Al Crise (or “ol’ Al” as he was known to many) has passed. Some FF&W readers may know Al from his casting classes at Federation of Fly Fishers’ meetings and so forth, or from his posts on a number of fly-fishing bulletin boards. Al was tireless in his teaching of fly casting, and had a [...]

Another long-time friend from my youth has passed (and unexpectedly). My father has a nice little remembrance on his blog. I know that some FF&W readers likely either knew Dick (and his perfectly pressed khakis, top to bottom) or have seen him in my slideshows, most likely this photo: This day was a beautiful day [...]

I often read passages and sections from Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. What so often jumps out at me about great narrative writing is how even the sparsest language can convey sweeping ideas and emotions. Many who have read (or seen) River Runs are familiar with the opening and closing lines. The close is [...]

Yet another fly-fishing friend has died—Jim Greenlee. It’s likely that not many readers will recognize Jim’s name, but I know that some of you still wade in the boots that he shepherded into being—along with my father—many years ago. Jim was in charge of Weinbrenner when he and my father got together and made the [...]

Another sad week for the fly-fishing community with the passing of Charlie Meyers (so close to the passing of Rusty Gates). Much more about Charlie from his close friends and colleagues here and here than I can write on FF&W. My mother has a funny remembrance about Charlie, though, involving a particularly rough plane ride across [...]

We started 2010 with fly drawings, so why not tie one on? Kel leaned over my shoulder and took this shot one day as we were fishing an old spring creek haunt. No real set-up, no real intent, just literally a quick snap-shot using dead-stock camera settings. Art? No. But it still means a lot [...]

Feelin’ lazy reflective today. Gonna go cast my MPR, work on the book series, and perhaps watch a few minutes of “Once in Blue Moon” (while simultaneously lamenting the fact that I do not currently have two tickets to the South Island sitting on my kitchen table). And while I do all of that, here [...]

A quick sketch of a Loop-Wing Sulphur, with thoughts of Rusty Gates and the spring hatches on the Au Sable.

I just heard that long-time family friend, Rusty Gates—of the famed Gates Au Sable Lodge and fly shop in Michigan—has died. Our family has had a connection to Rusty, his family, and the lodge for decades, and I grew up fishing the river almost every spring for about as long as I can remember. I [...]

As some FF&W readers likely already know, Jack Gartside died last night. Jack was a long-time friend of our family, and was someone who I always looked forward to seeing at shows and so forth. If you aren’t familiar with Jack, just check out his Web site for a taste of his legendarily entertaining and [...]

Montana’s Gallatin River holds so much history for me that I sometimes feel like I’m wading into a fly-fishing time-warp as I rig up on its banks. From my first trout to my first shadow cast, the Gallatin has been a part of my angling life literally longer than I can remember. It is such [...]

Just a little nostalgia from the way-back days of my youth (well, when I was 21)… As a few FF&W readers may know, I did a small portion of the fly-fishing-specific storyboard work on A River Runs Through It (especially some of the pick-up shots that needed to be acquired after principle photography was finished). [...]