Can a Luxury Ski Resort Be a Great Fly Fishing Destination and Other Top Stories from Fishing on SI

These 3 stories captured our Sports Illustrated fishing reader’s attention on Fishing on SI this past week.

Can a Luxury Ski Resort in Utah Also Be a Great Summer Fly Fishing Destination?; You’re Ignoring the Hardest-Fighting Fish in Your Local Water; “It’s Not the Technology”—Jacob Wheeler Pushes Back on Critics of Young Anglers | Ken Baldwin | Joe Shead | Kurt Mazurek

In case they slipped by you, following are the most read fishing stories of the week. Can a Luxury Ski Resort in Utah Also Be a Great Summer Fly Fishing Destination?; You’re Ignoring the Hardest-Fighting Fish in Your Local Water; “It’s Not the Technology”—Jacob Wheeler Pushes Back on Critics of Young Anglers

1.) Can a Luxury Ski Resort in Utah Also Be a Great Summer Fly Fishing Destination?

Utah guide Sammy Elam taking the scenic route to the river. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

One of the upsides of this job is that I get invited to fish all over—from farm ponds to water I’ve only dreamed of fishing. If I get an invite and there’s a chance to catch something, I usually say yes.

Last fall, I was invited to stay at a resort in Utah. I write about fly fishing, not resort living. But in the invite was a promise of some great rivers and fishing. Utah is known for excellent fly fishing. I've never fished in Utah, so I kinda felt like it was my duty to go.

That’s how I ended up at the Montage Deer Valley Resort, set at the base of a mountain and just above Park City…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

2.) You’re Ignoring the Hardest-Fighting Fish in Your Local Water

Rough fish like this buffalo are widespread and incredibly powerful, often using current to extend fights far beyond what most anglers expect. | Joe Shead

My girlfriend Tashina laughed and shreiked with delight. A solid, heavy fish was battling her for all it was worth, and with the drag singing and the rod bowing, it looked like it was winning. Eventually Tashina gained line on the bucking, diving fish, but this was no spring chicken. As it begrudgingly gave up ground in the eddy, it had a trick up its sleeve: it worked cross-current into the fast current surging out of the dam. In an instant, the fish was 30 yards downstream, peeling line fiercely!

Again Tashina gradually worked the fish back to her. At one point, she asked me to remove her jacket because she was getting overheated from the battle. After a few minutes, the fish neared the bank where we stood, but once again it maneuvered toward the dam and peeled line downstream…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

3.) “It’s Not the Technology”—Jacob Wheeler Pushes Back on Critics of Young Anglers

Wheeler understand that the best electronics without time, dedication and commitment, will never get you to the top. | Kurt Mazurek

At the Major League Fishing REDCREST opening night gala, Jacob Wheeler used his Angler of the Year speech—his fourth— to push back on one of the most persistent and unfair narratives in professional bass fishing: that young anglers are only winning because of technology.

For many fans, participants and observers of the sport, this “theory” has become almost automatic. They’ll argue that forward-facing sonar combined with the younger generation’s natural proclivity for video games is the obvious reason they rise so quickly to the top of this sport.
Wheeler sees it differently…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.