Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
@nickparish.bsky.social
Author, editor, and angler from the Great Lakes, currently ranging near the Columbia River drainage in the Cascadia bioregion.
Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to make fly fishing a bigger part of your life: https://www.currentflowstate.com/subscribe
Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to make fly fishing a bigger part of your life: https://www.currentflowstate.com/subscribe
Pinned
Our July/Aug '25 issue is online now (and in member mailboxes soon). Features include a look at 125 yrs of the Blue Band; a Q&A with Tom Verducci, arguably the most respected voice in baseball; and a profile of George Daniel, who is leading Penn State’s iconic fly-fishing program. pennstatermag.com.
Beyond excited my profile of the inimitable George Daniel is appearing as the cover story in this month's Penn Stater! #fishing #flyfishing
Nets are like cops: Never around when you need 'em: www.currentflowstate.com/net-effect-g...
Your net is a crucial piece fly fishing gear
It’s time to stop thinking about nets as a tool for playing offense. Nets protect fish, and ultimately protect your ego.
www.currentflowstate.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Nets are like cops: Never around when you need 'em: www.currentflowstate.com/net-effect-g...
3,500 words on the conservation and psychological necessity of nets in fly fishing? What more could your Friday afternoon be crying out for?
www.currentflowstate.com/net-effect-g...
www.currentflowstate.com/net-effect-g...
A net's a crucial piece fly fishing gear
It’s time to stop thinking about nets as a tool for playing offense. Nets protect fish, and ultimately protect your ego.
www.currentflowstate.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:16 PM
3,500 words on the conservation and psychological necessity of nets in fly fishing? What more could your Friday afternoon be crying out for?
www.currentflowstate.com/net-effect-g...
www.currentflowstate.com/net-effect-g...
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
A salmon never dies; she is merely recycled.
November 5, 2025 at 10:19 PM
A salmon never dies; she is merely recycled.
"Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation." - Alasdair Gray
November 5, 2025 at 5:06 AM
"Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation." - Alasdair Gray
I don't have much to say about Cheney; I've fished with folks who guided for him...the secret service basically closed river miles fore and aft for him. One of the worst parts of fly fishing is it attracts rich and powerful Dicks, but avoid destination angling and you'll never see 'em.
November 4, 2025 at 11:46 PM
I don't have much to say about Cheney; I've fished with folks who guided for him...the secret service basically closed river miles fore and aft for him. One of the worst parts of fly fishing is it attracts rich and powerful Dicks, but avoid destination angling and you'll never see 'em.
This is a great profile, and a great reminder that you can be a great stick on the river and still a piece of shit.
Here's Matt Labash's great 2008 Weekly Standard piece, Fly Fishing With Darth Vader.
"I learned that Cheney, whatever my objection to his policies, was a fine fisherman, a gentleman, a master smack-talker, and a guy who wasn’t bothered by what people think of him."
open.substack.com/pub/mattlaba...
"I learned that Cheney, whatever my objection to his policies, was a fine fisherman, a gentleman, a master smack-talker, and a guy who wasn’t bothered by what people think of him."
open.substack.com/pub/mattlaba...
Fly Fishing With Darth Vader
Dick Cheney, 1941-2025
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:43 PM
This is a great profile, and a great reminder that you can be a great stick on the river and still a piece of shit.
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
Sayonara, Dick Cheney. Being a fly fisher or lover of the outdoors will never atone for what you did or who you were. In many ways, you embodied the model for the gross-natured policies that you so despised in this current clown show of an administration.
November 4, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Sayonara, Dick Cheney. Being a fly fisher or lover of the outdoors will never atone for what you did or who you were. In many ways, you embodied the model for the gross-natured policies that you so despised in this current clown show of an administration.
Wondering how to amp up your nascent fly fishing practice this winter? Here's six tips to start fly-tying from Blue Ribbon Flies co-founder Craig Mathews: www.currentflowstate.com/tie-your-own...
Angling legend Craig Mathews offers six tips for beginning fly tiers
Blue Ribbon Flies co-founder and co-author of Pheasant Tail Simplicity offers six tips for beginning fly tiers to get the ball rolling behind the vise.
www.currentflowstate.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Wondering how to amp up your nascent fly fishing practice this winter? Here's six tips to start fly-tying from Blue Ribbon Flies co-founder Craig Mathews: www.currentflowstate.com/tie-your-own...
Need a kick in the butt to get your winter #flytying started? Join us this Sunday to chat about Pheasant Tail Simplicity: luma.com/akkf1x0e
CFS Fall Virtual Book Club: Pheasant Tail Simplicity · Zoom · Luma
Come join our virtual discussion of the latest Patagonia fly fishing book, Pheasant Tail Simplicity. The book details a dozen useful fly patterns, all using…
luma.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Need a kick in the butt to get your winter #flytying started? Join us this Sunday to chat about Pheasant Tail Simplicity: luma.com/akkf1x0e
ICYMI: Craig Mathews and I sat down to chat simple flies, what most fly fishing anglers get wrong, and the paradoxes inherent in stocking hundreds of patterns in a fly shop when you only need to use five or six. www.currentflowstate.com/talking-phea...
