In this week’s “How to Tie” feature, Charlie Craven with Charlie’s Fly Box ties a great pattern for late fall rising trout, the Timmy.
Learn How to Tie This Fly:
Difficulty: Easy
Fall fishing is in full swing, and what better way to enjoy the late warm weather than to target trout still looking up. This pattern is a twist on the Mole fly and is designed to imitate emerging mayflies with a super buggy profile that can be fished on top of subsurface. Keeping a healthy stockade of emerger patterns in the fall is the best way to take advantage of overcast days where blue winged olives and other mayflies will begin popping off the surface of the water. The Timmy is one of many Charlie Craven’s patterns that you simply cannot go to the water in fall without.
Charlie does a fantastic job of walking you through each step with precision, emphasizing the importance of variation to properly match the hatch. Keep your thread wraps tight and minimal to maintain the fly’s slender silhouette on a small hook. When tying in the wing, less is more and just a small pinch will do the trick to mimic the delicate shimmer of emerging wings. Tied in sizes 14 to 22, the Timmy’s thin body, sparse wing, and buggy profile creates a deadly emerger that excels in tailwaters and picky trout scenarios.
Whether you’re fishing it solo on a light tippet or trailing it behind a heavier nymph, the Timmy is a versatile pattern that deserves a spot in your fall fly box. Tie a dozen in various sizes and colors, and you’ll be ready for those late season risers when the hatch is on. Fish all the streamers and nymphs you want, but never turn down the opportunity to get one last fish on top for the year. Confidence is the word that should be most closely associated with the Timmy, especially when you can easily add variations to best imitate mayflies in your water.
Stepping into a pre-dawn run, you unhook your fly, make your first short cast, and the anticipation begins as you watch your line swing across the current to the soft inside edge. Nothing. Strip another length of line off your reel. Cast. Swing. Anticipate. As you work your way down the run, you try to only take three steps in between casts, but actually take four. Cast. Swing. Anticipate. The next cast will be in the juiciest water. Every cast and swing comes with chills, and you wait for a steelhead to respond to your best fly offering. Cast. Swing. Anticipate. Searching for unicorns…..
A steelhead is essentially an anadromous rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), or a trout that has migrated to the ocean. Then, as an adult, they return to spawn in the same freshwater system where they were born. The life cycle of steelhead is one of the things that makes them so amazing. They spend most of their life in the ocean, gorging on food, and can grow to astounding sizes. Unlike their cousins, Pacific salmon, steelhead don’t expire after spawning. They can return to the ocean and spawn multiple times. It is when these adult fish return to spawn in their home rivers that they are targeted by anglers.
Hatchery Steelhead vs. Wild Steelhead
In steelhead rivers across the country, there are Wild/Native and Hatchery Steelhead, so what exactly is the difference? “Hatchery” steelhead are hatchery-raised fish that are released into the river systems. These hatchery fish have their adipose fin clipped so that they are easily identified by anglers who intend to harvest these fish.
In my experience, most hatchery fish have some other funky fin, usually a dorsal that is bent or deformed in some way. According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, hatchery steelhead are genetically different than their wild cousins within one generation. Hatchery steelhead have less success reproducing when released into rivers.
A “Wild” steelhead refers to any steelhead that was hatched in the river system and usually has wild parents. While wild and hatchery fish may look almost identical (minus an adipose), they are genetically different and will have very different levels of success creating the next generation of these amazing anadromous fish. It is no surprise that more recent studies have shown that hatchery fish can have a detrimental effect on wild steelhead.
Summer Steelhead vs Winter Steelhead
Steelhead also differ within the species itself. This stems from different life histories, and they are known as either summer run or winter run steelhead. The difference between the two is that the summer steelhead enters the freshwater sexually immature. While winter run fish enter the river sexually mature.
Summer fish typically arrive from May to November. They develop and mature for months and months in the river system and normally will travel farther to spawn than winter run fish. Summer steelhead are also known to be more aggressive and will even eagerly take a dry fly. Summer run fish are also typically smaller than the winter steelhead.
