Last weekend in Darien, Georgia, I was honored to receive two Dean Wohlgemuth Excellence in Craft awards from the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association. The River Judges Not received 1st Place recognition, while The Novice, Avoiding The Hat, and The Payoff received 3rd Place.

On paper, the essays could not appear much more different…

The house was quiet again by evening. Gun oil and leather lingered in the air, the fire was working on a split of oak, and Sam had already found his spot where the heat pools on the floor. His nose twitched now and then, paws flexing, as if he was still working scent somewhere out in the grass…

For most of my life, writing was something I did quietly. Journals, letters, essays — usually for myself, sometimes for a very small audience. Fishing came first. I was far more likely, as a kid, to skip school in favor of a river than to linger in English class.…

“You mind if I play some music?”  A big part of the reason I enjoy fly fishing so much is the lack of noise—just the sounds of nature. However, I was on the Pere Marquette with two serious Deadheads, in a drift boat plastered with Grateful Dead stickers.

A year is a long time to nurse a grudge against a fish. To be perfectly accurate, 
it was against an entire....

Anyone who has been a guide or has 
even tried to teach a beginner has been there. It is one thing to be...

A great start to the new year.  This one is a really special essay for me, revisiting one of my father’s favorite terms…

My niece recently was married in Boise, Idaho. That seemed an opportune time 
to squeeze a couple...

"I don’t know which knot I should use!"  I hear this often when I am guiding one of our Veterans…

Pyramid lake, home of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. I just went with a cast of characters I call friends...

Echoes of the past. I have recently returned from Colorado. While I was there, I visited for the first time...

I recently spent the better part of an entire week on one of my favorite rivers to fish for Brown Trout...