Fly Fisherman Earns Five OWAA Excellence Awards

The short film Over the Guardrail takes first place in the TV/Video/Webcast category.

October 24, 2024 By Fly Fisherman Staff

Fly Fisherman magazine was recognized with five different awards from the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) at its annual conference this year in El Paso, Texas, Sept. 22.

The awards were part of OWAA’s annual Excellence In Craft (EIC) Contest. The EIC Contest honors the best-of-the-best in a variety of communications formats–Blog, Book, Column, Graphic/Illustration, Magazine, Newspaper, Photography, Photography Essay, Radio/Podcast, and TV/Video/Webcast.

The awards–announced in 2024–were for material published in the 2023 calendar year.

Fly Fisherman took first place in the fishing TV/Video/Webcast category for the short film Over the Guardrail written, directed, and produced by Ross Purnell. The film, with Purnell and his nephew Josh Burnham, is about fishing urban environments, but still finding mental peace and solace. Over the Guardrail takes a look at how time in the outdoors–even in your own backyard–can be a therapeutic remedy for depression. The film is currently available on the Fly Fisherman magazine YouTube channel and flyfisherman.com.

A certificate of an OWAA first place award. — Fly Fisherman took first place in the fishing TV/Video/Webcast category for the short film Over the Guardrail written, directed, and produced by Ross Purnell.

Fly Fisherman contributor Hilary Hutcheson took second place in the family participation/youth outdoor education category for her magazine article "Teenagers + Wilderness," which appeared in the June-July 2023 issue.

A screenshot of a magazine article. — Hilary Hutcheson took second place in the family participation/youth outdoor education category for her magazine article Teenagers + Wilderness.

George Daniel, director of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program at Penn State University, took second place in the gear/technical category for his magazine article “Drop Shot: Rolling in the Deep” which appeared in the Feb.-Mar. 2023 issue.

In the magazine graphic/illustration category, Fly Fisherman contributors took second and third place, respectively. Fly Fisherman Art Director Dennis Pastucha was recognized for his Photoshop artwork blending historic photos of Jesuit priest Pierre-Jean De Smet, U.S. Army “Buffalo Soldiers,” and a cutthroat trout for the story "Shadows of the Saint Joe" in the June-July 2023 issue. Joe Mahler’s third place award was for his illustrations that accompanied his article “7 Ways to Haul” in the April-May 2023 issue.

The overall President’s Choice Award was presented to “On Grizzly Ground,” a film by Kris Millgate of Idaho that aired on PBS stations in Idaho and Oregon. Millgate’s film follows federally protected grizzly bears through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. A total of 135 EIC awards were presented to 78 OWAA members.

The OWAA is the nation’s largest organization of professional outdoor journalists. Its membership includes writers, photographers, videographers, radio and TV personalities, digital storytellers and artists. Formed in 1927, the nonprofit association’s mission is to improve the professional skills and opportunities of its members, set the highest ethical and communications standards, encourage public enjoyment and conservation of natural resources, and mentor the next generation of professional outdoor communicators. This year’s EIC contest was sponsored by Friesens Publishing and Pew Charitable Trusts.

Also at the annual meeting, six members were selected as Honorary Award Recipients. Katie McKalip received the Ham Brown Award. Lisa Ballard received the Joan Wulff Enduring Excellence Award. Brett Prettyman received the Jade of Chiefs award. Ken Keffer was recognized as Outstanding Board Member and Howard Fox was named Committee Volunteer of the Year. Click here for a full list of award winners.

A Classic Pennsylvania Sulphur Hatch

Destinations/Species

A Classic Pennsylvania Sulphur Hatch

This dense sulphur hatch in Pennsylvania demonstrates why the sibling hatches of Little Sulphurs and Pale Morning Duns get fly anglers excited from coast to coast. There are good reasons these mayflies are important to both sets of fly fishers. (Dennis Pastucha video)

How-To/Techniques

André Brun Demonstrates the Backhand Snake Roll Fly Cast

How-To/Techniques

André Brun Demonstrates the Backhand Snake Roll Fly Cast

This is an instructional film on how to do the backhand snake roll including an air mend at the end, to get a drag free drift. This film is done with Brun's regular 5 weight rig for brown-trout dry-fly fishing with a delicate fly line, suitable for presentations to spooky trout in clear water.

Fly Tying

Tim Cammisa

Fly Tying

Tim Cammisa

Tim Cammisa has been a guide on the Delaware River, a professional fly tier for 30 years, and his hundreds and hundreds of videos on YouTube and other social media platforms have reached around the globe with more than 17 million views and counting.

