Sportsman's Life

I am here to tell it like it is , right or wrong, Just how I see it....

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Quick gear note for anyone burning through tippet this season: we stock Snowbee XS Fluorocarbon on 100m spools — not the 27-yard spools most brands sell for nearly the same price.
It's 100% fluorocarbon made in Japan. Low visibility for spooky fish in clear water, abrasion resistance for rocks and flats, and knot strength you can lean on. We run it for everything from Montana trout to bonefish on the flats.
Three sizes: 15 lb. (02X), 12 lb. (0X), and 10 lb. (1X). $19.88 a spool at https://t.co/OVekSjjjpt
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#flyfishing #tippet #fluorocarbon #saltwaterflyfishing #troutfishing #bonefish #flytying #onthefly #bassfishing

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Wyoming doesn't do anything quietly — and neither does Article 6 of Montana's Classic Stonefly Bench. In this one: the Snake River's fine-spotted cutthroat, the North Platte's Miracle Mile and its 7,000 trout per mile, and the backroad creeks where getting lost is the plan, not the problem. Full step-by-step tying instructions for the Yellow Humpy, the Double Bead Peacock Stone Nymph, and the Snake River Salmonfly Special, plus the complete Wyoming stonefly hatch calendar. 📖 Full article + hatch calendar: https://t.co/MpghnfXWs7 🎣 Shop Ewing Hackle, Semperfli, and everything else on the bench: https://t.co/tWs4xJoMrE 🔔 Subscribe for the rest of the series — Colorado's South Platte, Frying Pan, and Roaring Fork are up next. #flyfishing #wyoming #flytying #saltwateronthefly #ewinghackle #semperfli #flytying

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

"The Middle Fork of the Salmon runs 100 miles through the Frank Church Wilderness of No Return — no roads in, no roads out. It's the kind of water that demands gear that pulls its weight, and that's why we built the Middle Fork Graphic Hoodie.
Quick-drying, lightweight, and breathable enough to layer from a cold put-in morning to a campfire at dark. The graphic is a nod to one of the wildest free-flowing rivers left in the Lower 48.
Shop the Middle Fork Graphic Hoodie: https://t.co/H2AXMGuxA0
More gear built by anglers, for anglers: https://t.co/Eui3phC7TG
Got a Middle Fork story? Drop it in the comments — best one gets pinned.
#flyfishing #middleforksalmon #flyfishinggear"

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Sun Protective Fishing Apparel — Built by Fishermen, Field-Tested Everywhere
Eight hours on the water is eight hours of sun exposure — unless your gear's built to handle it.
We designed our fishing hoodies with guides and adventurers in mind: UPF-50 sun protection, a built-in 3-position facemask, thumb-hole cuffs, and fast-drying, moisture-wicking fabric. We didn't just design these — we tested them. 14,000 ft in the mountains. -45°F in the snow. Blazing hot saltwater flats in July. If they survive that, they'll survive your next trip.
Built by fishermen. Tested in the field. Ready for yours.
🎣 Shop the full collection: https://t.co/dzbpsYdsnE
👕 Sign up for our newsletter for gear drops, guide tips, and trip reports.
#SaltwaterOnTheFly #FishingHoodie #UPF50 #FlyFishing #SaltwaterFishing #OutdoorGear

[Jonathan Wood @jonwood1978]

Loch Hourn from the summit of Ladhar Bheinn...

#knoydart #Scotland #getoutside

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Most people assume fly fishing is strictly a trout game. It's not even close.
The Chippewa Flowage in northern Wisconsin — 17,000 acres, 200+ islands, flooded river channels, drifting bogs — is one of the best bass fly fishing destinations in the Midwest. It just doesn't get talked about the way it deserves.
We published a complete guide: fly selection, gear setup, seasonal strategy, west side vs. east side fishery breakdown, regulations, lodging, and guide services. The kind of research that usually costs you a week on the water to figure out yourself.
For anyone who advises clients on outdoor travel, manages tourism-facing content, or covers the fishing and adventure travel industry — this is the type of destination that punches way above its weight.
Full guide: https://t.co/tK5JjmRitZ
Capt. Grumpy | Saltwater on the Fly #FlyFishing #OutdoorTravel #FishingGuide #ContentMarketing #WisconsinTourism #AdventureTavel

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Most anglers miss more takes than they think. Not because they're not paying attention — because their rod isn't telling them anything.
A stiff tip is quiet. It doesn't communicate. By the time you feel the fish, the fish is already gone.
The Summit Pack 8-foot 5-6 weight has a glass tip, and that tip is doing real work. It telegraphs subtle takes before your eyes catch up. It loads on short casts so you're never fishing with dead stick between you and the fly. And it protects fine tippets by absorbing the kind of shock that breaks off fish on rods with no give.
This isn't a soft rod. The graphite body gives it backbone — enough to handle small streamers, fight a strong trout, and punch a cast into a headwind when you need to. But that tip keeps you connected to what's happening at the end of your line. That's a different kind of fishing. A better kind.
I've guided long enough to know that the anglers who consistently catch more fish aren't always the best casters. They're the ones who feel more. This rod helps with that.
Built right.
👉 https://t.co/ZA0BVvfxQg
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#flyfishing #backpacking #backcountryflyfishing #flyrods

