Tailwaters - Due West Anglers

Which Fly Rod Is Best? That's Asking the Wrong Question

The dirty secret about a fly rod shootout: there is no best rod

Flies displayed include: chubby chernobyl, clouser minnow, barr's meat whistle, popper, crazy charlie, and turneffe crab

Behind the Scenes

Unveiling the creative process from idea to ink for Due West Angler's distinctive articles on fly fishing + science + conservation

Members only

tailwater

Tailstone Rivers: What Are They and How Do They Work?

how do tailwaters transform back into freestone rivers? (fly fishing)

Releasing a pre-spawn Wyoming Brown Trout

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big fish

5 Tips for Landing Those Big Fish

To be a true angler you need to experience the heartbreak of losing a big fish. Here's how to stack the odds in your favor so that doesn't happen...

Releasing a stillwater trout from Delaney Buttes Lakes, Colorado

secret season

4 Simple Items for Warmer Hands

Cold water is great for trout, not so much for your hands

essential reads

End of the Year Round-Up: Our Best Articles from 2023

Highlighting the essential reads from the past year's lineup of fly-fishing articles

how does trout memory work? they remember flies after large hatches like the salmonfly hatch

pattern hangover

Fish Memory and Pattern Hangover

You missed the big hatch, but if you know a little about how trout brains work you might know that you're window of opportunity hasn't fully closed yet...

Wading and fly fishing the Gunnison River, Colorado, tactics for fly fishing rivers with low trout density

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behavior Featured

Tips for Streams with Low Fish Density

Lets take a look at how we approach rivers based on fish density and discuss what fishing rivers with fewer fish per mile have to offer

Hog of a rainbow trout getting released from a tailwater in Wyoming, rainbow trout, amy's ant fly pattern

terrestrials

Story From the Road: Amy's Ante

Fish were rising everywhere, skimming #28 midges off the film of a deep run. Cows surrounded us as spectators for the feeding frenzy of a developing hatch. The water temperature was perfect...

that compass is pointing the wrong direction...

exploring

Frontiers in Angling

Let's take a look at those new fisheries, and how anglers can uncover new and unexplored frontiers in angling

Miracle Mile Fly Fishing, double tailwater, tailwater fly fishing, Dream Stream, Land of the Giants, Montana

tailwaters Featured

The Double Tailwater Phenomenon

"Tailwater" is almost a mythical word in Western fly fishing. What about double tailwaters?

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conservation Featured

The Warmwater-Coldwater Connection

Let's take a look at the surprising way that warmwater can support coldwater fisheries

winter fly fishing the Arkansas River Tailwater in Pueblo, Colorado

secret season

Winter Fly Fishing: Protect the Tippet

Protect that tippet at all costs

Winter fly fishing the Pueblo Tailwater, Colorado

Members only

secret season Featured

Winter Nymphing: The Dropshot Rig

Fly fishing for winter trout is all about low and slow. Implement the dropshot rig to nymph more effectively with midges and bwos during the secret season. These tactics work great whether euro-nymphing or indicator nymphing.

Fly fishing and releasing a rainbow trout from the North Platte River, Wyoming

rigging

Field Testing the Right Angle Leader

We tested out the effectiveness of the right angle leader when fly fishing for rainbow trout and brown trout…we weren’t disappointed

tailwater

Story From The Road: Blind Pigs

What is it about youth that pushes you to do stupid things? You combine that with trout madness and you've got a recipe for delinquency.

climate change

Western Trout Rivers: An Angler's Prospectus

Fly fishing: Out west, with years of lingering drought, and now reports of declining trout populations in the holy-waters of Montana...

Rivers

At The Crack of Noon

The early bird gets the worm right? Consider this a night-owls manifesto