Summer run female fish enter the freshwater system with small, undeveloped eggs. On the other hand, winter steelhead enter river systems already sexually mature and ready to spawn. These differences and the length of their journeys explain why summer run fish spend much more time in freshwater. Winter fish may be in the river system for only a matter of days, and summer fish may be in the freshwater system for over a year.
Tactics for Summer Steelheading
Here in Oregon, summer-run steelhead start showing up in late spring. You can go out and start swinging for the first few fish in the Willamette Valley as early as May. While fishing for summer run steelhead, waders are optional, especially through the summer months. Typically, low and clear water leads the angler to swing smaller, more traditional patterns. With the smaller flies comes longer rods (12-14 feet), and longer Scandi lines for more delicate presentations and longer leaders, which makes casting very visually rewarding.
Summer fish are more aggressive and will move farther to take a swung fly, so you can move quickly through a run, moving 8-10 feet between casts, searching for these hot fish. A grab from a summer run is one of the most exhilarating experiences with a fly line. When hooked, the fish will often somersault 100 feet downriver, ripping line as you pray to land this amazing fish.
Tactics for Winter Steelheading
Winter steelhead fishing is a very different game. Instead of long runs in large rivers, many winter fish migrate up small coastal streams to spawn. Rain, snow, icy roads, and high river flows keep many anglers at home, leaving rivers secluded. During the winter, skagit lines with sink tips are essential to present larger profile flies (like an intruder) to deeper fish. You’ll want to take your time fishing runs in the winter as these fish are lethargic and won’t move very far for your fly.
Winter swing fishing requires shorter rods (10-11½’), shorter Skagit heads, and shorter leaders, to swing a fly down and across that tailout to the waiting winter fish. And if you’re lucky, your fly reel is going to be screaming for the next 10 minutes while you have an encounter with a unicorn.
Why Swing?
Swinging flies for steelhead quickly becomes an all-encompassing passion. The progression goes something like this: you become intrigued about the longer rods and 2-hand casting, then you start experimenting with Scandi and Skagit lines until you become a Spey fanatic. Spey casting is easy enough to find success and start fishing, but challenging enough that even an expert finds something to learn each year. Every fishing trip presents an opportunity to improve and learn Spey casting. But the true reason that swinging flies becomes such a passion is the grab of a fish at the end of a tight-line presentation.
For more steelhead-specific conservation information, check out:
Welcome to Fish Houses, where we explore fish houses, shacks, and the stories that come with them. Join us as we visit Paul Dixon, a legendary striper guide, angler, and historian of all things saltwater fly fishing. Paul’s house is like walking through a time capsule, filled with countless memories, innovative gear, flies, and fly fishing momentos. This house tells a lifetime of stories on the water and is one you don’t want to miss.
The YETI team has a knack for finding truly unique and inspiring stories. In its latest YETI Presents film, we get a glimpse into the world of reggae music and tarpon fishing. The film titled Japan to Jamaica: One Man’s Pursuit of Rare Records and Mighty Tarpon follows the story of Naoki Ienega, a Japanese native who fell in love with reggae. Ienega is responsible for finding, documenting, and making Jamaican reggae music available to the masses. Along his journey, he discovered fly fishing, further deepening his roots in Jamaica. Through tarpon fishing, Ienega gained a deeper understanding of Jamaican culture and the reggae music that emerged from this island.
Along with this film launch, YETI and Howler Bros have teamed up to create a limited edition collab inspired by Naoki’s work, tarpon fishing, and reggae music. The Dub Collection features 11 limited edition products, including water bottles, tote bags, hats, and shirts. Each features unique artwork blending Naoki’s work seamlessly with the silver king. Don’t miss your chance to grab a part of this extremely limited collection.
