically limitless.No, I live in a...

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Generosity

A few months ago, I ran into an acquaintance while he was fishing on the Rhine. We spoke for a few minutes, and when the conversation turned to fiberglass for some forgotten reason, he mentioned that...

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Fred Paddock

When I posted a little profile of the workshops of a few rodmakers a while back, I was fortunate enough to be able to get some of the feedback from the featured rodmakers themselves. One of the things...

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Opening Day 2014

I didn't get to fish opening day, but I did find some time to head down to my fishing clubs' annual soup lunch on the banks of our river, along with my daughter. The sausages were good, the soup was...

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The intricate and expensive world of Salmon flies

I love everything about tying flies. The learning process, the incremental and visible improvements as you learn, the history of various patterns, the delicate and subtle differences in hooks and...

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Sometimes it all works out just like you'd hoped

Every fishing trip begins with hope. 99 times out 100, that hope isn't realized. But every so often, things work out just the way they're supposed to. Exactly the way you imagined and hoped they would....

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Yasuyuki Kabuto of Kabuto Rods

When I profiled the workshops of various rod builders a few months back, more than one of the featured builders mentioned that they'd love to hear input from a universally respected Japanese rod...

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Biology, bendos, and breeding

Despite fishing being a relatively small part of it, I had a relatively eventful weekend on the river. On Saturday afternoon, we met a flyfisherman and biologist who gave us a crash course on local...

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A custom built Epic 686 takes shape

I've been almost exclusively using my Epic 580 since opening day. Dries, nymphs, streamers, you name it. To put it simply, I love it. Everyone who's picked it up and thrown some loops came away...

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Montana, day 1. There's dumb trout here, too

Sunrise over ColoradoI finally arrived in Bozeman yesterday morning. After 22 hours of flying and waiting in airports and a 2 day layover in Texas that turned into a 3 day layover thanks to a missed...

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Montana, day 2. The Upper Ruby

One of the places I was most looking forward to fishing while in Montana was the Ruby River. I decided on fishing the part of the Ruby that was within state owned lands because it seemed that the...

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Montana, day 3. The Madison

I stopped by some fly shops in the area, and there was word that the Salmonflies were hatching on the Madison near Three Dollar Bridge, so my next destination was clear. I was up at 5 and gone by 6 to...

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Montana, day 4. Sweetgrass and the Beaverhead

My idle days are behind me, and I'm looking forward to starting my week at Sweetgrass. I wasn't sure what time to show up, and seeing as how I'm still jet lagged enough to wake up every morning around...

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Montana, day 5. Sweetgrass and the Lower Ruby

Another day, up at 5AM. After a quick trip to the local gas station for a huge cup of coffee, a video chat with my wife and kids, I started preparing breakfast over my camp stove. The Beaverhead runs...

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Montana, day 6. Splitting bamboo, and redemption on the Ruby

After a breakfast of fresh eggs and bear (or maybe caribou) sausage, I spent the day milling bamboo strips, and marking and splitting some culms. After that, I headed over to RL Winston to check out...

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Montana, day 7. Sweetgrass, and skunked.

Today I had the honor and pleasure of working with Glenn all day. He was very patient as we milled, glued, and wrapped strips. People poked their heads into our working area on a regular basis, mostly...

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Montana, day 8. My last day at Sweetgrass

My time at Sweetgrass was coming to an end. Glenn and I started a special order, tent poles. As he dialed in the milling machine, I though that this was sort of like Michelangelo painting some cheap...

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Conservation in the 13th century

I attended a 2 day work seminar in a castle on the banks of the Rhine this past week, and in between the work events we got a tour of the castle. In one corner of the tower, was a stone with three...

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Guide School

Guide SchoolHubbard's LodgeInstead of posting individual days, I'll just do a consolidated writeup of my experience at guide school. I have no intentions of guiding professionally, and all I really...

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