"When I was a kid, I dreamed about what it really meant to push the envelope of flyfishing. For me it was muskies. That’s what I experienced that busted up tackle and caused me to rethink how I did things and taught me a lot of hard lessons. But going to Sudan was like that to the nth degree. It’s like putting the whole musky thing through a kaleidoscope of LSD." -Russ Schnitzer

Thanks to our sponsors Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods for their continued support.

A few months ago, I sat down with Russ Schnitzer for a couple beers. Schnitzer is an adventure photographer and conservationist based in Denver, Colorado but he travels a lot with his camera. I had seen a couple of shots from a recent trip of his to Dubai and Sudan and was pretty stunned by what I saw - rods doubled over with a collection of the world's tallest buildings in the background, gigantic bonefish, triggerfish that could could consume a small child. 

While we enjoyed PBR silos, Schnitzer told me the story behind these mind-boggling photos. Make sure you check out the link below to see some of Schnitzer's photos. Alternatively, check out the Summer 2017 issue of The Drake magazine. He has a two page spread on pages 16 and 17 and he also took the shot for the Patagonia ad on the back cover. Visit drakemag.com or your local fly shop to get the latest issue of the magazine.

http://www.drakemag.com/drakecast/1828-the-drakecast-flyfishing-podcast-9.html

#9 Kaleidoscope Of LSD: Sudan

"I really think it's important to show the public how these streams can come back so well if we just give them a chance and make them stable and design them correctly. If you build it right, the wildlife will come back." Sometimes, a stream just needs a little plastic surgery to help it get back on track. But what are the costs of these limnological face lifts? What do we have to give up in order to get those nice racks of lunker bunkers and soft riffles??

A couple months ago we heard a story about Kentucky’s Wolf Creek Dam and the Cumberland River. If you haven’t heard that whole story yet, I encourage you to do so. It’s called Death of a Tailwater and you can find it on our website or podcast feed. And this week, we’re heading back in the heart of Appalachia, once again just below the Wolf Creek Dam. In addition to the Cumberland river, there’s another  smaller stream in the area. It starts at the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, and flows into the Cumberland. Naturally, it's called Hatchery Creek. 

Hatchery Creek is a completely artificial stream that was built to give the trout in the Cumberland River spawning grounds, provide anglers with a recreational catch and release fishery, and help offset negative impacts caused by construction and coal companies on nearby streams. So far, Hatchery Creek has accomplished all of these goals. But like so many things in life, it's not that simple. 

Many thanks to our sponsors Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods.

To check out photos and drone footage taken on Hatchery Creek, follow the link: http://www.drakemag.com/drakecast/1832-the-drakecast-flyfishing-podcast-10.html

#10 Stream Implants

Sorry for the delay folks, but The DrakeCast is back! In this episode we continue our EuroTrip to yet another island with great fishing - Iceland. Once again, we'd be targeting Atlantic salmon, but we'd also spend some time chasing wild native browns and sea run arctic char. 

After my time in the Faroe Islands, I hopped on a ferry to Eastern Iceland. It was there that I met Kristjan Rafnsson, one of the owners of Fish Partner, a flyfishing outfitter that controls access to quite a few rivers across Iceland. 

During our time together, we found quite a few fish. But we also discussed the history of fishing and fishing management in Iceland. It's much different than what we found in Ireland, The Faroes, and almost the complete opposite of what we're used to in the US. 

Make sure to check out our sponsors, Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods and thank them for their continued support of both the Drake Magazine and The DrakeCast.

Also, a huge thanks to Kristjan and Fish Partner for the hospitality.

#15 EuroTrip Ch. 3 - Iceland

Jeremy Wade, host of Animal Planet's "River Monsters," is one of the more famous fisherfolks in the industry today. I personally always saw the guy as a globe-trotting Brit who believes every fish in the water wants to kill you. Well, it turns out that Jeremy Wade is much more than that. In this episode of The DrakeCast, Wade fully embraces his fear-mongering ways to alert us of the dangers that face the world's rivers. In this speech Wade explains how rivers have changed in his lifetime, and why these changes should scare us more than any of the toothy fish he’s ever caught on camera. 

Many thanks to our sponsors Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods. A huge thank you to James Thull and MSU's Trout & Salmonid Special Collections Library for allowing us to use the audio from this speech.

For a few photos and links to some of the material that Wade mentions in his speech, check out our website:
http://www.drakemag.com/drakecast/1861-the-drakecast-fly-fishing-podcast-17-jeremy-wade-disappearing-river-monsters.html

#17 Jeremy Wade's Disappearing River Monsters

In episode #7 of The DrakeCast, we heard about the threatened Menominee River on the border between Michigan's UP and Wisconsin. This river had unfortunately found itself on American River's list of the ten most endangered rivers in the United States.

In this episode, we look at the unfortunate body of water that occupies the number one spot on that list - The Colorado River. Throughout the story, we'll chat with fly shop owners, fishermen, conservationists, and flyfishing industry leaders as we try to figure out how the Colorado gained such an unsightly title.

The Colorado is a huge river, but it also represents the perils that all of the world's rivers face right now. 

Many thanks to Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods for their continued support of The DrakeCast.

A big shout out to Fishpond and American Rivers for their help with this episode and their role in keeping our rivers healthy.

