IF4 Stoke: Get Your Tickets!
As a proud media partner, Fly Fusion is excited to share the stoke as the official sizzle reel for the International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4) has just been released, offering a first look at one of the most anticipated fly-fishing film events on the planet.
A Fishable Feast: Fly Fishing and Eating Your Way Around the World
A Fishable Feast: Fly Fishing and Eating Your Way Around the World is more than a fly-fishing book.
From crystal-clear trout streams to sunlit saltwater flats, untamed jungles and rushing mountain rivers, this beautifully crafted volume by acclaimed author Kirk Deeter and Matthew Supinski explores the cultures, cuisines, geography and history that make fly fishing such a rich and meaningful pursuit.
Featuring a foreword by Tom Rosenbauer, the book blends storytelling, destination and culinary exploration into a global celebration of the angling life.
Kirk Deeter's Lesson on Fighting Fish
By Kirk Deeter
Excerpt from the winter issue: “A seasoned guide is used to saying things like ‘tip up’ and ‘let ‘em run’ over and over again. And in most cases, that’s really solid advice, in so much as the goal is to avoid having the fish make a run and break you off. But the truth is that a 9-foot fly rod is a lever that helps the fish as much as it helps the angler.
The Old Man and Me
By Derek Bird
There’s a scene in “The Equalizer” starring Denzel Washington where his character, Robert McCall, is sitting in a late-night diner and he’s reading Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” A young lady looks over and sees McCall reading the novella and says, “He ever catch it? The fish.”
McCall chuckles and says, “Yes.”
She says, “Happy ending.”
McCall replies, “Not exactly.”
Then he explains that after he fights the fish, the old man ties it to the boat to bring it back to shore but sharks come and eat the giant marlin before he can get back to shore.
The young lady replies, “What a waste…why didn’t he just let the fish go?”
McCall responds, “The old man’s gotta be the old man. Fish gotta be the fish. Gotta be who you are in this world, right?”
Six Wet Flies to Swing with Confidence
By Skip Morris
The Attractor-Fly Angle
On the first count, that flies must always resemble the natural feed of fish, innocent elemental logic (so, teenage logic) was at work. That logic does add up: Want a fish to eat your fly? Make your fly look like what that fish eats. What I didn’t yet understand is that fish have little regard for logic or for fly fishers’ adamant beliefs; consequently, attractor flies really do work. Under the right circumstances (which I can only ever determine by trying one) attractor flies can far out-fish imitative flies, can be simply deadly. These right circumstances are, in my experience, fairly common. And one such deadly attractor is the elegant Alexandra. —Excerpted from the Summer 2025 issue of Fly Fusion.
Morris makes the case clearly: sometimes suggestion, motion, and presence outperform strict imitation. When trout refuse the dead drift but continue to show, a swung wet can change everything.
Here are six classic patterns, from bold attractors to quiet naturals, that deserve a place in your swing rotation.
SITKA Launches Fish Collection
SITKA officially stepped into the world of fly fishing this month with the launch of SITKA Fish.
Known for building system-driven hunting apparel, the well-known Bozeman-based brand is applying that same technical discipline to the water. The new gear launch centers on a focused lineup built around quality and the realities of fishing hard across a full season.
Abel’s Most Advanced Reel Yet
Abel Reels has released their first all-new reel since 2021’s Rove, and it marks their biggest push yet into high-capacity, large-arbor performance for fresh and saltwater. The SDX is their largest, fastest, and most advanced reel, designed for anglers chasing permit, tarpon, GT, steelhead, salmon, and bluewater species like tuna and marlin. It is not a casual upgrade. It is a purpose-built tool for moments when everything is on the line.
Editors' Choice Awards - Best Pack
Fly Fusion’s Editors’ Choice Awards celebrate the year’s most trusted, fish-ready gear, products that don’t just look good on the rack, but prove themselves day after day on the water. From smart storage to quick-access functionality, the best equipment is the kind that helps you fish more efficiently and keeps essentials right where you need them. This year’s Best Pack winner does exactly that, blending adaptability, thoughtful organization, and convenience into one streamlined carry system: the Patagonia Stealth Switch Pack.
Reece's Beefcake Stone
By Bob Reece
As the winter snows of the Rocky Mountains begin to thaw, a change is set in motion. The landscape breaks loose and emerges from a crisp exoskeleton of winter. For many fly anglers, the pinnacle of this yearly change is the transformation of Pteronarcys californica – the stonefly known as the salmonfly – into its adult form. Most fly fishers have some familiarity with spring salmonfly hatches that proclaim the beginning of the new season on many of western North America’s freestone rivers and streams. While the salmonfly hatch is one of fly fishing’s most compelling events, success during this time is not guaranteed and often depends on the design of your flies.
Kirk Deeter's Lesson on Picking Bugs
By Kirk Deeter
Excerpt from the current issue: “Contrary to all the dogma about specific colors and fly patterns and all that, what it usually (really) boils down to is shape and profile. And that’s true whether you’re spoon-feeding emergers to selective trout, trying to match baitfish roosterfish are chomping in Baja, or throwing shrimp or crab patterns at bonefish or permit somewhere on the flats. Do fish see colors?
Just Shy of Eighteen
By Derek Bird
The logjam provided enough depth and structure to hold decent sized trout. I waded in just below it to about thigh deep and made a good cast up to where it looked like the large fish should be holding. My beetle pattern bobbed and drifted a foot or two from about the half-way-point of the jam where a few larger logs protruded into the river. I pulled quickly at the line to manage the slack as the current pushed the terrestrial toward me.
New: SA Mastery Leader & Tippet
Leader and tippet might not steal the spotlight, but they matter, especially when presentation gets technical, flies get smaller, or conditions get tough. For 2026, Scientific Anglers has expanded its leader and tippet offering with the introduction of the new Mastery series, providing high-quality, budget-friendly lines for freshwater and saltwater applications.
