Fish Stories
Jul 9, 2025
What makes a fishing trip great?
A return trip to Beaver Island serves as a reminder: great fishing trips aren’t always about the numbers. They’re about the struggle, the ritual, the companions—and the willingness to show up again, no matter the forecast.
May 14, 2025
The Boat Is the Bar: Five Days Afloat in Southeast Alaska
What happens when five longtime friends chase wild steelhead across remote Alaskan rivers? You get a trip defined not just by the fish, but by the people, the effort, and the boat that held it all together. This wasn’t about luxury—it was about movement, mischief, camaraderie, and the kind of fishing that demands your full presence.
Sep 4, 2024
Road Trip Story Time
Getting lost and found with a little help from our friends
Earlier this summer, Skwala, Trout Routes, and Drift We...
Aug 19, 2024
Of Mice and Men
It’s Alaska season and that means troves of anglers are packing up their waders, jackets and rods for the remote waters of our 49th State. This week in the Skwala Lounge, Rich Hohne describes his recent trip to Alaska fishing for large rainbows and how the tactics we use can be as important as the fish we target.
Aug 13, 2024
High-Country Escapism
On many mainstem trout rivers, August, not April, marks the cruelest month. Peak fishing pressure often coincides with lethal, or near lethal, water conditions for cold water salmonids. It’s enough to make you want to hole up and beat your liver for a few weeks.
Aug 8, 2024
Are Smallmouth Better than Trout?
A Trout Angler Seeks Small Jaw Redemption
by Miles Nolte
Imagine you’re forced, gun-to-your-head, absolutely must ...
Jul 15, 2024
Days Off
Or, what to do when you can’t fish on a fishing trip
Fishing trips aren’t all fishing. In fact, depending on wher...
Jan 29, 2024
Big Dry Flies in the Depths of Winter?
We heard rumors of our namesake bugs hatching in February and decided to investigate
By Miles Nolte
February can be...
Jan 2, 2024
Get Back...to the Future
Everybody had a good year. Everybody caught a big brown. Everybody pulled their waders up. Everybody laid a line down...
Jul 31, 2023
Carp Fly Fishing vs. Pop-Punk
You can’t buy a helicopter ride to a magical pond of big, dumb carp. If you’ve got a bicycle, some old Chuck Taylors, a 6-weight, and a fist full of flies, you can probably go carp fishing, but that doesn’t mean you can catch them. Have you got your local carp pond dialed?
Jul 10, 2023
Bone Tired and Unreasonably Happy: A love letter to Alaska
When I arrived in Alaska—oozing that brand new guide smell, dry bags overflowing with ignorance—I was unprepared for much of what I would soon encounter. I’d never driven a jet-boat before, hadn’t laid eyes on a live salmon or brown bear, thought a 20-inch trout was huge, and still thought the term “flossing” only applied to dental hygiene.
Jun 14, 2023
Salmonflies are Overrated
Just find the salmonflies, they say. You’ll be transported to piscatorial Valhalla where the trout are all giant and stupid and eat surface flies that even an octogenarian with severe cataracts can see. The thing is, they’re either lying or don’t actually know what they’re talking about.
