The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 03.20.2026
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
I’m knocking on wood as I write this, but it appears that the first-of-the-year trout float has arrived. According to photographs, we’ll be 12 days later than last year, six days later than the year before, and ten days later than the year before that. What does that tell me? That it’s time to go.
Cheers,
Jesse
Banner photo: I picked his pocket right after I took this photo, but let’s not remind him.
River Song Show Down
By this point, readers know my primary interests, so when I find something that combines them all, I get excited to share it. This week is an amalgam of conservation, basketball, rivers, and music: Colorado Water Trust’s March Madness River Song Show Down! The bracket features 32 river songs ‘competing’ against each other via Instagram-poll-voting. Follow along on their Instagram or just enjoy the accompanying Spotify playlist. And, don’t forget to check out the cool and impactful work that the Trust does.
Lefty’s Tie Fest
This weekend, the American Saltwater Guides Association (ASGA) is hosting another round of Lefty Kreh’s Tie Fest. The festivities take place in Vero Beach, Florida and include educational presentations from industry veterans, fly tying demonstrations, and a dinner and auction event. A nice complement, or if you can’t attend, is the film Lefty: Greatest of All Time, the full-length version of which is now available online.
TOP SPORTSMAN
If your recent fly fishing media feels a bit serious, check out this new film TOP SPORTSMANfrom Oliver Sutro. I suspect it is nothing like you’ve seen before; the narration itself is worth the time. The 11-minute film is pretty-well summed up by these comments from viewers:
“Idk wtf I just stumbled upon…”
“Nailed it.”
Let’s Undo This
There’s an active online petition calling for an end to sea cages of Atlantic salmon in Icelandic waters, and the time is now to add voices. The petition is in response to a new Aquaculture Bill which would allow for expansion of sea cage farming. The website Let’s Undo This has lots of information—including related science and sea cage farming facts.
Casting Well
Casting well, especially when you're a relative beginner, requires that strange form of anxious boldness familiar from, say, diving off a five-metre platform the first time or slugging back your first neat whisky. Riding a motorbike. Driving for the basket from the top of the key. Breaking down a door. There should be a name for this class of ordinary actions where the worst thing you can be is tentative.
~ From Mark Kingwell’s Catch and Release
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