Arizona Wanderings


Rambling Review – Swarovski Binocular Tripod Adapter

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Rambling Review – Swarovski Binocular Tripod Adapter Why: Hunting in the West requires a decent pair of binoculars and often times long hours of glassing hillsides in search of your quarry. For a boy raised in the Northeast where all you have to do is find the wind and plop yourself down next to a […]

Hunting Stands and Thunderstorms…

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A bittersweet day in the field found me scoping out my hunting stand for the upcoming turkey/deer archery season. The day was bittersweet because I know that with archery season comes the new school year. So while this week I am setting up a ground blind thinking about water and food sources for my quarry, […]

The Arizona Wanderings Shop

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It is finally here. Thanks to the hard work of my brother, Joel Smith, over at J. Sumner Designs, the Arizona Wanderings Shop is up and running. Along with the standard Arizona Wanderings T-shirt and signature Mini-Hopper flies, my new Hunting Gambel’s Quail E-book is also available for purchase. Hunting Gambel’s Quail is a beginner’s […]

Arizona Fly Fishing: Summertime Small Streams (Part 2)

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I woke to the beauty of the Arizona sun, rising across the canyon and beaming light into  every corner of the forest. Breakfast rivaled dinner from the night, and the eggs, hash browns, homemade breads and coffee provided us with plenty of energy to break down camp and get things under way. The morning started […]

Rambling Review – Temple Fork Outfitters BVK Fly Rod

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Rambling Review – Temple Fork Outfitters BVK 9’ 6Weight Fly Rod Why: Bigger water and bigger fish. I love fishing my TFO Finesse 3 weight, but when targeting bigger fish like the urban carp of Phoenix or the big redsides of the Deschutes River, I opted to try Temple Fork Outfitters new rod, the BVK. […]

Arizona Fly Fishing – Summertime Small Stream (Part 1)

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There is something about the sound of heavy tires crunching over a dirt road on the way to an ice-cold creek. Anticipation was running high as I had not fished these streams for over a month, and I was worried what condition the Arizona summer had put them in. Gear was sorted on the tailgate […]

Fly Fishing New York: Adirondack Small Stream

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A normal vacation morning finds me awake with the sun heading to a small stream while my wife sleeps till noon. Much to my surprise and delight, Michelle wanted to tag along one morning while I fished one of the priceless brook trout streams not 15 minutes from the house. We hit the water for […]

Rambling Review: Sierra Nets

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Rambling Review – Sierra Nets by Greg Madrigal Why: As important as the rod and reel are to the fly fisherman, the landing net becomes an extension of the arm when bringing a fish to hand. Greg Madrigal is an artist and constructs beautiful one of a kind nets. Greg has melded his love of […]