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Some days you don't need a guide. You don't need a drift boat, a shuttle, or a crowd. You just need boots, a backpack, and enough sense to follow a trail until the trees open up and the stream finds you.
That's where I was yesterday.
Western Tanagers working the cottonwoods along the bank — that ridiculous flash of red and yellow against a Montana sky full of white clouds that looked like somebody painted them there on purpose. The kind of scene that makes you stop casting for a minute just to look at it. Just to make sure you're actually standing in it.
The water was clear. I mean clear — the kind where you can read the bottom at four feet and watch a cutthroat slide two inches to eat your fly. A #16 Pheasant Tail in the riffles. A Hare's Ear dropped into the slow water behind a boulder. Both working. Neither one being hurried.
I had the Summit Pack 7'6" 3-4 weight in my hand and it was exactly the right rod for every inch of that water. Tight willows on the left bank — short, accurate casts with a tip that loads at thirty feet and doesn't punish you for it. Hiked three miles in with that rod collapsed in my pack and never thought about it once. Pulled it out, extended it, and was fishing in under a minute.
The cutthroat didn't care what I was carrying. But I did. A heavier, stiffer stick on water that tight and that technical would have cost me fish. The soft glass tip read every take. Kept every tippet intact. Did what a good small stream rod is supposed to do — get out of the way and let the fishing happen.
I didn't count fish. I didn't check my phone. I just walked and cast and watched Tanagers until the light went gold and it was time to hike out.
That's the whole point.
👉 https://t.co/ZA0BVvfxQg
#FlyfishingMontana #CutthroatTrout #RockyMountains #SummitPackRod #BackcountryFlyFishing #PheasantTail #HaresEar #WildTrout #PublicLands #MontanaLife

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Crappie on Lake Conroe don't ask much of you. Find a brush pile, drop a 1/16 oz jig, and try not to embarrass yourself. They're the working professionals of the lake — dependable, abundant, and considerably easier to get into the cooler than the bass that's been ignoring you since sunrise.

The Summit 4-Piece 6' Medium Light Spinning Rod paired with the Summit 1000 Reel (5.2:1) is exactly the kind of setup that makes crappie fishing feel like it was designed for humans. Light enough to feel every tick of a jig 15 feet down. Sensitive enough to telegraph the subtlest bite before you've had your second cup of coffee. And the 4-piece travel design means it fits anywhere — backpack, truck cab, that spot behind the seat you thought was too small for anything useful.

Chartreuse/white. Black/chartreuse. Live minnow under a float when nothing else works. 25-fish limit. No apologies necessary.

📖 Full crappie breakdown → https://t.co/mHPaWecmBc
🎣 Summit 4-Piece ML Spinning Rod → https://t.co/zHALGWOP7z

#LakeConroe #CrappieFishing #TexasFishing #Crappie #FreshwaterFishing #SummitTackle #SpinningRod #FishingTexas #LakeConroeTexas #PanfishFishing #CrappieJigs #FishingGear #AnglerLife #TravelRod #SaltwaterOnTheFly

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Tough day on the water, easy night at the bar — that's the trade I'll always take.
Today the fish won. Decisively. I threw everything but the kitchen sink at them — nymphs, streamers, dries, a couple of words that wouldn't make it into a family newsletter — and got skunked for my trouble. Montana rivers have a way of humbling you right when you start feeling clever.
So I did the only sensible thing: packed it in and pointed the truck toward Neptune's.
Sat at the bar, because that's where good decisions get made. Coffee Stout in hand, ordered up the Popper and the Spider Pillar off the sushi menu, and let the day's frustrations get washed out by good heat, good beer, and a bartender who clearly knows more about flavor than I know about fly selection — and that's saying something.
Some days you outsmart the river. Some days the river reminds you who's in charge. Either way, there's a stool waiting at Neptune's with your name on it.
📷📷 #MontanaFlyFishing #ToughDayBetterNight #Neptunes #Livingston

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Three Wyomings, three fly boxes.
The Snake River — big bugs, braided channels, fine-spotted cutthroat that eat like they've never seen a fly before. The North Platte's Miracle Mile — up to 7,000 trout per mile and wind that isn't a weather condition, it's a character in the story. And the backroad creeks nobody puts in an article, where getting lost isn't a failure, it's the plan.
Article 6 of Montana's Classic Stonefly Bench just went up — full stonefly hatch calendar, wind survival tips, and step-by-step tying instructions for the Yellow Humpy, the Double Bead Peacock Stone Nymph, and the Snake River Salmonfly Special.
Read it here 👉 https://t.co/MpghnfYuhF
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#flyfishing #wyoming #stoneflies #cutthroat #flytying