There are few people who know striped bass as well as Captain Paul Dixon. Widely considered a pioneer of striped bass fly fishing and flats fishing for stripers, Dixon has a wealth of knowledge. In his home waters of Montauk, it’s as if Dixon speaks striped bass. This summer, we had the chance to fish with Paul and learn how he targets and catches stripers. These are Paul Dixon’s striped bass tips.
Tips to Catch More Striped Bass on Teasers
Captain Paul Dixon is a pioneer of modern striped bass fly fishing.
One of Dixon’s favorite ways to catch striped bass is with a teaser. This involves casting a hard surface plug, like a spook, without hooks to get a striper’s attention. Once the fish is interested, you bait and switch the plug with a fly for an explosive take. Below are Paul’s tips for fishing teasers effectively.
1. Use a Floating Fly Line
The most important part of fishing a teaser is keeping your fly in the strike zone. To do so, the angler should focus on keeping the fly in line or just behind the teaser. Dixon recommends using a floating line so you know exactly where your fly is in relation to the teaser. Bass chasing a teaser aren’t very line-shy, so clear tip fly lines are not super important for this fishing.
2. Water Haul Your Line
When working the teaser, Paul’s best casting tip for the fly angler is to water haul your fly constantly. The water haul keeps your line close to the boat and off the water. When a fish appears, you can quickly pick up the fly and cast it at the teaser. To water haul, Dixon recommends having about 9 feet of fly line out of the rod tip.
3. Fish a Two-Handed Retrieve
The purpose of a teaser is to draw a reaction strike from stripers. To achieve this, the teaser must be worked quickly and erratically across the surface. When it’s time to cast, Paul is a firm believer in retrieving the fly with a two-handed strip. This ensures you can retrieve the fly fast enough to keep it close to the teaser.
4. Never Pull Your Fly Out of the Water
You can’t catch a fish with your fly out of the water—this is especially true when fishing with a teaser. If bass are blowing up on the teaser and chasing it down, keep your fly in the water as long as possible. It may appear that the fish have lost interest in the teaser, but are actually still following behind it. If you leave the fly in the water, there’s a good chance a bass may surprise you and grab your fly.
5. Pause Your Teaser in Deep Water
Working the teaser properly is just as important as fishing your fly. Paul Dixon recommends casting the teaser to areas that may hold bass, like points, troughs, and breaks. Once the lure lands, wait before retrieving it. Then retrieve and twitch it so the lure walks the dog erratically. Every so often, Dixon likes to pause the teaser before resuming the retrieve. This tactic is especially productive in deeper water to get the attention of big bass.
6. Add a Leader Loop to Your Teaser
Paul’s last tip is to add a piece of leader line (30-40lb), tied in a loop to the back end of your teaser lure. The loop can be placed over the reel handle, since there are no hooks to put in the hook keeper. Paul keeps this loop fairly long and does not trim the tag ends down. His belief is that the extra line looks like a tail and can help draw the attention of striped bass.
In a Monday afternoon press conference from the Oval Office, President Donald Trump announced an executive order that approved construction of the 211-mile Ambler Road in Alaska. The Ambler Road would be a private construction for mining vehicles only, to access remote mineral deposits along the Brooks Range, one of the most remote, pristine wilderness areas in the entire world. All mining companies with claims to minerals in that area are not American, and plan to ship their minerals to a smelter in the Asia Pacific region.
The road will cost around $1.4 billion, and proponents claim that will be paid for by tolls on mining companies. However, it’s unclear if the potential mineral yield in the Ambler Mining Area would even be enough to cover the cost of road construction.
The road would cross currently pristine habitat, connecting the existing Dalton Highway (which runs from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean) with the Ambler Mining Area. This mining area lies in the headwaters of the Kobuk River, which provides subsistence fishing for sheefish and other species to native tribes throughout the region. The Kobuk River is also famous for its trophy sheefish, which draws thousands of anglers every year.
The Ambler Road would cross both the Kobuk and Koyukuk Rivers, as well as countless other tributaries that are critical to this untrammeled Arctic landscape. The Brooks Range lies entirely above the Arctic Circle, making it one of the most unique places in the world.