Pheasant tails and pleasant tales: The Craig Mathews Q&A
From tenkara-wielding biker gangs to roadkill feather ghouls to Yvon Chouinard's "stroke": A conversation with fly angling icon Craig Mathews never disappoints. Hear how Pheasant Tail Simplicity is cr...
www.currentflowstate.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
ICYMI: Craig Mathews and I sat down to chat simple flies, what most fly fishing anglers get wrong, and the paradoxes inherent in stocking hundreds of patterns in a fly shop when you only need to use five or six. www.currentflowstate.com/talking-phea...
Craig Mathews is a heck of a storyteller. From tenkara-wielding biker gangs to ghouls scooping up roadkill feathers, it's all here:
Pheasant tails and pleasant tales: The Craig Mathews Q&A
From tenkara-wielding biker gangs to roadkill feather ghouls to Yvon Chouinard's "stroke": A conversation with fly angling icon Craig Mathews never disappoints. Hear how Pheasant Tail Simplicity is creating a new generation of fly tiers, observation as the key to angling, and much, much more.
www.currentflowstate.com
October 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Craig Mathews is a heck of a storyteller. From tenkara-wielding biker gangs to ghouls scooping up roadkill feathers, it's all here:
Just got off the line with the incredibly gracious and cool Craig Mathews, part of our continued Pheasant Tail Simplicity love-fest. Stay tuned, our wide-ranging conversation—from roadkill to his all-time most-tied fly—drops in next week's newsletter. #flyfishing #flytying
October 23, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Just got off the line with the incredibly gracious and cool Craig Mathews, part of our continued Pheasant Tail Simplicity love-fest. Stay tuned, our wide-ranging conversation—from roadkill to his all-time most-tied fly—drops in next week's newsletter. #flyfishing #flytying
One surprising side effect of writing this story about outdoor brands and Grateful Dead collaborations is a bunch of friends and contacts at said brands are sending info on upcoming GD collabs.
There's not much I can say beyond boy is that train _rolling_. www.currentflowstate.com/brand-dead-g...
There's not much I can say beyond boy is that train _rolling_. www.currentflowstate.com/brand-dead-g...
Is private equity ruining fly fishing gear?
A surefire sign your favorite outdoor brand is doing the old private equity shuffle? A Grateful Dead collaboration.
www.currentflowstate.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:07 PM
One surprising side effect of writing this story about outdoor brands and Grateful Dead collaborations is a bunch of friends and contacts at said brands are sending info on upcoming GD collabs.
There's not much I can say beyond boy is that train _rolling_. www.currentflowstate.com/brand-dead-g...
There's not much I can say beyond boy is that train _rolling_. www.currentflowstate.com/brand-dead-g...
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
Fly fishing friends, Western Alaska got absolutely mollywhopped by a storm recently and Josh Mills is over on Instagram coordinating various auctions to fundraise for relief efforts. www.instagram.com/millsfly
And the hash tag #fliesforalaska
And the hash tag #fliesforalaska
October 20, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Fly fishing friends, Western Alaska got absolutely mollywhopped by a storm recently and Josh Mills is over on Instagram coordinating various auctions to fundraise for relief efforts. www.instagram.com/millsfly
And the hash tag #fliesforalaska
And the hash tag #fliesforalaska
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
So everyone’s an “Angler” nowadays, they all dress a like, spend way too much money on their trucks and $1000’s on their gear just to put a bobber on a oversized rod that they can only cast 10’ in front of em. They’re fishers I guess but If you see a dude dressed in this with a fly rod he a catcher🎣
October 20, 2025 at 9:37 PM
So everyone’s an “Angler” nowadays, they all dress a like, spend way too much money on their trucks and $1000’s on their gear just to put a bobber on a oversized rod that they can only cast 10’ in front of em. They’re fishers I guess but If you see a dude dressed in this with a fly rod he a catcher🎣
Here it is, hot off the presses, this week's CFS newsletter: a crafty Q&A, tariff peril for the fly fishing industry, YETI chronicles the union of Japan and Jamaica, and more. www.currentflowstate.com/win-a-free-c... #flyfishing #flytying
Win a copy of Patagonia's Pheasant Tail Simplicity
Announcing our Pheasant Tail fall giveaway, a member Q&A on tenkara and creative woodworking projects, tariffs bite the fly fishing industry, and a Leaders roundup of must-reads from around the fly fishing world
www.currentflowstate.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Here it is, hot off the presses, this week's CFS newsletter: a crafty Q&A, tariff peril for the fly fishing industry, YETI chronicles the union of Japan and Jamaica, and more. www.currentflowstate.com/win-a-free-c... #flyfishing #flytying
I don’t have the world’s greatest fly fishing newsletter *every* Monday, but once in a while I put one together and wish I could blast it as soon as it’s ready to go.
Subscribe for a fat, buttery toad in your inbox tomorrow: www.currentflowstate.com/subscribe/
#flyfishing #flytying
Subscribe for a fat, buttery toad in your inbox tomorrow: www.currentflowstate.com/subscribe/
#flyfishing #flytying
Subscribe to the newsletter | Current Flow State fly-fishing
Make fly-fishing a bigger part of your life with the free weekly Current Flow State newsletter.
www.currentflowstate.com
October 19, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I don’t have the world’s greatest fly fishing newsletter *every* Monday, but once in a while I put one together and wish I could blast it as soon as it’s ready to go.
