Enter to Win the Cast and Blast Giveaway!!

I feel like I should be owning every single piece of merch in RepYourWater's "Squatch & Release" collection. I could pretty much roll into the office wearing something different everyday, right? Santa, I've been very good (I swear) and really like trucker hats and lightweight hoodies...

Time to award(?) another ASTTDSC mention. Today, it goes to friend of Troutrageous! and a super fun and fishy guy, Justin Carfagnini. Or as most probably know him, CARF. CARF is one heck of a funny dude, I've been reading his blog CARF OUTDOORS forever and in more recent years, as is the trend, following his socials. His Instagram account…

In yesterday's post I alluded to some new-to-me flies I'm adding to my fly boxes. They're a bit in shambles following the summer, so a bit of rehab is necessary if I'm going to head north in a few weeks. These two beadhead soft hackle patterns were bought, not tied myself, but I'm excited to give them a go... Brent's Warbird…

It's a fairly famous meme, but it's also how I feel right about now... Typically, my trout fishing season shuts down in mid October as work starts to really consume most of the energy in my life and I begin to focus on just getting through the rest of the calendar year in one piece. Retail can be a particularly stressful occupation, especially in November & December.

Haven't done one of these in a while. Actually haven't watched many fly fishing videos either, so I've got more than a few videos to list today! In my ongoing homage to the The now discontinued Orvis News blog (R.I.P., the old URLs don't even work anymore) and it's Friday Fly-Fishing Film Festival posts, here's this week's sampling of fly fishing or otherwise fishy films.

I enjoyed this episode of The DrakeCast podcast very much. I think you will too. It's about the stocking of salmon in Alaska, the impact on the ecosystem, and other facts and miscellany. Rather than a typical "interview style" podcast (there is a tiny bit of that at the end), It's actually a print article read aloud by author George Rogers, a writer who splits his time guiding in Alaska and teaching in New York state. Give it a listen.

At times it makes me a little sad that blogging isn't much of a "thing" anymore. Sure, there are still really good blogs out there to read, (even good fishing blogs). For example check out the Good Reads links in my site navigation for some standouts. I am really happy that Jason Tucker decided to regularly chronicle his 2025 Hunting Journal…

The last two-ish weeks have been hectic. A whirlwind even. All is settled now, but things were a little dicey there for a hot minute. Legitimate turbulence in important things, such as gainful employment and the physical health of multiple family members all seemed to combine into one stress-inducing cocktail. Definitely shaken, not stirred. Needless to say fishing (& fishing blogging) had also taken a back seat.

Whether you know it yet or not, I'm guessing the landslide of "fly fishing press" will be coming in short order regarding Yvon Chouinard, Craig Mathews, and Mauro Mazzo's latest book, "Pheasant Tail Simplicity: Recipes and Techniques for Successful Fly Fishing." So folks at Patagonia, consider this some additional free advertising you didn't even ask for.

I don't hunt, but do listen to the MeatEater podcast pretty frequently. I picked up the habit all the way back during COVID, and just enjoy the banter between the "regulars" and their guests. Most of the topics tend to skew towards general outdoors rather than just hunting, and more than a few are also historical in nature. On most occasions it's an engaging and entertaining listen that helps long spells in the car or the evening walk around the neighborhood go by faster.

A new blog you say? In this day of short-form social media, you don't hear much about folks starting up new blogs anymore. Especially those that focus on writing. But my friend Bill Holleran is doing just that. Welcome Red Spots & Blue Halos! According to the site's subtitle, Bill's new blog is, "Where wild brook trout streams meet quiet reflection…

The Trade Thursday, August 28th. I was just about ready to leave the office for the day when one of my co-workers popped his head in the door. "Did you see it?" A lot of potential things rushed to mind, but I was drawing a definitive blank. Then he said, "Micah Parsons got traded to the Packers." F*ck.

The news broke last night that we had lost a true legend of fly fishing and the outdoors, Flip Pallot. Known for his gentle wisdom and honest storytelling, Flip become an icon of sport and conservation whose influence spread far beyond his beloved Florida. I'm not one to write tribute posts often (if ever), but I thought this would be one of the rare occasions where it was fitting.

I bought a new desktop computer recently. My old one was so old and slow, I couldn't do much on it other than doomscroll social media. It was over 10 years old, so video & photo editing was super tedious. I wanted to record a quick 4K video to see if the additional horsepower would help make my editing software more tolerable...

Stumbled upon the brand Wicked Fly Rod & Reel Co. over the weekend when a teaser video for a new three-weight model popped up in my YouTube feed (courtesy of Midcurrent). They've been around since 2017, so I'm just slow on the uptake I suppose. That said, I really dig that minimalist logo. Based out of Arizona, Wicked produces two series of graphite rods, the "Flex" and "Origin", as well as an "Artisan" series bamboo rod, all with handsome graphics and a reel seat with windows to highlight the rod blank.

It had been a while since I fished. The trip to the White Mountains was now more than a month behind me, so I really didn't need an excuse to head (relative) north again to find some trout. But my friends at a certain fly fishing company certainly gave me one when I found a new tenkara rod on my doorstop one Friday afternoon.