Caribou herds would also be severely impacted, as the road would cross through their current migration routes.
“What scares me is they’re going to build a road that could start a period of industrial expansion in a portion of the Western Arctic Herd’s migratory and winter range,” Jim Dau, the WAH caribou biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game from 1988 to 2016, told Yahoo! News. “It’s not just the road. So far, the state has limited the discussion to only the road. They won’t talk about what happens after the road. They won’t talk about an industrial mining complex and what that’s going to look like. They won’t talk about all the little smaller access roads between mines that are going to crop up. They’re not saying what its footprint is going to be, or the types of mining. What concerns me about this Ambler Road is what we don’t know.”
It’s unclear if the United States would benefit from any of the mining interests in the Ambler Mining Area, as current claim holder Trilogy Metals stated in a 2023 feasibility study that its focus would be on smelted metals sold to the Chinese market. Trilogy Metals is owned by Canadian and Australian backers.
Trump’s executive order does give the United States a 10% stake in the company, with the opportunity to purchase an additional 7.5%, but it’s unclear whether that gives the country first rights on purchasing smelted minerals.
You can learn more about the value of the Brooks Range, and voice your opposition to the Ambler Road, here.
Utah Senator Mike Lee has resumed his attack on federal lands, this time sponsoring another deceptively-titled bill called the “Border Lands Conservation Act (BLCA).”
The BLCA would allow the federal government unfettered access to create new roads, install technology, use motor vehicles and motorized equipment, and conduct foot patrols on all federal lands, to “gain operational control of the southern border and northern border,” per the bill’s text. All federal land within 100 miles of each border would be open for use by Homeland Security and other border agents, even currently designated Wilderness Areas.
Section 4 of the bill is titled “Access to Wilderness Areas” and explicitly carves out an exception for using motorized equipment and vehicles on land where that hasn’t been allowed since 1964.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, under this bill, would have the authority to use motor vehicles, motorboats, and motorized equipment; conduct patrols on foot and horseback; use aircraft, including approach, landing and takeoff; deploy tactical infrastructure; and construct and maintain roads and physical barriers, all on land that falls inside current Wilderness Area designations.
In a press release about the bill, Lee said, “Families who want to enjoy a safe hike or campout are instead finding trash piles, burned landscapes, and trails closed because rangers are stuck cleaning up the fallout. Cartels are exploiting the disorder, using these lands as cover for their operations. This bill gives land managers and border agents the tools to restore order and protect these places for the people they were meant to serve.”
In an article for Outdoor Life, Land Tawney, co-chair of American Hunters and Anglers, responded to Lee, saying “Giving them complete authority within 100 miles of our border makes no sense. That’s a third of Montana. Do we want Big Brother setting up surveillance where we’re sitting around a campsite? Hell no.”
Tawney continued, telling reporter Christine Peterson that if the bill is approved, amending the Wilderness Act to allow for motorized access for the Department of Homeland Security would lead to an inevitable weakening of the Wilderness Act everywhere.
The bill does explicitly state, however, that nothing in its text authorizes or provides “authority to restrict legal uses, such as grazing, timber harvesting, oil and gas development, mining, or recreation, on covered Federal land, or any additional authority to restrict legal access to covered Federal land.”
“On a cross-country road trip while working with @pacbakco, our route took us straight through Colorado. For Brian (@mr.9livesak), the founder of the company, and me, exploring the outdoors was never far from our minds. With Brian rooted in Alaska and me a Maine guide, adventure is second nature.
Somewhere along the drive, we pulled up Google Earth and started scanning the map for nearby rivers. That’s when the legendary Frying Pan came into view. Neither of us was a stranger to fly fishing, but we’d never cast a line on this river before. Naturally, we couldn’t pass it up.
It didn’t take long before we were into fish. On slow drifts near a few pools, we caught six or seven fish, and we were feeling pretty good about it. Then, something caught my eye, right at my feet, no more than a rod length away, were around 20 fish stacked up in the current.