How-To/Techniques

Fly Tier's Bench: Bakko's Phat Azz Hopper

How-To/Techniques

Fly Tier's Bench: Bakko's Phat Azz Hopper

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Ed Jaworowski's Fly Casting Video Series, Video 3: Critical Angle

The "critical angle" in fly casting, defined by Ed Jaworowski as the angle between the rod and the line at the start of the cast (assuming no slack), is crucial for determining how efficiently the rod loads. Ed talks about how a wider angle, approaching 180 degrees, maximizes mechanical efficiency, loading the rod deeper for greater energy storage and longer casts with less effort, whereas a 90-degree angle is less efficient, loading only the tip, suitable for shorter casts. This is the third in a series of five articles examining the physics and mechanics that determine the outcomes of all casts, based on Ed Jaworowski's nearly 70 years of casting, testing, experimentation, teaching, and consulting with physicists, kinesiologists, and engineers.

How-To/Techniques

Nymphing Is A Drag

How-To/Techniques

Nymphing Is A Drag

Jim Cox believes that sometimes adding movement to your fly is the best way to catch fish. Watch him demonstrate his J-hook nymphing technique to add movement and keep a tight line at all times to detect more strikes.

Fly Tying

Blane Chocklett: fly-tying innovator & guide, reveals new flies & relationship with Lefty and ASGA

Fly Tying

Blane Chocklett: fly-tying innovator & guide, reveals new flies & relationship with Lefty and ASGA

In episode three, editor/publisher Ross Purnell chats with longtime FLY FISHERMAN magazine contributor Blane Chocklett about how he got started in fly fishing, his early influencers Harrison Steeves and Steve Hiner, how he created the Game Changer, new patterns that will be revealed this summer, his new role as a fly-tying entrepreneur, and his decades-long relationship with Lefty Kreh. Blane is also an ambassador for the American Saltwater Guides Association. We dig into their efforts to fund baseline research on false albacore and jack crevalle, and their upcoming Lefty's Tie Fest in Vero Beach, Florida.

News

Jay Nichols

News

Jay Nichols

Jay Nichols has been an editor, publisher, photographer, videographer, and author for more than 25 years and has produced some of the most iconic and influential fly-fishing books, including “Casting with Lefty Kreh” (2008).

How-To/Techniques

Ed Jaworowski, a lifetime of studying the physics of fly casting

How-To/Techniques

Ed Jaworowski, a lifetime of studying the physics of fly casting

Author and fly-casting coach Ed Jaworowski has been teaching and instructing for 45+ years, and before he took up fly casting he was a competitive surf caster. He wrote two seminal books on fly casting: The Cast (2005) and Perfecting the Cast (2021). He is also the author of Troubleshooting the Cast (1999) and co-author with Bob Popovics of the fly-tying masterpiece Pop Fleyes (2014). On today's episode we talk to Ed about his five-part 2025 casting series in Fly Fisherman magazine titled Functional Fly Casting. We also discuss his career as a classics professor at Villanova University, how he approaches his research and his teaching philosophy, and we talk about his long friendship and many collaborations with Lefty Kreh.

How-To/Techniques

Ed Jaworowski's Functional Fly Casting Part 2: Rotation & Leverage

How-To/Techniques

Ed Jaworowski's Functional Fly Casting Part 2: Rotation & Leverage

In the previous video, I discussed the nature of acceleration. Now I'll build on that by looking at an essential feature of acceleration which, for convenience, I'll simply term "rotation," although we could call it "pivoting," or simply "turning." By using your whole body and rotating at the waist, you use your hips as a fulcrum for better performance. The idea isn't always to cast longer or harder, the goal is to cast smarter. Golfers, tennis players, and baseball players all use their bodies to increase efficiency while using class 3 levers. Good fly casters should do the same. This is the second in a series of five articles examining the physics and mechanics that determine the outcomes of all casts, based on Ed Jaworowski's nearly 70 years of casting, testing, experimentation, teaching, and consulting with physicists, kinesiologists, and engineers.

How-To/Techniques

Fly Tier's Bench: Max's Mess Maker (MMM)

How-To/Techniques

Fly Tier's Bench: Max's Mess Maker (MMM)

Sometimes I get in a slump and get tier's block trying to produce subjects for this column. Picking the fly to write about is the most difficult part, as it must be something that ideally shows some new or unusual technique, is innovative and, most importantly, compelling to me. As usual, I search far and wide, perusing new patterns from all the fly manufacturers, going through my own fly boxes, and asking around in the shop, so it makes me feel particularly dumb to have overlooked Max Beauchene's new Mess Maker pattern, which he came up with a couple of summers ago. Max's Mess Maker is a caddis/attractor with a reverse-ribbed body and forward-facing wing.

News

Lefty: The Greatest of All Time

News

Lefty: The Greatest of All Time

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