This is Beulah’s premium travel Spey rod. I was skeptical at first, as I tend to avoid travel rods. I prefer rods with fewer ferrule connections as opposed to more. But I have loved Beulah’s rods historically, and so I thought I would give it a try on a few salmon rivers up in Canada. While using it, I came away with three impressions. Is this an 8/9 or more of an 8 or even 7/8? You have to tape your ferrule connections on a travel rod! It’s a great rod — for the tight person, with the right casting preference. I speak to all of these in full in the video above. Check it out! Beulah G2 Plat ..read more

It’s been a while since we’ve done a Gear & Beer. Between the pandemic, a new job, a baby daughter (13 months, a wedding, and then three cases of the damn ‘vid this summer, we’ve been delayed. But we’re back — and we’ve got a few videos in store in the coming weeks and months. To kick us off, we talk about two recent favorites: the Grundens Downrigger GORE-TEX Bibs — a seriously good piece of kit — and one of our absolute favorite New England beers, Bissell Brothers Substance. Gear: Buy here > Product link: https://amzn.to/3QdFJFf Grundens Website link: https://grundens.com/shop/collec ..read more

Are you ready? Seasons of all sorts are about to roll out in a steady cadence. Are you ready? We spend all winter with building anticipation for our favorite species to get back within fly range — now that the days are numbered until their return, what are you doing to prepare? In the insta world of influencing, you’d be amazed to learn that consumerism isn’t the only way you need to get ready for your favorite quarry. Don’t get me wrong buying shit is fun and temporarily rewarding and you should be buying new leader and tipper material annually. The last thing you need when you have on the fi ..read more

It was the perfect night: warm, but not too warm, the setting sun turning the sky progressive shades of purple, pink, and dark, inky blue. The striped bass were out in Boston, and my friends were along the ride ..read more

I’ve been tying on the HMH TRV vise for a while now, and I love it. As you know, I like supporting New England businesses in general, and New England fly fishing businesses specifically. Based out of Biddeford, Maine, HMH is one of those. But more than that, they are truly a great product. HMH has been around since 1975, and the current owner, Jonathan Larrabee, has been a machinist for nearly as long. This is the kind of company where, when you go to the shows, Jon is at the shows, sometimes with his employees, and sometimes with his family. It’s a small company, and they take pride in what ..read more

While I enjoy podcasts, I don’t often recommend them as they’re simply so many of them. Especially in fishing and fly fishing. And as quantity has increased, true quality has been harder to find. But this is one I truly enjoyed — and so I thought it worth a recommendation. I say this in part because they speak to more than just fishing, but to the culture and experience behind fly fishing. UK-based Fly Culture magazine is excellent at this, as is the French Le Mouching, and two combined make for a good show. You can find the video of the interview below, or a link to the audio here. Enjoy ..read more

Over the pandemic, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Atlantic salmon flies — whether I’m tying them, talking about them, or reading about them, salmon flies have consumed the majority of my tying time over these past two years. One of the most interesting salmon fishermen and tyers is Ernest Crossfield, known for his unusual techniques (he didn’t use thread) and strong belief in sparse and translucent flies. This book — Ernest Crosfield: His Salmon Flies and Fishing by Colin Innes from Coch-y-Bonddu Books — is an interesting collection of his writing. It also, perhaps most importantly ..read more

Our oceans are full — not with fish, but with plastic junk. It’s estimated that 640,000 tons of fishing nets and gear pollute our oceans every year. That weight can be a bit amorphous, so consider that things like a vintage Volkswagon Beetle, a make giraffe, a great white, and a live Oak tree all can weigh one ton. Now, multiple that by 640,000. That is a lot of junk. We know that our oceans are filling with plastic. From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an eyesore too out of sight to cause many people the worry it should, to the micro and nanoplastics, marine life is threatened by all this j ..read more

Most of the time I post about trout, salmon, or saltwater species like stripers and albies. But what did I grow up chasing? Largemouth bass, bluegill, and perch. They seem to be the holy trinity of a young, landlocked freshwater angler’s life, at least here in the Northeast. And so it was great to get back out and chase them again with my friend Brendan the other day. We hopped into his new boat, packed a few 3 wt rods, and motored out into a pond near Boston. It was a beautiful evening: cool, with an osprey flying and diving nearby. Once it dove close to the boat, and exploded from the water ..read more

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