Coming from Maine, where fish don’t exactly pile up like that, the sight was hilarious. Sure, I’d heard of the “San Juan Shuffle” and knew the stories, but seeing it play out in real life was a whole different experience!”
Reel of the Week from Corey, be sure to check out his Instagram HERE!
Fall fishing signals a drop in water temperatures, a change in scenery, and hungry trout. As trout look to pack on weight for the winter ahead, anything is on the menu. This means bait fish, other trout, and just about anything they can get their mouth around. In anticipation of this, anglers turn from their usual nymphs, midges, and dries for more substantial offerings: enter the streamer. But how do you decide the best trout streamers to throw to move fish?
Having the right streamers in your box is critical for success.
Streamer patterns are larger fly patterns made to represent bait fish, crayfish, and anything in between. They are typically tied with a mix of synthetic and natural materials, offering anglers a combination of profile, movement, and a little flash. When fished in the fall, these beefy flies can trigger the predatory instinct of trophy-sized trout (check out our guide to streamer fishing HERE to catch your own trophy). Just like any other flies, not all streamers are created equally. After years of guiding and sifting through the seemingly endless streamer patterns out there, here are the best trout streamers for fall fishing.
How We Made Our Picks
As a retired guide and former nymphing enthusiast, streamers often took the back seat. When you’re fishing with clients, catching fish is the name of the game, regardless of size. Yet several years ago, I decided to take the plunge and become a certified streamer junkie. I went all in, fully embracing the dark side, and fished nothing but streamers: different flies, different techniques, and different conditions. I fish streamers whenever given the opportunity. This journey is, in part, a quest to catch the fish of a lifetime and learn more about a technique I had long neglected.
On most days, streamer fishing requires a lot of work and commitment, but watching a 22-plus-inch trout move off the bank and chase a streamer gets the blood pumping. I would argue that moments like these are at the pinnacle of the sport of fly fishing. Right up there with dry flies on the Henry’s Fork or chasing roosters on a beach in Baja. Over the last several years, I’ve refined my streamer fishing techniques and patterns to consistently move big fish.
If you’re not into streamer fishing, you should be, or at least give it a solid chance. Below are my five best streamers every angler should have in their box. Plus, a few things I’ve learned since joining the Dark Side.
The Trout Slider combines the flash of a Sparkle Minnow, the water-pushing deer hair head, and the movement of a Sex Dungeon. It is a medium-weighted fly, so pair it with a sink-tip fly line. It reaches deeper into the water column than some of the other flies on this list. Like the Sex Dungeon, it is articulated. The flash and sliding side-to-side movement of the articulated body doesn’t leave much room for improvement. It is a phenomenal fly pattern.
What makes the trout slider impressive is that when given hard jerky strips with pauses in between, the slider makes all sorts of erratic motions through the water. Many times, it will slide to the side and completely reverse direction when it comes to a stop, leaving the fly facing anything that is chasing it. This reverse slide will trigger reactionary strikes. It is an excellent streamer to try when you are moving trout but cannot get them to commit to the fly.
The Sex Dungeon is an articulated streamer capable of doing it all. It might be one of the most popular streamers in the American West. When it comes to catching big fish, it’s versatile and effective. I remember being introduced to the Sex Dungeon in 2010 when I floated through a section of the Lower Blue River just outside of Silverthorne, Colorado. Fishing it on a floating line just after run off, the dungeon would quickly get to depth, move erratically, and entice strikes from large rainbows. I fished a natural-colored sex dungeon for the majority of the day, and the results were spectacular.
Kell Galloup’s Sex Dungeon streamer pattern. Photo courtesy of Galloup’s Slide Inn.
From that trip onward, on both guided trips and personal fly fishing outings, I always made sure to carry five Sex Dungeons in my streamer box: natural, black, olive, white, and yellow. No matter the conditions or forage items you encounter, if you have Sex Dungeons in these colors, you will have an excellent shot at moving and catching some nice fish.