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

Most anglers drive right past some of the best freshwater fly fishing in the West on their way to Yosemite. Mention Central California and people think surf beaches or the Delta — they're not thinking about the reservoirs tucked into the Sierra foothills between Fresno, Sonora, and the San Joaquin Valley. This video breaks down five lakes worth the drive: Lake Don Pedro — big largemouth pushing shad into the banks, streamer water Bass Lake — rainbows and kokanee running 15-16", mountain scenery included Millerton Lake — striped bass tied to the old river channel, hit like freight trains Lake McClure — tournament-caliber bass, chaotic topwater before 8am New Melones Gear breakdown: – 8-weight for bass and stripers – 6-weight for trout and kokanee – Full sinking or sink-tip line for structure work – Deceivers and big Clousers for stripers, poppers and Clousers for bass, Woolly Buggers and nymphs for trout Full write-up, fly patterns, and access notes: https://t.co/VlOBlMNf3X Gear up before the trip — Ewing Hackle, performance outdoor apparel, flies, and dubbing at https://t.co/WlA00aQqAQ #FlyFishing #CentralCalifornia #StripedBass #SierraFoothills #EwingHackle #saltwateronthefly

[The Thankful Outdoorsman @bushcamp2]

Something got the attention of this cow & calf moose

[SuzieQuackers2.0 @SuzieQuackers2]

Booyah!!! #OklahomaTheBeautiful

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

You're driving past some of the best freshwater fly fishing in California on your way to Yosemite, and you don't even know it.
Lake Don Pedro. Bass Lake. New Melones. Millerton. Lake McClure. Big largemouth, landlocked stripers that hit like freight trains, kokanee, and trout — all on a fly rod, all in the Sierra foothills.
I put together the full guide: which lake to fish for which species, what gear to bring, and the exact fly patterns that work. Mid-week, most of this water is empty.
Full guide here: https://t.co/VlOBlMNf3X
#FlyFishing #CaliforniaFishing #FreshwaterFishing #BassFishing #StripedBass #SierraNevada #SaltwaterOnTheFly

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

I found the Great Dismal Swamp while looking for something else entirely. That's how the best trips usually start.

Here's what nobody tells you: it's not dismal at all. William Byrd II named it that in 1728 after surveying it from dry ground while sending other people into the actual swamp. Solid strategy. Terrible branding.

What it actually is: four miles of paddling down the Feeder Ditch through tannin-black water so dark it looks like strong tea, past great blue herons standing absolutely still in the shallows, until Lake Drummond opens up in front of you — 3,100 acres, cypress trees rising straight from the shallow floor, water so still on calm mornings that the sky and the trees trade places.

The lake sits 18 feet above sea level. Nobody's entirely sure why. The ghost of a young woman in a white canoe is said to paddle it at night by firefly-lamp. That part is almost certainly phosphorescent fungi. Almost.

The history here is heavy and real. Thousands of enslaved people built free communities in this swamp's interior for generations. The canal you paddle in on is the oldest operating man-made canal in the country — dug by hand, by enslaved labor, between 1793 and 1805. The first cargo through it was bacon and brandy. History is complicated.

I put together a complete guide to canoeing and kayaking the Great Dismal Swamp — routes, distances, camping, wildlife, gear list, the whole thing. It's on the site now.

Go paddle it before someone tries to drain it again.

https://t.co/tU1AyeJ4ge

#GreatDismalSwamp #CanoeLife #PaddleVirginia #LakeDrummond #OutdoorAdventure #VirginiaWilderness

[Saltwater on the Fly @Saltwateronfly]

The Trinity River in Northern California is one of the most underrated fly fishing destinations in the American West. Wild and Scenic since 1981, this river delivers resident rainbows on dry flies all summer, explosive golden stonefly hatches in June and July, and some of the most aggressive fall steelhead runs you'll find anywhere on the West Coast.
In this video we break down the best sections — the Lewiston tailwater, Junction City, and Douglas City — plus the gear, flies, and techniques that get fish in the net. Whether you're swinging intruders for steelhead or sight fishing rainbows on a 6-weight, the Trinity has something to test every angler.
🎣 Best Flies: Intruders, egg patterns, stimulators, golden stonefly dries
🏕️ Peak Season: October for steelhead | June–August for trout
📍 Key Sections: Lewiston Dam, Junction City, Douglas City

🔗 Shop Ewing hackle, hand-tied flies, and outdoor performance apparel:
👉 https://t.co/WlA00aQqAQ
Read the full Trinity River fly fishing guide:
👉 https://t.co/0kRMsVqos1

#FlyFishing #TrinityRiver #Steelhead #CaliforniaFlyFishing #WildAndScenic #GetLostInAmerica #SaltwaterOnTheFly

[The TRCP @TheTRCP]

Hunting season feels far off until a photo like this hits your feed. Who's already planning their next adventure?

[Raised in Alaska @akkingon]

I have acquired a new stealthy duck dog. She is trained to sneak up on ducks and then flush them at the last minute, creating some fantastic pass shooting. We are still working on retrieving. 🦆

[Sportsman's Life @Sportmans_Life]

Lots of great info...