News: Fishkill on the Holston

Hold your breath and cross your fingers folks. Bad news from the Volunteer state. A according to an article on Timesnews.net, a spill of 7,100 pounds of diethyl ether int the river causing an "undetermined" number of fish to be killed

Valentine said diethyl ether dissolves in water, and except for the fish kill, the company doesn’t expect any additional environmental impact from the discharge

Tip of the breaking news hat to our friends from Hatch Hunters Fly Fishing Guide Service.

Gear: Marlin Wear for Humans not Marlin

First there was men's wear, then came lady's wear and now there is Marlin wear. We found this excellent logo via some new friends on twitter who pointed out the Marlin Wear Online store. A great way to fly your Pelagic flag. Our only suggestion would be larger logos on some of the shirts.

Native Alaskans file Suit to Stop Pebble Disaster

Bristol Bay Residents Assert Pebble Exploration Violates State Constitution
Exploration permits could be suspended as a result of lawsuit filed today

Anchorage, Alaska—A Bristol Bay Alaska Native organization and several individuals, including former Alaska First Lady Bella Hammond and Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate Victor Fischer, filed a civil suit in Anchorage Superior Court today asserting that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) repeatedly violated the Alaska Constitution in granting permits for Pebble mine exploration. The lawsuit asserts that the agency failed to consider the public’s interest in sustaining the region’s rich salmon, wildlife, and subsistence resources, which are negatively affected by exploration activities. Plaintiffs are asking the court to halt exploration until the case is resolved.

“DNR has neglected its legal and moral obligation to protect Bristol Bay’s subsistence resources,” said Bobby Andrew, spokesman for Nunamta Aulukestai, a lead plaintiff. “Current exploration is having a serious impact on water and wildlife, yet the agency continues to rubber stamp permits and ignore the public interest.”

The lawsuit filed today asserts that DNR has violated multiple sections of Article VIII of the Alaska Constitution in repeatedly issuing exploration permits without public notice and without analyzing whether exploration or the mine itself are in the public interest.

Plaintiffs have asked the court for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the State from granting or extending permits for exploration and water use on mining claims held by the Pebble Limited Partnership, effectively stopping further exploration until the court makes a final decision – or until the State Legislature enacts a new regulatory framework for onshore mining exploration. The injunction would not apply to mining activities elsewhere in the state. Plaintiffs have also asked the court to void all exploration permits already issued by DNR to the Pebble Limited Partnership, Pebble East Corp., and Pebble West Corp.

Public interest law firm Trustees for Alaska filed the six-count civil action on behalf of Nunamta Aulukestai, an organization comprising eight Native village corporations, including Ekwok, Koliganek, New Stuyahok, Clarks Point, Aleknagik, Togiak, Manakotak and Dillingham. Joining in the suit as co-plaintiffs are Nondalton resident Jack Hobson, Nondalton resident Ricky Delkittie, Sr., Naknek resident Violet Willson, former Alaska First Lady Bella Hammond, and former Alaska legislator and Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate Victor Fischer.

360 Fishing Flies: Flytyingclips.com

Flytyingclips.com is a site with great macro photos of fishing flies. You can manipulate the photos with your mouse to get a 360 view of all the details. It's a great resource for the fly tyer interested in examining other tyer's work up close and personal.

Is that a salmon in your flashlight?

Via Treehugger.com comes the news that sprinkling a bit of salmon DNA nanofibers on the internals of an LED light can allow researchers to create a long lasting white LED's that can be tuned to other colors.

Fluorescent dyes (two different ones, spaced between 2 and 10 nanometers from each other) are added to the DNA molecules, which are then spun into nanofibers. These are very durable because DNA is a particularly strong polymer (it has to be!) (they should last 50 times longer than acrylic, for example).

Any of your salmon anglers ever have glowing hands after catching a big buck?

Gear Review- DiCaPac® Waterproof cell phone case

Gear Review with Video

Flyfishing can kill you?

Take a few moments to remember Bahman Khadivi, 26, of Las Vegas.

Apparently he was fishing the North Umpqua River in Oregon and had a tragic accident and died. He was just like any one of us , traveling around, fishing alone, checking out new places. I don't know how many times I have taken bad steps in fast water and gotten nervous. Unfortunately for this young man he was not able to save himself. Say a prayer, kiss your family and be happy for what you have.

Thanks to KPIC in Roseburg, OR

Five rivers to fish in Montana

Good article from the Minneapolis paper.

Great White on fly!

Conway Bowman guides angler to a great white shark

"River Runs Through" It on Blu Ray

I am sure most people reading this have seen "The Movie". Supposedly it launched the fly fishing boom of the 90's. I am not sure about that. There were lots of booms launched in the 90'. Remember cigar bars? Ayways... this would be a good time to revisit this film. I feel that it has stood up well to the test of time and any story about two brothers trying to find their places in the world by going fishing together....well that's a winner with me. The final 30 minutes show what can be done by a thoughtful director (Redford) working with great material (Mclean). Gets me every time.

