Trail of Highways

🎣 This fly catches EVERYTHING. Bass. Trout. Snook. You name it — the Bush Fur Leech delivers. Tied with Ewing Hackle Chickabou + Nature's Spirit Monster Bush Fur, this pattern pushes water, pulses on the strip, and looks alive in any current. Grab the fly or tie your own. Materials are in the shop. 👇 🔗 saltwateronthefly.com #flyfishing #flytying #bassfishing #troutfishing #snookfishing #busyfur #leechpattern #saltwateronthefly #flyshop #flyfishinglife

Green sea turtles just pulled off one of the greatest conservation comebacks in marine history. 🐢 After decades on the Endangered list, they were officially reclassified as Least Concern in 2025 — a global population increase of more than 28% since the 1970s. That's not an accident. That's what happens when science, policy, and people who actually give a damn show up consistently for fifty years. But this isn't a victory lap. Six of the seven sea turtle species are still threatened. Bycatch is still killing thousands of turtles a year. Plastic is in the gut of more than half the sea turtles on the planet. Climate change is feminizing entire hatchling populations. The work is far from over. We dug into all of it — all seven species, the threats that remain, what anglers can do on the water, and why the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island is one of the most impressive wildlife rehabilitation facilities on the East Coast. I've been behind the scenes. The work they're doing there is the real deal. If you spend time on the ocean, this one's for you. 🔗 saltwateronthefly.com/sea-tu… — Sea Turtles: 100 Million Years in the Water and We Nearly Blew It in 50 #SeaTurtleConservation #SeaTurtle #MarineConservation #SaltwaterOnTheFly #SaveTheTurtles #OceanConservation #GeorgiaSeaTurtleCenter #JekyllIsland #SaltwaterFlyFishing #FlyFishing #CoastalLife #OceanLife #WildlifeConservation #MarineLife #ProtectOurOceans

Most fly fishers stop paying attention to the James River when they hit Richmond. That's a mistake. Below the fall line, the James transforms into one of the most overlooked multi-species fly fisheries on the East Coast. We're talking striped bass, red drum on oyster bars, tidal largemouth, speckled trout, hickory shad — all on the fly, all in the same river system. We broke it down section by section from Ancarrows Landing in downtown Richmond all the way to Ragged Island at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay — plus the 15 best flies to cover every species, every section. If you've written off the tidal James as conventional gear water, this one's for you. 👉 Full guide is live at saltwateronthefly.com/fly-fi… . #FlyFishing #TidalJames #JamesRiver #RedDrum #StripedBass #SaltwaterFlyFishing #Virginia #FlyFishingVA #SaltwaterOnTheFly

Before Montana, There Was Lake Charlevoix | Bass on the Fly Before the saltwater. Before Montana. Before all of it — there was Lake Charlevoix, Michigan. Sixteen years on that shoreline is where this all started. A kid, a fly rod, and a bass that changed everything. Well almost, it was truly days on the AuSable that Hooked me. In this video we're breaking down what it takes to chase bass on the fly — the flies that produce, the hackle that ties clean, and the gear that holds up when you're actually on the water. 🎣 Shop Bass Flies, Ewing Hackle & Performance Outdoor Apparel: 👉 saltwateronthefly.com/lake-c… 🔔 Follow for fly fishing content built by anglers who mean it. 📍 Covering Montana, saltwater, and everywhere worth casting. #BassFishing #FlyFishing #LakeCharlevoix #EwingHackle #BassOnTheFly #SaltwaterOnTheFly #MichiganFishing #FlyfishingLife #PerformanceApparel #FlyTying

Three things I want in a fly tying material: 📷 Holds profile when wet 📷 Moves on the pause 📷 Doesn't fall apart when a pike tries to eat your hand Monster Bush Fur checks every box. It's coarse, long-fiber, and built for the kind of flies that actually attract big fish — saltwater baitfish patterns, articulated streamers, predator rigs. Tie it sparse, check it wet, and fish it with confidence. Full article — techniques, color breakdowns, material comparisons — is live now at saltwateronthefly.com Link: saltwateronthefly.com/monste… Go tie something. #flytying #monsterbushfur #saltwaterflyfishing #streamers #pikeonthefly #musky #flyfishinglife #naturesspiritflytying

There's a moment on the swing when everything goes quiet. Not peaceful quiet. The other kind. The kind where your whole body knows something is about to happen before your brain catches up. The line tightens. The hackle pulses in three inches of current between a rock and the undercut bank where that brown has been living since before you knew this stretch of water existed. You didn't cast to him. You cast to the river and let the river do the introduction. I've chased that moment for forty years. Clear water. Low light. Brooks that look painted. Rainbows that shouldn't exist in that color. Browns that make you question every fish you thought was big before. The flies that get you to that moment matter more than most tyers admit. So does what goes in them. That's why my name is on this hackle. Not because it looks good on a package — because it breathes on the swing the way it's supposed to. Hand selected. Built for the moment right before everything goes sideways. 📷 saltwateronthefly.com/.../sc… : #ewinghackle #flytying #saltwateronthefly #flyfishing

