Next Bend Journal

The Next Bend Journal is where we slow down. Stories and reflections on the water, the vise, the fire at the end of the day, and the reasons we keep fishing. This is the reading, not the how-to.

Shelves of Firehole Sticks hook packs, sorted by model and size, in the Firehole warehouse.
The Long View

The Business Behind the Fly

Every fly in your box has a business behind it. Usually several.

The Long ViewRows of hand-tied streamers, nymphs and dry flies laid out on a foam board beside a Firehole Outdoors Go Barbless sticker

Craftsmanship in a Disposable World

Every fly ends one of three ways. The hook is the only part with a job in all three.

The Long ViewJohn Place and his son at the Firehole Outdoors booth at the Fly Fishing Show in Marlboro, Massachusetts

One Year In

A year ago this month I bought a hook company. I thought I knew what I was buying.

The Long ViewFour bare Firehole Sticks barbless hooks on white, showing jig, curved and standard shank profiles

Why I Care About Barbless

It is not a trend. It is not a marketing angle. It is a principle.

The Long ViewFly tyer at the vise mid-tie, bench covered in thread spools, hackle, and materials

Playing the Long Game

The pull, when you take over a brand that needs rebuilding is to move fast. Announce something. Change things where people can see them. Prove to the world, and to yourself, that the decision was ...

The Long ViewThe Water Belongs to Everyone

The Water Belongs to Everyone

Two and a half centuries in, and that river is still there. Still wild. Still open to anyone willing to show up for it.

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