Field Journal

The Last Migration - Alabama Surf Fishing

The Last Migration - Alabama Surf Fishing

Every year, residents of Alabama and Florida’s Gulf Coast warily observe the final migration of the season, one bringing hundreds of thousands of exhausted parents with children carrying plastic beach...

Read more
A Good Teacher

A Good Teacher

I’ve learned a lot of languages in my day. First came Latin, beginning my freshman year in high school. In college I added Italian and Ancient Greek. And for my...

Read more
Head of Steel: Fishing with a Steelheader

Head of Steel: Fishing with a Steelheader

I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m okay with that because I’m with Crusty Craig. Well, that’s what I call him secretly. He’s really Craig Lannigan of Lewiston, Idaho...

Read more
Driftless

Driftless

I placed my coffee and honey bun on the counter as she plucked away at the keys on the cash register.  “Will that be all this morning?” she asked. I...

Read more
That Dog’ll Hunt, but Will She Fish?: Selecting and Training a Companion for All Seasons

That Dog’ll Hunt, but Will She Fish?: Selecting...

The chaos was overwhelming. I contorted my body to reach the surface and gasped desperately, but only found a rich mix of air and muddy water. Time seemed to slow...

Read more
Visions of Heaven

Visions of Heaven

The only redeeming quality of August in south Georgia is the boiled peanuts whereas Yellowstone cutthroat trout are one of God’s gifts. Thus every year, in search of a reprieve...

Read more
Concrete, Beer, and the American

Concrete, Beer, and the American

Transport takes on different meanings in the far-flung corners of the world. The morning air is sticky, clinging to my skin as I wind my way through the commercial aviation...

Read more
Man wearing straw hat and a Tom Beckbe long sleeve tidewater shirt fishes in Estero water with black labrador retreiver.

Happy Hour in the Estero

Campo Rene sits adjacent to a red-headed heron rookery. The adult birds come and go all day, joined by ibis, and various shorebirds, egrets, pelicans, and terns. Huge tidal swings...

Read more
Fishermen

Fishermen

 My oldest son is thirteen and already has a beautiful roll-cast, a thing he did not learn from me. It is early morning, and we are fishing the swift...

Read more
Fishing an Island

Fishing an Island

The downrigger cable hums an ascending scale as the boat increases speed to a steady three miles per hour. There isn’t enough wind to roll the water, but the occasional...

Read more
Fishing the Bridge

Fishing the Bridge

Not long ago, I read a book in which the author revealed that he was 24 years old before he had ever been fishing. I couldn’t fathom what I had...

Read more
Alabama Sampler

Alabama Sampler

Three Days of Fishing Fun on the Gulf Coast This is a fishing story, I promise. But I must first begin with the vibe at Gulf Shores State Park. The...

Read more
Fishing the Cotton Hatch

Fishing the Cotton Hatch

The temperature is high, the bug count is high and spirits are running even higher. I hear hollers up and down the canyon and I know our timing is prefect....

Read more