The trail doesn't care what's on your calendar. Early summer. Yellowstone country. Just boots, breath, and whatever's around the next bend. 🌲 saltwateronthefly.com #Yellowstone #MontanaTrails #EarlySummer #HikeMore #WildYellowstone #PublicLands #TrailLife #MorningHike #GetOutside #MontanaLife #OutdoorAdventure #WildPlaces #HikingLife #NatureWalks #GreaterYellowstoneEcosystem

You're driving past some of the best freshwater fly fishing in California on your way to Yosemite, and you don't even know it. Lake Don Pedro. Bass Lake. New Melones. Millerton. Lake McClure. Big largemouth, landlocked stripers that hit like freight trains, kokanee, and trout — all on a fly rod, all in the Sierra foothills. I put together the full guide: which lake to fish for which species, what gear to bring, and the exact fly patterns that work. Mid-week, most of this water is empty. Full guide here: saltwateronthefly.com/centra… #FlyFishing #CaliforniaFishing #FreshwaterFishing #BassFishing #StripedBass #SierraNevada #SaltwaterOnTheFly

I found the Great Dismal Swamp while looking for something else entirely. That's how the best trips usually start. Here's what nobody tells you: it's not dismal at all. William Byrd II named it that in 1728 after surveying it from dry ground while sending other people into the actual swamp. Solid strategy. Terrible branding. What it actually is: four miles of paddling down the Feeder Ditch through tannin-black water so dark it looks like strong tea, past great blue herons standing absolutely still in the shallows, until Lake Drummond opens up in front of you — 3,100 acres, cypress trees rising straight from the shallow floor, water so still on calm mornings that the sky and the trees trade places. The lake sits 18 feet above sea level. Nobody's entirely sure why. The ghost of a young woman in a white canoe is said to paddle it at night by firefly-lamp. That part is almost certainly phosphorescent fungi. Almost. The history here is heavy and real. Thousands of enslaved people built free communities in this swamp's interior for generations. The canal you paddle in on is the oldest operating man-made canal in the country — dug by hand, by enslaved labor, between 1793 and 1805. The first cargo through it was bacon and brandy. History is complicated. I put together a complete guide to canoeing and kayaking the Great Dismal Swamp — routes, distances, camping, wildlife, gear list, the whole thing. It's on the site now. Go paddle it before someone tries to drain it again. getlostinamerica.com/great-d… #GreatDismalSwamp #CanoeLife #PaddleVirginia #LakeDrummond #OutdoorAdventure #VirginiaWilderness

cow moose. Twin calves. One Sunday drive. Montana, you never miss. 🫎 Sometimes the best fishing days are the ones where you never even pick up a rod. hashtag#Montana hashtag#MooseSpotting hashtag#TwinCalves hashtag#MontanaWildlife hashtag#SlowDown hashtag#OutdoorLife

You see the rings before you hear the sip. Cinnamon Ant hatch. Small mountain pool. Right there off the trail. The angler with a 4-piece is still digging through his pack, pulling out rod sections, threading guides. You're already false-casting. That's the whole point of the Summit 5-6 Pack Rod. It rides collapsed on your pack all day — telescopic, already lined, already ready. Fish stacking in a pool along the trail don't give you five minutes to rig up. They give you about 60 seconds before they wise up or move on. The Summit gives you exactly that. 60 seconds from pack to casting. Graphite backbone. Glass tip. That smooth, progressive medium action that loads beautifully on small dries, nymphs, and light streamers. Built for the angler who hikes to fish — not fishes to say they hiked. Two sizes: 7'6" 3-4wt for tight brushy creeks. 8ft 5-6wt when you want a little more reach and muscle. saltwateronthefly.com/produc… : #flyrods #flytying #summittackle #backpacking #flyfishing #hiking #backcountryfishing #yellowstone #regalvise #saltwateronthefly

Everyone remembers their first reel. Make it a good one. The South Fork Fly Reel from summit tackle is where the journey starts — smooth, sealed, and built to grow with you. No confusing drag adjustments. No gear anxiety. Just you, the water, and whatever happens next. Named for the headwaters — the place where a stream splits and something new begins. That's exactly what picking up a fly rod feels like. Your South Fork is waiting. 🎣 saltwateronthefly.com/produc… : #BeginnerFlyFishing #LearnToFlyFish #FlyFishingForBeginners #SouthFork #SummitTackle #FlyReel #NewAngler #FlyFishingCommunity #StartFlyFishing #TroutFishing #FlyFishingLife #OutdoorLife #NatureTherapy #FlyFishing101 #CastYourStress #GetOutside

