By Tim Romano

Just after the new year I headed to Argentina for two weeks to chase sea run brown trout at Kau Tuapen lodge and to shoot dove at La Dormida with my partner-in-crime Kirk Deeter and a few other colleagues. 

By Kirk Deeter

Tim Romano and I made our first trip together as a photographer-writer team for Wild on the Fly magazine in 2003. We went to southern Chile to fish for trout in the region around Coyhaique, and came away with a great story. But more importantly, we forged a strong friendship that has lasted for a decade now. Interestingly, we don't travel and fish together as often as you might think. He's usually heading north as I'm heading south, but we do have a killer F&S piece brewing, based on a trip we took to Guyana last spring. That was our first collaboration since we rolled to Michigan to take in the crazy carp fishing scene around Beaver Island.

By Tim Romano

I don't want to get all preachy here on Fly Talk, but after the debates last night and reading an excellent editorial piece by Scott Willoughby in the Denver Post from Tuesday, I felt had to share. As a westerner and someone who cares deeply for the outdoors, I felt Willoughby's piece was as important as any I've read lately.

I don't care if you're a democrat or republican, what Willoughby had to say in his piece should make us ALL think a little harder about who we choose for elected office and what those choices will have on our hunting and fishing lands.

By Tim Romano

Have something to say about your public lands? It could cost you…

My friends over at Trout Unlimited alerted me to a couple of bills that have been introduced to the House that don't sit well with me. I thought I would share.

They went on to say that Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development (SFRED), a coalition of businesses, organizations and individuals led by Trout Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, has been following this set of bills. And so far, the message isn’t exactly “sportsmen friendly.”

Among the provisions:
- A requirement of a $5,000 documentation fee to protest any lease, stifling a process that is currently free and open to anyone who wants to participate.
- Prioritizing energy development over fish and wildlife on public lands.
- A mandate that leases be issued within 60 days of payment regardless of protests or litigation.
- Requires that a minimum of 25 percent of the leases receive minimal environmental review and no protests.