For more information on this episode, check out our website: http://www.drakemag.com/drakecast/1864-the-drakecast-fly-fishing-podcast-18-colorado-river-fishpond-american-rivers.html

#18 The Mighty Colorado River

A lot of people claim social media has killed flyfishing. But has it? In this episode of The DrakeCast we chat with parties on both sides of the divide as we suss out the positive and negative impacts social media has had on flyfishing. 

The backbone of this episode traces the experience of an Idaho fishing guide as well as the growth of a flyfishing company. Through these experiences of these separate groups, we are able to see a fuller picture of how social media has impacted flyfishing.

We also have a great chat with the great Kelly Galloup, who is always reliable when it comes to giving a good quote or two. Additionally, this is the episode that the ever-flippant Tom Bie makes his inaugural appearance. I couldn't have been happier to shove a fuzzy microphone in my boss's face.

Many thanks to Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods for their continued support.

For more information on this episode, check out our website: http://www.drakemag.com/drakecast/1866-the-drakecast-fly-fishing-podcast-19-social-media-flyfishing-instagram.html

#19 Crossroads: Social Media & Flyfishing

This week's episode of The DrakeCast features another flyfishing podcast that has recently hit the airwaves. 
Jason Rolfe is a guide at Emerald Water Anglers in Washington State, but when he's not on the water he's sitting in front of legendary flyfishing writers asking them about their history with the sport. He has coupled these interviews with live readings in his new podcast, The Fly Tapes.
We take a few select sound bites from Rolfe's podcast and ask him about how this project started and where it is going. This episode also focuses on the upcoming tour of "Writers on the Fly," which is a traveling show featuring some of the great writers that Rolfe interviews. They'll be making their way up the West Coast starting on November 14 in Bend, Oregon. 
If you love flyfishing and storytelling and live in the Pacific North West, make sure to check out Writers on the Fly at a venue near you. If you don't live on the West Coast, make sure to find The Fly Tapes wherever you find podcasts.
Many thanks to Scott Fly Rods and Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures for their continued support of The DrakeCast.

#20 The DrakeCast Presents: Dylan Tomine & The Fly Tapes

In the early 1970s, Don Wisner learned how to flyfish. It was around this time that his life began to parallel a certain flyfishing story. When Don's son, Stephen, came of age, the two spent hours together fishing the brook trout streams of Western Wisconsin. As the men grew in both age and skill, their interests took them in separate directions - Stephen wandered the world while Don embraced religion. But whenever the two were in the same place, they always made sure to spend an afternoon on the water, and this part of their relationship kept them close. 

These days, Don and Stephen live in the same town and are fortunate enough to share a love of the same river. "I'm at an age right now, I'm 77 years old, and I can't cast all day anymore. But I can still row the boat. And to be able to row for somebody that can really fish it's kind of an intimate thing. You have to know somebody to be able to do that well. To be able to read their mind and we kind of function that way together." -Rev. Don Wisner

Many thanks to Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods for their continued support of The DrakeCast.

For more information on this episode, as well as Stephen's guide business, Eau Claire Anglers, check out our website: http://www.drakemag.com/drakecast/1875-the-drakecast-fly-fishing-podcast-22-a-river-runs-near-it.html

#22 A River Runs Near It

A few weeks ago, I found myself in Duluth, Minnesota and the forecast was rather dicey. As you probably know,  it’s pretty darn difficult to flyfish when it’s -20 degrees outside. But with the help of veteran guide Lucky Porter and photographer Hansi Johnson, we were able to make a day out on the frozen water with our eight weights and musky flies.
In addition to our normal flyfishing gear, we also had several pitchforks, a couple saws, a propane tank, the worlds largest set of tongs, a fish whistle, and a little bit of optimism. This episode explores the hyper-localized world of dark house spear fishing in Northern Minnesota.
Throughout this show, we learn the history of the sport, try our hand at stabbing a few fish, and figure out how to better target pike when the ice leaves in the springtime.
As always, The DrakeCast is made possible thanks to generous support from Scott Fly Rods and Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures.
For more information on this story and many others, check us out at www.drakemag.com

#26 Heavy Metal Flyfishing Through the Ice

Last week, we had a chance to catch up with Tim Evans. He's a salesman that lives in Casper, Wyoming but you most likely to know him as the man behind the Fish on the Brain podcast. 

We got out with Tim to throw bobbers at wary trout on a Front Range tailwater. As soon as we realized the fish weren't interested in our flies we put our rods down and got to chatting. We discussed fishing, conservation, storytelling, and podcasting in general. We've spliced in some choice sound clips from both The DrakeCast and Fish on the Brain to give listeners some context as well as potentially expose our audiences to some of the other great flyfishing-related audio that's out there. Listeners will receive a behind the scenes look into the completely unorganized world of sticking microphones in the faces of anglers and what flyfishing means to all of the people we talk to.

Many thanks to Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and Scott Fly Rods for their continued support of The DrakeCast.

For more information about this episode, visit our website: www.drakemag.com

#27 Fish on the Brain + The DrakeCast: A Collaboration

For those who fish, this is the DrakeCast, an audio supplement to The Drake Magazine and a voice for flyfishing around the world. Every other week we get out on the water to cover the ever-evolving sport of flyfishing. 
Check us out at The Drake Magazine's website http://www.drakemag.com/drakecast.html

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