Technical Trout - Due West Anglers

soft hackles

Active vs Passive Flies

Incentives for tying and fishing soft hackles: exploring how to activate your nymphing

fly fishing hoppers, attractors, dry flies, royal wulff, chubby chernobyl, which colors work and why?

Paid-members only

trout vision

Exploring LaFontaine's Color Theory of Attractors

this goes way beyond bright day, bright fly...

fly fishing nymphs, dry flies, wet flies, streamers, fly fishing trout, atlantic salmon, steelhead

tactics

Protecting A Fishery With Ineffective Angling?

Why would you limit your fly fishing tactics to help the fish? Hear me out...

Nymphing with heavy flies or splitshot to get a trout's attention, ESN, indicator nymphing, fly fishing

nymphing Featured

Nymphing vs Turbulence

The nymphing angler is locked in a perennial quest to fish deeper because rivers fight back...

Flies displayed include: chubby chernobyl, clouser minnow, barr's meat whistle, popper, crazy charlie, and turneffe crab

behind the scenes

Behind the Scenes

Unveiling the creative process from idea to ink for Due West Angler's distinctive articles on fly fishing + science + conservation

Members only

tailwater

Tailstone Rivers: What Are They and How Do They Work?

how do tailwaters transform back into freestone rivers? (fly fishing)

Releasing a pre-spawn Wyoming Brown Trout

Members only

big fish

5 Tips for Landing Those Big Fish

To be a true angler you need to experience the heartbreak of losing a big fish. Here's how to stack the odds in your favor so that doesn't happen...

How to fly fishing for picky trout, Rainbow trout from the North Platte, Wyoming, fly fishing grad school

technical trout Featured

Crash Course in Picky Trout Behavior: An Angler's Playbook

Fly fishing graduate school: Welcome to the big-leagues of trout fishing. You better come prepared.

Members only

trout

Crash Course in Picky Trout Behavior

Fly Fishing graduate school: Understanding a picky trout can be the difference-maker when trying to present flies to these stubborn fish.

how does trout memory work? they remember flies after large hatches like the salmonfly hatch

pattern hangover

Fish Memory and Pattern Hangover

You missed the big hatch, but if you know a little about how trout brains work you might know that you're window of opportunity hasn't fully closed yet...

Wading and fly fishing the Gunnison River, Colorado, tactics for fly fishing rivers with low trout density

Members only

behavior Featured

Tips for Streams with Low Fish Density

Lets take a look at how we approach rivers based on fish density and discuss what fishing rivers with fewer fish per mile have to offer

that compass is pointing the wrong direction...

exploring

Frontiers in Angling

Let's take a look at those new fisheries, and how anglers can uncover new and unexplored frontiers in angling

Miracle Mile Fly Fishing, double tailwater, tailwater fly fishing, Dream Stream, Land of the Giants, Montana

tailwaters Featured

The Double Tailwater Phenomenon

"Tailwater" is almost a mythical word in Western fly fishing. What about double tailwaters?

catch and release rainbow trout fly fishing

technical trout

Catch More Trout with These Articles

Fly fishing: Let's discuss everything from approaching the water, to rigging, flies, and dealing with picky trout.

Fly fishing the Scenic Cheesman Canyon on the South Platte, Colorado

from the road

Story From The Road: The Euro Litmus Test

Fly fishing: Euro nymphing vs. indicator nymphing go head to head

Rivers

At The Crack of Noon

The early bird gets the worm right? Consider this a night-owls manifesto

Lakes

The Elephant in the River

Fly fishing: We're all going to have to deal with river overcrowding at some point in the future, if not already.

effects of catch and release angling, how does fly fishing affect trout behavior?

Members only

colorado

Catch and Release: How do fish respond to fishing pressure?

By practicing catch and release we actively alter our favorite rivers and lakes and influence the dynamics of the fishery.

rigging

Winter Trout Tips: Misconceptions

Fly fishing winter: Let's look at some winter fly fishing misconceptions and the differences in approach

trout

Don't Overlook Split Shot

Your friend is catching fish, but you’re stumped. From a distance, you shout back and forth, “How deep are you?”, “What flies?”....Then the final piece of the puzzle, “How much weight”?