We interrupt this broadcast...

The FlyfishMagazine Corporate Offices are packing up and moving to parts Northeast. If the Trophy Wife has the slightest hint that we are blogging and not packing the contents of her walk in closet into boxcars in preparation for the trip, we will be in big time trouble. Messrs. Gordon, Rose, and Moore may feel free to take up some of our slack when it comes to entertaining the fly fishing masses.

Pirates of the Flats

Tom Brokaw, Michael Keaton, Thomas McGuane, Yvon Chouinard, Lefty Kreh and Val Atkin star in the long awaited Pirates of the Flats on ESPN2.

Fishing flies NSFW?

Recently we noticed Carp Zen Master Jean-Paul Lipton of Roughfisher.com's online store, where anglers can purchase some of his excellent and innovative fishing flies. We were perplexed and concerned when we noted that the provocative name of the assortment pictured above, "The Pleasure Pack" had probably caused our IT department to put us on a special list. It's not hard to picture the looks we now got from them after they reviewed their spy logs and found we had been surfing the net for such items. It doesn't help matters any that one of the flies in the assortment is the "Darth Clam."

Take a Dad Fishing Day

FlyfishMagazine.com's Colorado correspondent, Ali Hassan recently spent some time roaming around the Southern part of his home state with the family and sent back some photos with which to taunt all of us still trapped at our desks. It appears from the photographic record that the younger Hassan is turning into quite the fisherman.

Orvis' Fly Fishing Reports and Conditions Website

As a fly fisher, blogger, and person who uses the intertubes for most of my news and information, I have always thought that it would be great to offer fishing reports via the web. To that end, I even set up a section of FlyfishMagazine.com for said reports. I thought for certain that shops and guides would love a chance to post their reports and even sweetened the pot by giving them full blown ad space in exchange for their efforts. However, try as I might it never really took off.

It always went the same way. I'd meet someone in "the biz" give them a card and let them know that they could post reports on my site complete with their contact info and even a sales pitch if they so desired. Most thought it was great (save one shop owner who looked at me as If I were crazy and then told me he was out of strike indicators), posted one or two reports, then were never heard from again. I am sure they just forgot it, got fired from the shop they worked at (this actually happened), or just had more pressing matters at hand than recording their day on paper for me. Nobody wants to read last week's fishing report so things never really took off. I often considered that, to make such a site work, it would have to be handled by a major industry player with a ready made relationship to hundreds of fly shops across the country.

Enter Orvis into the mix with a full featured report section for their website. Their current click able map shows reports available from more than 30 states nationwide with many of the states having reports from several rivers within their boarders.

A quick click on The Old North State reveals reports for three of our favored rivers. From there click on the Davidson River and you get a report from David Hise of Caster's Fly Shop, dated 7-06-2009 that tells us not only how good the fishing is, but also water conditions, weather forecast, hatches, must have flies (click to buy), and even the recommended tippet size to use. A click on our all too soon to be stomping grounds of New Jersey and Pennsylvania reveals plenty of information that gives the traveling fly fisher a head start when visiting an area (or in my case relocating).

One thing that I found to be of interest was that aside from the URL for the site, there is very little that brands it as an Orivs offering. While you can find the Orvis name, if you look closely, and you can navigate to the page from the Orvis website, it is not at all evident unless you click a link or read some fine print.

Overall the Orvis fly fishing reports and conditions site does a great job of providing reasonably up to date content about many fisheries across the country. Be sure to check it out for yourself.

Fly Fishing Reports & Conditions for United States, Canada and Mexico

A light in the tunnel of gill nets in NC

Apparently an observer from the National Marine Fisheries Service did a ride along on a gill net boat in Core Sound for two weeks at the end of June. In that time they found the evidence of gill net/turtle "interaction" (read: dead turtles) that people here have been screaming about for years. Due to that, the Director of Marine Fisheries in NC has issued a proclamation to restrict gill net usage until the end of August as least, and possibly longer, from Core Sound south. It cuts down the length of nets they can use and also makes each individual net smaller. This will go a long way to protect turtles and also do a lot to help our inshore fish species rebound from the constant pressure the netters have been putting on them. It will only take a week or two for some of the hardest hit places to start seeing fish numbers rebound. Really amazing actually.

Click here for the full text of the proclamation.

Keeping up with the Trophy Wife

While I pack up in Charlotte, the Editorial Trophy Wife is off on her way to Alaska via steamship. By now she is no doubt ensconced in her cabin while her cadre of loyal Sherpas unpack her steamer trunks for the duration of the cruise. Thanks to the wonders of technology we, like any good trophy wife's husband, can track her movements via the internet. Meanwhile, I will be working long hours and living he batchelor life, all the while wondering how anyone can go to Alaska and not plan a fishing trip...

"Hey Papa, What's for Dinner?"

