By Bill Heavey

At a certain point in my life, I realized that disappointment and I would be spending a lot of time together. Personally, I had no interest in disappointment. But disappointment was very interested in me. In time, it—like my preference for the Palomar knot and treestands in double-trunked trees—became a habit. So you may understand my alarm when three good things ambushed me at the same time. One was that I found a physical therapist who fixed my back. I also handed in the manuscript of the book I had thought would take, at most, six months to complete. That was in 2007. Third, Michelle—the smart, pretty peach of a woman who lowered her standards to date me—and I just hit the two-year mark as a couple. And she has yet to even mention a restraining order.

To a man who habitually expects the worst, a boatload of good news like this is somewhat, well, frightening. (Spare me any letters pointing out how screwed up this is. I know it’s screwed up.) Fortunately, any time I feel the need to renew my ties to disappointment, I know just what to do. I take up flyfishing again.
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By Tim Romano

The Drake Magazine held its 7th annual Fly Fishing Video awards at the International Fly Tackle Dealer Show a couple of weeks ago. The video above from "The Last Salmon Forest," which won best cinematography. It was shot and edited by Detonation Studios. [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano

It's been quite some time since we've done a little caption contest...  

You know the rules. You've got one week to give us the wittiest caption in the comments section below for the image you see here. This happens to be a guest at the Bristol Bay Lodge in Alaska that doesn't quite know what to do with his tube flies...  [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano

Marc Montocchio and 36 North are back at it again; photographing and shooting video of some of the most elusive fish to catch on a fly. This time, Montochhio takes his insane photo skills to the Casa Blanca Lodge in the Yucatan to shoot both bonefish and permit. He even outfits his housing with a "ghillie suit" of sorts for ultimate camouflage.

Enjoy the behind-the-scenes video of him getting it done with remote cameras, and the accompanying amazing still photos of bonefish and permit.
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By Chad Love

In the struggle between being critically endangered and hugely profitable, guess which one wins? Uh, I'll take hugely profitable for a thousand, Trebek...

From this story on businessinsider.com:
A Chinese fisherman has netted a fortune after catching a critically endangered, but hugely prized, fish worth £300,000 (That's about $473,000 to us Yanks...). The fisherman, whose identity has not been revealed, caught a Chinese Bahaba, or Giant Yellow Croaker, off the coast of Fujian province last week. After a bidding war, a local fishmonger paid him three million yuan (£300,000) for the 176lb fish, or £1,700 a pound, according to the Strait News, a local newspaper in Fujian.

The fisherman told the newspaper he had found the fish floating on the surface of the sea and had "picked it up." The size of the fish caught the attention of his fellow villagers, and the specimen was quickly identified. After the auction, the fisherman said he would use the windfall to buy a bigger boat.
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By Bob Marshall

A press release from the Department of Interior last week held some of the best news in recent years for sportsmen—and the quality of life of all Americans: After decades of steady declines, the number of hunters and anglers in the U.S. showed significant increases over the last five years.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation showed the number hunters and anglers increased 9 and 11 percent respectively, part of the 38 percent of all Americans who participated in wildlife-related recreation. That was an increase of 2.6 million participants from the previous survey in 2006. A Service spokesperson said the survey, which has been done every five years since 1955, last showed an increase was in the late the 1980s — which means we've halted a 30-year slide. [ Read Full Post ]