Virginia Sportsman

28/07/2025

"As Myers progressed through his set, I made eye contact with the guy standing next to me and said, “This kid plays the blues the way the music is supposed to be played.” My new friend raised his beer and nodded in agreement. Then we turned our attention back to Myers to listen and enjoy."

Read on with the link below🎸

I recently came across a passage in Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography “Born to Run” (Simon & Schuster, 2017, 528 pages) in which he describes his feelings after recording “Greetings from Asbury Park,” his first album. “Your early songs emerge from a moment when you’re writing with no s...

25/07/2025

Craft beer has exploded in the past two decades, as microbreweries across cities and small towns keep cranking out small batches of hazy IPAs and barrel-aged stouts. But among the dizzying array of options, it’s also enjoyable to pop a bottle of earlier beers that helped set the trends. Here are a handful of Virginia’s pioneering craft beers that still taste great.

Craft beer has exploded in the past two decades, as microbreweries across cities and small towns keep cranking out small batches of hazy IPAs and barrel-aged stouts. But among the dizzying array of options, it’s also enjoyable to pop a bottle of earlier beers that helped set the trends. Here are a...

11/07/2025

On Oct. 9 of last year, a bipartisan coalition of U.S. House of Representatives members introduced a bill that has the potential to be one of the most significant steps toward grassland conservation in the 21st Century.

The North American Grasslands Conservation Act, is designed to set the wheels in motion to protect America’s tallgrass, mixed grass and shortgrass prairies—more than 70% of which has disappeared.

Today, according to the World Wildlife Fund, grasslands are the most threatened and yet least protected ecosystems in the world, with only a few large, intact tracts remaining.

Read on with the photo link below🌾

27/06/2025

“Your hat is the last thing you take off and the first thing that gets noticed.”
– Old Cowboy Saying

National Football League linebacker Khalil Mack once said, “I have a big head, so I can appreciate a good hat.”

Scott O’Farrell would likely agree with Mack, even though the football player isn’t a cowboy. O’Farrell understands that heads come in all shapes and sizes and crafts custom hats to fit each unique form. From classic cowboy hats to crossover styles, specialty designs and fedoras, O’Farrell ensures a perfect fit and offers a wide range of custom creations for all tastes and needs.

Read on with the linked photo below🤠

Photos by Eric Kallen “Your hat is the last thing you take off and the first thing that gets noticed.” – Old Cowboy Saying National Football League linebacker Khalil Mack once said, “I have a big head, so I can appreciate a good hat.” Scott O’Farrell would likely agree with Mack, even th...

25/06/2025

Congrats to contributing editor and New York Times bestselling author on the publication of his new book, "Rivers Always Reach the Sea," essays and profiles of some of the biggest names in angling.

Get yourself a copy here: https://heyor.ca/9zn95W

24/06/2025

The High-Art Life of a Fly Fisher, Author, Lensman and Educator

I don’t always comply with this scholarly approach, but I do when I read Dave Karczynski. The author’s handle—his key grip on words and images—matches his proficiency with a fly rod and camera, not necessarily in that order. My tally: the man lives a life of high art.

Read the inspiring and stunning life of Karczynski and his new essay collection with the linked photos below 🐟

19/06/2025

M.C. Taylor got tired of being bummed out. The North Carolina-based singer-songwriter, who records and performs as Hiss Golden Messenger, released his contemplative pandemic album, “Quietly Blowing It,” in 2021. So, for the follow-up, the August-released “Jump for Joy,” he decided it was time to make a positive pivot.

In the dance-ready “Shinbone,” one of the record’s most upbeat tracks, Taylor sings: “Woke up this morning, my God I felt happy—what a strange sensation.”

Read on with the linked photo below🦌

Hiss Golden Messenger Finds an Upbeat Groove on New Album M.C. Taylor got tired of being bummed out. The North Carolina-based singer-songwriter, who records and performs as Hiss Golden Messenger, released his contemplative pandemic album, “Quietly Blowing It,” in 2021. So, for the follow-up, the...

10/05/2025

Fly Fishing in the Alleghany Highlands

Fly fishing has a way of getting inside your heart and staying there. Once you find your way to the water, chances are you’ll find your way back, even if it takes a while.

Wes Hodges had his first fly fishing experience at the age of 13 at a Boy Scout camp in Colorado. His mother had given him $100 spending money, and as Hodges likes to tell it, he blew a good piece of it on fly fishing right off the bat. It would be the first time he would bet on the sport, but certainly not the last.

The sights and sounds of those Colorado days never left him. As it usually does, real life intervened in his story, including a ten-year stint as a sniper in the 82nd Airborne that included multiple tours in Iraq. When Hodges returned stateside for good, Hodges landed in North Carolina, and then at Virginia Tech, where he found himself a home away from home on the New River and began working as a part-time guide. “I absolutely fell in love with it,” Hodges remembers.

Read on: https://thevirginiasportsman.com/featured/fly-fishing-in-the-alleghany-highlands

📸 : Photos Courtesy of the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism

02/05/2025

Around the World to Angle and Savor

I have been home for a week. As one would expect, being away for five months would create a backlog of chores that must be addressed to bring my home and life back to order or, at least, to the condition I considered “normal” before I left.

However, after visiting 14 countries on six continents, these endless tasks blur the fact that I have returned as a different person. The changes are not easily definable, but I now realize I perceive everything from a new perspective. I now understand I need to reexamine every aspect of my everyday life and question whether it can be changed to make it more interesting, valuable or enjoyable...
..These global experiences do not remain only as memories, but as inspiration to live a more fulfilling life and to create more ambitious and higher-quality art.

Read on: https://thevirginiasportsman.com/winter-2024/around-the-worldto-angle-and-savor

📸&✏️: Alberto Rey

18/04/2025

From our Winter Issue, we cover our top gear picks for heading out in nature with comfort, functionality, and style.

Read the full article with the link below.

10/04/2025

A few pages from our newest issue⛵️

The Spring 2025 Issue has officially hit the stands! This season, we cover exhilerating tales on the mega brookies of Patagonia, the winners of the 37th annual America's Cup Emirates Team New Zealand, stag hunting in Argentina, and much more. Plus, read about the latest gear, recipes, and music, including a new album by My Morning Jacket.

Pick up your copy today and use the link in our bio to catch up on past issues.

📸 : Emirates Team NewZealand harnessed the power of its
second-generation AC75 Taihoro to make history as the first team in America’s Cup history to win three consecutive titles. Photo Courtesy
of the America's Cup.

04/04/2025

We loved featuring and his fly-fishing essays collection “Calling After Water” (Winter 2025). Read it and grab your rod and gear!