Papa's Key West Office Space - Photo FlyfishMagazine.com

A $12,500 cashiers check payable to Kenneth W. Rendell Inc. gets you four manuscripts relating to Ernest Hemingway, one of which gives us insight into the diet of the famous author:

"In case you hear they want an intimate what eats, pleasures, dis-likes angle this may save time. Technical crap of the non-intellectual type that people ask: What does he eat: When driving cross-country breakfasting in a lunch counter: A ham and egg sandwich with a slice of raw onion and a cup of coffee with milk. At home: bacon and one egg with tea and fruit juice. Or kippers tea and fruit juice or when he thinks he can afford it maqueau vin blanc tea and fruit juice. Can eat the same breakfast for a week or ten days then likes to switch. Loves good food but would rather eat a single sandwich anytime than a mediocre meal. Stern disciplinarian on the amount he eats when he believes he is not getting sufficient excercise. Usually eats one full meal a day. Loves all good cooking especially French and some parts of Italy but thinks the chinese cooking is best of all. Loves to eat game and fish and can live on them alone for months at a time. (Recall the cabin) Loves American cooking but needs lots of exercise to be able to eat it. Dislikes: Parsnips, oat-meal, polenta. Loves: pie, ham and eggs, roast turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, rare steaks and all meats. Also young green onions, radishes, raw turnips. Favourite vegetable artichoke. Cooks trout very well (I hope) Loves (for loves can use likes) chili-con carne, all Mexican dishes. When by himself will eat a bowl of chili, drink a bottle of red-wine and read with the meal. Put in Blacky.

Let us know if you buy them, we would enjoy a look.

Fly Fishing Quote Of The Week

FlyfishMagazine.com Volunteer State Editor - Jay Moore pictured knee deep in what I like to call therapy.

This week's fishy quotage comes from Andrew Roth in an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Pop the Top."

"There are few thing that I enjoy more when it comes to fly fishing than the ability to hunt and stalk from my hind legs. Wade fishing is total immersion and focus becomes hypersensitive."

Mr. Roth, Sir we understand you completely!

Does being homeless make me a trout bum?

Skytop Lodge in the Poconos - one of many places we cannot afford to buy in the Northeast

Many of you may already know that the FlyfishMagazine.com world HQ is in the process of moving from North Carolina to the frozen Northlands of Pennsylvania or perhaps New Jersey. Lately in addition to 10 hour days at the office we have been dealing with selling a house in order to become homeless, trying to find a house to buy so as not to be homeless for too long, and all the while finding out from persons in the home inspection field that every little thing that might have been wrong with our house probably is (meaning we may have already been homeless and just didn't realize it) and must be fixed before we can vacate.

Meanwhile our brains remained addled from seeing what had to be no less than 100 homes inside of what amounted to three days of a holiday weekend, all the while coming to a realization that I really don't like spending large sums of money on things other than fishing gear. The exchange rate North of the Mason Dixon line isn't exactly favorable to our confederate money. We did find a cool house with river frontage but I can't help but think that it's on stilts for a reason. The owner's response that you could simply pressure wash the garage out after a flood gave me just almost as much comfort as the fact that he had lived in a FEMA trailer for two years before rebuilding. The I-95 bridge next door was a bonus.

The upside of all this is that our new homeland comes with ready made fishing buddies who are intent on showing a North Carolina boy a few choice spots for getting into some fish in both salt and fresh water (Thanks Jason, Pete, and Steve). It almost makes the thought of leaving sweet tea behind palatable. Southern anglers should not fear as our pals Capt. Gordon Churchill, Jay Moore, and Captain Paul Rose have consented to continue keeping you informed on the status of fly fishing the Carolina's and beyond. In the interim, somebody send me some fish pictures or something....

Here are a couple of fishing headlines from the our new corner of the world:

Thanks to a document from 1686 NY Saltwater anglers don't need a license just yet...
Art Weiler builds bamboo fly rods is a guy we need to get to know in the Poconos
Ice Fishing events that the Trophy Wife won't be letting us attend.

Nat Geo: Tonight on Hooked

Tonight at 10pm on "Hooked", National Geographic Explorer Zeb Hogan catches a fresh water stingray of giant purportions.



The giant freshwater stingray is a megapredator, a true-life Loch Ness monster that can kill with a swipe of its tail! Amazingly, the elusive leviathan was discovered only 20 years ago and already it’s on the vulnerable list. Fish biologist, conservationist and National Geographic Explorer Zeb Hogan is on a mission to find these remarkable creatures as part of the Megafishes Project, a five-year study supported by the National Geographic Society. He’ll head to Thailand, one of the last places on Earth where the freshwater stingray thrives, to see some with his own eyes, and reel them in for a closer look.

Hogan will dive into the murky water to learn more about their mysterious behavior—where they roam, how many there are and which areas need protection.
Be there for the milestone moment when Hogan hooks the biggest stingray he’s ever seen. Measuring more than 11 feet long, it takes 12 men to lift the monster ashore. Based on the dimensions, Hogan believes it could possibly be a world record–breaking fish.