Some days you don't need a guide. You don't need a drift boat, a shuttle, or a crowd. You just need boots, a backpack, and enough sense to follow a trail until the trees open up and the stream finds you. That's where I was yesterday. Western Tanagers working the cottonwoods along the bank — that ridiculous flash of red and yellow against a Montana sky full of white clouds that looked like somebody painted them there on purpose. The kind of scene that makes you stop casting for a minute just to look at it. Just to make sure you're actually standing in it. The water was clear. I mean clear — the kind where you can read the bottom at four feet and watch a cutthroat slide two inches to eat your fly. A #16 Pheasant Tail in the riffles. A Hare's Ear dropped into the slow water behind a boulder. Both working. Neither one being hurried. I had the Summit Pack 7'6" 3-4 weight in my hand and it was exactly the right rod for every inch of that water. Tight willows on the left bank — short, accurate casts with a tip that loads at thirty feet and doesn't punish you for it. Hiked three miles in with that rod collapsed in my pack and never thought about it once. Pulled it out, extended it, and was fishing in under a minute. The cutthroat didn't care what I was carrying. But I did. A heavier, stiffer stick on water that tight and that technical would have cost me fish. The soft glass tip read every take. Kept every tippet intact. Did what a good small stream rod is supposed to do — get out of the way and let the fishing happen. I didn't count fish. I didn't check my phone. I just walked and cast and watched Tanagers until the light went gold and it was time to hike out. That's the whole point. 👉 saltwateronthefly.com/produc… #FlyfishingMontana #CutthroatTrout #RockyMountains #SummitPackRod #BackcountryFlyFishing #PheasantTail #HaresEar #WildTrout #PublicLands #MontanaLife

Most anglers miss more takes than they think. Not because they're not paying attention — because their rod isn't telling them anything. A stiff tip is quiet. It doesn't communicate. By the time you feel the fish, the fish is already gone. The Summit Pack 8-foot 5-6 weight has a glass tip, and that tip is doing real work. It telegraphs subtle takes before your eyes catch up. It loads on short casts so you're never fishing with dead stick between you and the fly. And it protects fine tippets by absorbing the kind of shock that breaks off fish on rods with no give. This isn't a soft rod. The graphite body gives it backbone — enough to handle small streamers, fight a strong trout, and punch a cast into a headwind when you need to. But that tip keeps you connected to what's happening at the end of your line. That's a different kind of fishing. A better kind. I've guided long enough to know that the anglers who consistently catch more fish aren't always the best casters. They're the ones who feel more. This rod helps with that. Built right. 👉 saltwateronthefly.com/produc… : #flyfishing #backpacking #backcountryflyfishing #flyrods

Montana's Classic Stonefly Bench Article 1: The Improved Sofa Pillow & Bird's Stonefly Pat Barnes started me tying flies. I rowed him down the Missouri, fished Barnes Hole with him, and stood in Buffalo Ford on the Yellowstone watching him work a Goofus Bug through cutthroat lies with the kind of precision that takes a lifetime to develop. When he showed me the Sofa Pillow at his bench in West Yellowstone, I was young enough to think complicated was better. Pat was patient enough not to say what he was thinking. This is Article 1 of Montana's Classic Stonefly Bench — a series working through the foundational western dry fly patterns from the tiers who actually built them. In this video we cover: — The Improved Sofa Pillow by Pat Barnes: full tying instructions, materials, and why the wing and hackle make or break this fly — The Bird's Stonefly by Cal Bird: the segmented elk hair abdomen technique, step by step, and why this pattern has been in Montana guide boxes for six decades — When to fish each pattern and why they're not interchangeable — Hatch timing by river: Madison, Gallatin, Clark Fork, Rock Creek, Missouri, Bitterroot Before you tie the fly, know the bug: 🔗 Life Cycle of the Salmonfly → saltwateronthefly.com/life-c… Full tying instructions and the complete article: 🔗 Montana's Classic Stonefly Bench Article 1 → saltwateronthefly.com/montan… Gear up for the hatch: 🔗 Salmonfly Graphic Hoodie (UPF-50) → saltwateronthefly.com/produc… 🔗 Ewing Hackle — the finest dry fly hackle available → saltwateronthefly.com/produc… 🔗 Full Fly Shop → saltwateronthefly.com/fly-fi… Float Montana's salmonfly hatches with an expert guide: 🔗 Get Lost in America → getlostinamerica.com #SalmonFly #MontanaFlyFishing #FlytTying #SofaPillow #BirdsStonefly #PatBarnes #MontanaStonefly #DryFlyFishing #WesternFlyFishing #FlyfishingMontana #EwingHackle #SaltwaterOnTheFly