If I had to choose one fall color for The Sex Dungeon, it would be black. Fishing at night or at dusk in low light conditions is a reliable tactic if you want to target the largest and most nocturnal brown trout in the river system. The Sex Dungeon’s deer hair head, sili legs, marabou, and schlappen hackle all do a fantastic job of displacing large amounts of water. This pattern does an excellent job imitating various forage items: sculpin, crayfish, and the profile of a small trout.
The Sparkle Minnow is a gaudy single hook fly tied with a marabou tail and an excessive amount of gold or copper crystal flash. While many of the flies on this list move side to side or stay high in the water column and flutter, fishing a large sparkle minnow with a heavy tungsten cone head allows you to present a streamer into deeper layers of the water column. It’s a simple fly, but it is effective. While it comes in many colors, the best combination I’ve found success with is gold and pearl or copper and pearl.
I prefer to fish the Sparkle Minnow in tailwaters when water is released from dam gates. Getting flies to depth and into the strike zone can be difficult when river flows are up. The heavy tungsten cone head of the Sparkle Minnow punches through the top layer of the fastest water and gets to depth quickly. The bushy krystal flash body and marabou tail push water and add life-like movement to the fly.
Retrieved with fast or medium strips and a brief pause, the Sparkle Minnow will jig its way back to you in a climbing and falling motion. A jig retrieve will pull fish off the bottom of the river that other flies will miss. As the fly begins to swing downstream, lift the rod tip high into the air and bring the fly into a swimming motion. This swings the fly up through the water column and to just below the river’s surface. Swim the fly near boulders, brush piles, and any other structure for a reaction strike.
The Flatliner is a large streamer pattern that imitates an injured or dying fish and is one of my favorite patterns to fish. Tied weightless and with a side profile, it performs similarly to a conventional glide bait. It can be fished with a sinking or floating fly line, but I prefer to fish it with a medium-weight sink-tip line. The added weight in the fly line helps the fly settle and gain depth in the water column. Regardless of what fly line you fish, the Flat Liner typically rides high near the river’s surface.
Flatliner on the vise. Photo courtesy of Galloup’s Slide Inn.
This side profile of the pattern allows it to glide side-to-side and hang in the water. A limp, neutrally buoyant bait, momentarily hanging still, imitates an injured or dying fish. Large trout are opportunistic apex predators. Nothing attracts strikes like the vulnerability of a large easy-to-catch, dying fish.
To fish the pattern effectively, cast the streamer to banks or cover. As the fly settles below the surface, initiate long, fast, and aggressive pulls on the fly line. The fly will swim erratically and eventually glide into a sideways position. The marabou wings and long deceiver tail add an insane amount of natural movement. The violent stripping action, combined with the fast to slow movement of the fly and its inevitable hang high in the water column, invites explosive strikes similar to how largemouth bass hit a glide bait.
True innovation is rare, moments in our sport when a new idea challenges the status quo. Blane Chocklett changed the streamer game when he invented the Game Changer. Tied with a multi-segmented wire body, known as articulated fish spine, and wrapped with Blane’s signature chenille body, the Game Changer swims in a realistic side-to-side motion. The Game Changer can be found in all shapes and sizes, from micro changers to gargantuan feather changers.
Blane Chocklett and his Game Changer. Photo courtesy of TFO.
The profile of the Game Changer and its thick chenille body push a huge amount of water, matching the signature of a small sculpin or trout. This is critical for targeting large predatory brown trout, which utilize their lateral lines to find prey. The swimming movement of the Game Changer is so realistic that it’s sometimes hard to distinguish the fly from a real fish. This fly is the fly fishing version of a swim bait and should be fished in a similar manner.