Subscribe for a fat, buttery toad in your inbox tomorrow: www.currentflowstate.com/subscribe/
#flyfishing #flytying
Subscribe for a fat, buttery toad in your inbox tomorrow: www.currentflowstate.com/subscribe/
#flyfishing #flytying
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
Stinging nettles would get her good here in the Driftless. 0/10 would not recommend.
October 18, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Stinging nettles would get her good here in the Driftless. 0/10 would not recommend.
I couldn't find a list of which Orvis stores were closing, and feared for my local in Lake Oswego, so I called around and made a list. #flyfishing #flytying
www.currentflowstate.com/which-orvis-...
www.currentflowstate.com/which-orvis-...
Which Orvis stores are closing, and which are staying open?
A phone survey of Orvis' U.S. retail stores revealed which are due to close at the end of 2025 and which will remain open and refocus on fly fishing and wing-shooting.
www.currentflowstate.com
October 17, 2025 at 11:25 PM
I couldn't find a list of which Orvis stores were closing, and feared for my local in Lake Oswego, so I called around and made a list. #flyfishing #flytying
www.currentflowstate.com/which-orvis-...
www.currentflowstate.com/which-orvis-...
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
There’s no doubt Montanans and tourists alike love the Flathead River. However, recent reductions in staffing have led to tension between the benefits of loving this river and the consequences of loving it too much to the point of overuse.
🌊 Read more: www.americanrivers.org/2025/10/lovi...
🌊 Read more: www.americanrivers.org/2025/10/lovi...
Loving Montana's Flathead River Responsibly
Visitation on Montana’s Wild and Scenic Flathead River has grown significantly in the last five years. Yet, just one river ranger remains to steward 219 river miles and 29 river recreation sites follo...
www.americanrivers.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:47 PM
There’s no doubt Montanans and tourists alike love the Flathead River. However, recent reductions in staffing have led to tension between the benefits of loving this river and the consequences of loving it too much to the point of overuse.
🌊 Read more: www.americanrivers.org/2025/10/lovi...
🌊 Read more: www.americanrivers.org/2025/10/lovi...
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
A fence post at New York’s Bowling Green still showing the rough saw marks where, in July 1776, colonists cut off the crowns that used to adorn the tops.
Colonists also pulled down a statute of King George III that once stood where the fountain is today.
Colonists also pulled down a statute of King George III that once stood where the fountain is today.
October 17, 2025 at 5:41 PM
A fence post at New York’s Bowling Green still showing the rough saw marks where, in July 1776, colonists cut off the crowns that used to adorn the tops.
Colonists also pulled down a statute of King George III that once stood where the fountain is today.
Colonists also pulled down a statute of King George III that once stood where the fountain is today.
We're going to be giving away a copy of Pheasant Tail Simplicity courtesy @patagoniabooks.bsky.social to one lucky attendee to our virtual discussion; RSVP and join us if you're interested! www.currentflowstate.com/fall-is-for-... #flytying #flyfishing
Pheasant Tail Simplicity book talk and fly tying meetups
We're going all-in on Patagonia's latest book, with a virtual book club meeting, fly-tying events in Portland, and a special surprise.
www.currentflowstate.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
We're going to be giving away a copy of Pheasant Tail Simplicity courtesy @patagoniabooks.bsky.social to one lucky attendee to our virtual discussion; RSVP and join us if you're interested! www.currentflowstate.com/fall-is-for-... #flytying #flyfishing
It was a joy to catch up with CFS Member @cagrimmett.com to learn more about the creative craft that enhances his #flyfishing practice: #flytying, #woodworking, boat building, and more. Thanks, Chuck! www.currentflowstate.com/cfs-member-p...
Fly fishing woodworking projects and making your own gear
On upstate New York streams, tying tenkara flies, fly fishing woodworking projects, functional design, and building your own fly fishing tools
www.currentflowstate.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:51 PM
It was a joy to catch up with CFS Member @cagrimmett.com to learn more about the creative craft that enhances his #flyfishing practice: #flytying, #woodworking, boat building, and more. Thanks, Chuck! www.currentflowstate.com/cfs-member-p...
Reposted by Nick Parish | CFS Fly Fishing
Trump take fly fishing.
Oof.
Oof.
"Orvis president Simon Perkins told USA TODAY in an Oct. 10 statement the company plans on reducing the products it sells as well as shuttering 31 stores and five outlets due to the 'unprecedented tariff landscape.' "
Orvis outdoor store closing half of its stores due to 'tariff landscape'
Outdoor and sporting goods chain Orvis, which has a location in Millbrook, is closing many of its stores early next year.
www.usatoday.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Trump take fly fishing.
Oof.
Oof.
Honestly this is going to need a few more pockets to be functional #flyfishing apparel.
October 16, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Honestly this is going to need a few more pockets to be functional #flyfishing apparel.