"🚣‍♂️ Tired of the bass boat crowds? Try fly fishing Sam Rayburn Reservoir—the rebel way to hunt Texas giants. This 114,500-acre beast is loaded with Florida-strain largemouth (10-13+ lb common, lake record ~16.8 lb) hiding in flooded timber, hydrilla mats, and shallow coves that big rigs can't touch. Sneak in with a float tube: slap deer hair poppers on the surface at dawn (BOOM—explosive eats!), strip Clousers through shad schools, or punch weedless frogs into thick green jungle. Spring beds, fall schooling frenzies, year-round stealth strikes—pure adrenaline. Bass don't care if it's feathers or trebles—they smash flies harder. Who's ready to out-fish the tournament crowd? Link in comments/bio to the full guide: saltwateronthefly.com/fly-fi… #FlyFishing #BassFishing #TexasFishing #LargemouthBass #SamRayburn #WarmwaterFlyFishing #AdventureAwaits #EwingHackle

🌲🍂 Mid-Fall Colorado Adventure: Cottonwood Pass Drive, Taylor Reservoir, and Epic Fly Fishing to Almont! 🎣🏔️ Friends, I just wrapped up one of those perfect shoulder-season trips that remind me why I traded saltwater flats for these Rocky Mountain rivers. As Saltwater on the Fly, I’m always chasing the next adventure, and mid-October in Colorado delivered everything I could ask for on a stunning drive down Cottonwood Pass to Taylor Reservoir, followed by some of the best fly fishing of the year along the Taylor River all the way to the little town of Almont. I kicked things off climbing Cottonwood Pass from the Buena Vista side. This paved road tops out at over 12,126 feet — the second-highest paved pass in the country — and the views are absolutely jaw-dropping. The aspens were at peak explosion, painting entire hillsides in brilliant yellows and golds that popped against the dark green spruce and pine. Higher up, fresh snow dusted the Collegiate Peaks, and that crisp, pine-scented mountain air hit just right — invigorating, cool, and full of that unmistakable fall energy. Every switchback pulled me over for photos because the panoramas kept getting better. Descending the west side into Taylor Park felt like dropping into a living postcard. The valley opened wide, and there was Taylor Reservoir sparkling under a cloudless blue sky, its shores ringed with glowing aspen groves. I stopped at a pullout, killed the engine, and just soaked it in — the reservoir reflecting all that autumn color like a giant mirror, with 14,000-foot peaks standing guard in the distance. It was one of those quiet moments where the world feels perfectly still. a continuation or more to come? Tight lines and happy trails, SaltwaterontheFly.com #ColoradoFall #FlyFishing #CottonwoodPass #TaylorRiver #TaylorReservoir #AspenColors #AlmontCO #RockyMountainFishing #FallFoliage #OutdoorAdventure #ewinghackle

But the real magic happened when I geared up for the Taylor River tailwater just below the dam. This stretch is legendary for a reason, and mid-fall conditions made it even better. The flows were steady and gin-clear, the water cold enough to keep the trout active and hungry. I rigged up with baetis nymphs under an indicator and tossed a few small streamers tight to the banks. The river winds through a dramatic canyon lined with those same golden aspens, leaves fluttering down and landing on the surface like nature’s own dry flies. I hooked into several solid rainbows and chunky browns — one 18-incher put up an absolute battle in the current! There’s nothing like standing knee-deep in that cold water, elk bugling from the hillsides, and the fall colors framing every cast. Pure Colorado bliss. After a few hours of rewarding fishing, I packed up and continued the scenic drive down Taylor Canyon Road toward Almont. The river tumbles through rocky gorges with more incredible foliage and the occasional mule deer sighting. Almont itself is that charming little crossroads where the Taylor meets the East River to form the Gunnison — a handful of rustic cabins, a general store, and a peaceful vibe that makes you want to linger. I grabbed a hot coffee and a bite, reflecting on the day while the late-afternoon light painted the mountains gold. This whole route from Cottonwood Pass through Taylor Park and down the Taylor River to Almont is one of Colorado’s best-kept mid-fall secrets for road-trippers who also love to fish. The combination of high-alpine scenery, vibrant colors, solitude, and quality trout fishing is hard to beat. Fewer crowds, cooperative fish, and scenery that stops you in your tracks — it doesn’t get much better. Have you driven Cottonwood Pass in the fall or fished the Taylor River tailwater? What’s your favorite autumn fishing spot in the Rockies? Drop your stories in the comments — I’d love to hear them and maybe plan the next trip together! Tight lines and happy trails, SaltwaterontheFly.com #ColoradoFall #FlyFishing #CottonwoodPass #TaylorRiver #TaylorReservoir #AspenColors #AlmontCO #RockyMountainFishing #FallFoliage #OutdoorAdventure #ewinghackle