Back Porch

by Miles Nolte Over the past 35 years, I’ve spent a lot of time in waders. These days, I love wearing my wader...

The Hard Way, the newest production from Off the Grid Studios, offers an alternative to dub-step fish fetish mash-ups. It’s a celebration of the Deschutes River told from the perspective of Matt Mendes, a guide and Warm Springs tribal member who credits the river with saving his life.  

We’re nearly one quarter of the way through the 21st Century. If you’re grown enough to remember the Y2K freak out, that sentence may make you feel, um, not young. But while the current century has been old enough to legally drink for several years now, Skwala Fly Fishing is just about to complete our third trip round the sun. 

Conservation content can be a bummer, especially when it comes to steelhead. The past couple decades have delivered a near-constant flood of unhappy messaging. Wild steelhead populations have cratered, and fish that were always somewhat challenging to catch (on flies, anyway) have become nearly mythical.  Most of us here at Skwala call ourselves steelhead anglers, and we know steelhead populations face enormous challenges, challenges far too big for any of us to tackle them as individuals (or even small companies). That’s why we support the Wild Steelhead Coalition and hope you will consider doing the same.

Skwala Ambassador Jake Keeler discovers more about his beloved Brule River than he ever thought imaginable.

When you contact Skwala, you don’t get connected with a call center or passed off to a third-party customer support network. You talk to one of us, our core team of anglers right here in Bozeman, Montana. Chances are, you’ll probably talk to Scott Battista.

Reframing the Battle Over Stream Access By Miles Nolte Not too long after I moved to Montana, I went fishing on a ...

A Trout Angler Seeks Small Jaw Redemption by Miles Nolte Imagine you’re forced, gun-to-your-head, absolutely must ...

Or, what to do when you can’t fish on a fishing trip  Fishing trips aren’t all fishing. In fact, depending on wher...

Check your ego; improve your fishing Everybody warned me. Friends, mentors, random guides at the bar, they told me wh...

When we started the concept for Skwala back in 2020, people told us the world didn’t need another fly fishing brand. But fly fishing isn’t about needs; it’s about irrational passion. We're a tight group of dedicated fly anglers who’ve helped lead some of the most innovative and successful outdoor gear companies in the market today.

Everybody had a good year. Everybody caught a big brown. Everybody pulled their waders up. Everybody laid a line down...