The Game Changer can be presented to banks, structures, and drop-off ambush points. It has always performed best for me around downed timber. It doesn’t sink very quickly, so casting it to log jams and swimming it over structure will pull fish from cover. Small, fast strips with sideways rod tip manipulation get the fly swimming like a conventional swim bait. Fast strips with a pause bring similar results to the Flat Liner. The erratic swimming motion of the Game Changer, followed by a momentary hang, will trigger aggressive strikes.
Why Fish Streamers in The Fall?
A nice brown trout fell victim to a streamer.
While year-round streamer fishing is a productive technique, fall offers some of the best streamer fishing in all four seasons. During September, October, and November, dynamic changes occur in both the river and trout. Most hatches are over, brown trout are preparing for the spawn, and it’s a sprint to find those last large-calorie meals before winter arrives. All of these factors converge to create ideal conditions for targeting large predatory trout with streamer flies.
Big Fish Eat Big Flies
Most trout eat insects for the majority of their lives. For fish lucky enough to reach larger sizes (twenty-plus inches), a change in diet occurs. Trout of this size are statistical outliers; they stop eating insects and become fish-eating predators. Aquatic insects can no longer meet their metabolic and dietary needs.
Trout that eat other fish are called piscivores. It is more efficient for them to consume a single high-calorie parr trout than to wait for hatches and search for aquatic insects. Giant trout are opportunistic feeders, so presenting a large streamer pattern is the most effective way to imitate this change in diet. Injured, dead, or dying fish make easy targets. Large streamer patterns imitating the aforementioned behaviors of baitfish and small trout are effective at fooling large trout.
Final Thoughts
No matter what fly fishing technique you are using, you have to have confidence in your fly pattern. This is especially true when fishing large streamers. On many days, stripping big flies can be monotonous, and results can be few and far between. Fishing large streamers takes commitment and a different mentality. I have to be fully committed to the grind. I start the day knowing that I might only catch one fish and, on many days, none at all. When using large streamers in the fall, I am specifically targeting one special fish, a statistical outlier that only eats other fish.
If you’re looking for a true fish of a lifetime, give my picks for the best trout streamers on this list a try and fish them with confidence. Sometimes, flies are so big it is hard to believe that a trout would eat such a fly. They will eat it, and having confidence and the right mentality is critical to keeping your head in the game and fishing with purpose.
One of the common themes in fly fishing throughout the country is community. Together, anglers come together to support one another, their fisheries, and crucial conservation issues. But what happens if you’ve never fly fished before and don’t know where to start? That is exactly the question Austin Campbell asked. His answer—Community Fly Fishing. He formed this organization with the goal of introducing new people to fly fishing, giving them the tools to succeed, and building a community all at the same time. Recently, we had the chance to sit down with Austin and learn more about Community Fly Fishing, his journey into the pursuit, and how he uses innovative tools, like onWater Fish, to create the best experience.
Flylords: How did you get started fly fishing?
Austin Campbell, founder of Community Fly Fishing.
Austin Campbell: I was born in Kansas and moved to Colorado in kindergarten. Living in Denver, Colorado, I started fly fishing when I was a little kid. I used to fish and explore around the Front Range, before heading east to go to school at Penn State. In the summers, when I came home from college, I started guiding with Wanderland Outdoors and Front Range Anglers. Soon after, I started up Community Fly Fishing as a nonprofit. My goal was to introduce people to fly fishing for free with zero barriers to entry.
Flylords: What is Community Fly Fishing, and how did you get started?
Austin Campbell: I started Community Fly Fishing in Denver about five years ago. Our biggest push is to get people into the outdoors and give people an opportunity to experience something new. We work with a lot of demographics that don’t have equal access to the outdoors. With that being said, our primary goal is to teach folks, provide them with the opportunity, and properly equip them to continue the sport if they so choose.
Since we started, we’ve grown nationwide and even have a few events coming up in Atlanta soon. We’ve even built relationships with the Bahamas Fly Fishing Industry Association and host a few camps throughout the Bahamas each year.
Flylords: Is there a specific demographic that Community Fly Fishing focuses on?
