Photography by George Calef

Elsewhere winter is a season, in the Yukon Territory it is a way of life. Snow covers the ground for almost eight months of the year. I’m not talking about in the high mountains, I mean even right down in the valleys where everybody lives.

Story & Photography by Jeff Bright

He moved out gracefully and easily until he was in water over his hips; then he began to put out line with his double-handed thirteen-foot rod. He was spey casting, rolling the line out in a long loop that lifted the fly from the water in front of him and carried it over and out in a straight smooth cast that covered the whole water. He worked his fly across, deep and slow, moved down a step or two and cast again, letting the big shining curve of the rod carry the burden of the work…

To read more go to www.thecontemporarysportsman.com

Photo Essay by Brian Grossenbacher

Looking into the Wild Heart of Patagonia

Story & Photography by Henry Gilbey

Both are a seething mass of humanity, but the differences between flying into and then out of somewhere as outrageously modern and first world as Dubai and then landing a few hours later in the oozing chaos of a southern African city, such as Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, could not be more marked. Dubai airport does not do it for me at all—indeed the whole endless shopping mall thing makes me feel somewhat empty inside, so it’s with a sense of freedom and joy that I board the flight south to Tanzania and the seemingly random mass of humanity you see as you are driven across the bustling city to your hotel.

To read more go to www.thecontemporarysportsman.com

Story & Photography by Mark Lance

The coastal mountains between Vancouver and Smithers are young and sharp-edged. Thick snow fields and 10,000 year old glaciers drape like a canopy over majestic peaks. Hanging lakes perch precariously on the precipice of hanging
valleys. Terminal moraines pile up neatly in valley floors.

Telltale geomorphology of a glacial epoch and ancient climate considerably colder than today. Waterfalls and cascading meltwater plunge untethered to the valley floor. Receding glacial tongues leave a scoured path of slickensides and a ring of ground rock-flour high upon the steep sides of U-shaped valleys. Other valleys, V-shaped, are carved by water rather than ice. To read more go to www.thecontemporarysportsman.com

Story by George Calef Photography by George & Brodie Calef

Elsewhere winter is a season, in the Yukon Territory it is a way of life.  Snow covers the ground for almost eight months of the year.  I’m not talking about in the high mountains, I mean even right down in the valleys where everybody lives.

Hopefully you will have enough free time to browse deep into the latest issue of The Contemporary Sportsman. If so, you will inevitably run smack-dab into Henry Gilbey’s exhilarating, hi-octane, over-the-top photo essay. Henry takes us to St Brandon’s off the coast of South Africa to chase oversized bonefish and the seductive permit. It’s also a must to check out the oversized jack crevel’s (giant trevally) with the fancy paint jobs. Sure, I know this is just another example of a modern-day fly fishing bum gone wild. But, in this case, Henry just happens to be a world-class photographer (and a rather good fly fisherman as well), which means we all get to share in at least part of the fun, which makes it somewhat easier to be magnanimous and indulgent.

On a recent fly fishing jaunt through Patagonia, we had the good fortune to overnight in San Martin de los Andes, where we stayed at the Hotel La Cheminée. Almost immediately, as we entered the lobby, we were overwhelmed by the charm and ambiance of the hotel, especially the artwork that lined the walls of the restaurant and bar. In fact, several of us delayed checking in and gathered around one painting in particular. It was a small, 13″ by 24″ oil painting, depicting a fly fisherman waist deep in a river. He is apparently struggling to stay upright while fighting an obviously enormous fish.