Austin Campbell: Like I mentioned earlier, Community Fly Fishing is designed to get folks who would otherwise not have the means to fly fish on the water. We strategically tailor our program to young adults. The reasoning behind this is to create a trickle-down effect. Essentially, by building community and teaching young adults how to fly fish, they can take this newfound passion and pass it down to younger generations. In doing so, we can open up the sport of fly fishing to a whole new group of people that otherwise may have never had the opportunity to try it.
We will also hold events in family settings closer to the Denver area so that kids and parents are able to have an opportunity to fish. These programs are typically hosted at Lake Lehow, in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Flylords: You mentioned attending Penn State. Did you take the fly fishing course, and did it inspire you to start Community Fly Fishing?
Austin Campbell: I actually did take the fly fishing course for two years. It was a ton of fun learning from George Daniels. But to be honest, the course didn’t really inspire me to start Community Fly Fishing.
A lot of the people in the fly fishing class had knowledge about the pursuit already. What I wanted to start was a program that would reach the demographic that had never fly fished before. My goal with Community Fly Fishing is to introduce complete beginners to the sport. A lot of our students have fished, hiked, or spent time in the outdoors, but have never fly fished due to the barrier to entry. That’s where we come in—to give a whole new demographic the opportunity to experience fly fishing without having to spend $1,000 a day on a guide or buy fancy gear.
How Austin Campbell is Using onWater Fish to Create Access for All
Flylords: How does onWater open new doors for members of Community Fly Fishing?
Austin Campbell: Two years ago, onWater Fish joined as a sponsor of Community Fly Fishing, providing a kind donation of one-year subscriptions to all CFF instructors, guides, and participants. This gives the individuals in our program access to all onWater+ premium features.
I call onWater our dictionary for introducing new people to fly fishing. It gives individuals the tools they need to go out and explore a new area, whether it be downtown Denver or some remote mountain stream. Features like the species layers allow new anglers to branch out on their own in search of the fish they want to catch. Then there is the interactive aspect of onWater, like dropping pins and exploring different map layers, which creates a fun interactive way for our community to get excited about fly fishing. At Community Fly Fishing, we teach our students how to fly fish, and onWater is the tool to inspire them to keep exploring and fishing.
Flylords: How did your recent event in Phantom Canyon open private waters to people who don’t typically have access to this area?
Austin Campbell: We actually partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Colorado to put on the event in Phantom Canyon. The water is privately owned, but the Nature Conservancy allowed Community Fly Fishing to come in and fish. For the anglers in our program who don’t typically have access to a stretch of water like this, it was awesome to see.
Community Fly Fishing uses onWater as a tool to introduce new anglers to fly fishing.
Once we started fishing, the onWater app served as our tool to show students the geological formations, their distance hiked, elevation changes, and spots to fish. We were able to pinpoint specific holes for instructors to take students to where they could enjoy a day of fly fishing. To cap it all off, showing students an interactive tool like onWater while fishing equips them with the tools needed to use it on their own down the road.
Flylords: How has the journaling feature on onWater, with people who attend these outings, helped them improve their fishing efforts in the future?
Students can use the onWater journaling feature to look back at spots, conditions, and gear next time they fish.
Austin Campbell: In addition to all the other tools onWater provides attendees with, the journaling feature enables them to replicate success on their own. We can drop a pin to a spot, and then the instructor can use the journaling feature to record catches, conditions, and setups. Then the attendees can get out on their own and look back to see what they used, what the conditions were like, and replicate success. Even though they only get so many days on the water with a guide, at least they have the information down the road to continue fishing with confidence.
A Community for All
Community Fly Fishing is just as its name implies, a community for new anglers to grow and learn how to fly fish. Since its inception, Austin has grown the program into a nationwide organization that allows people to get out on the water with no barrier to entry. His partnership with onWater has taken this one step further, enabling new anglers to learn how to fish with in-person instruction, while giving them the tools through the app to continue fishing on their own. For anyone interested in Community Fly Fishing and their programs, check them out, HERE.
