Category

steelhead

  • steelhead

    On the North Umpqua, a win for science and wild steelhead

    TU and Wild Steelheaders support Oregon decision to help decimated wild summer steelhead TU’s Wild Steelhead Initiative is firmly committed to the principle that the best available science must guide steelhead fisheries management. But as our wild steelhead populations continue to decline in virtually every watershed in their native range, too often we see steelhead…

  • steelhead The Versatile Angler Trout Talk

    A foray into ‘centerpinning’ for steelhead

    When was the last time you fought a hot 10-pound fish on a reel with no drag? For me, the answer was “never.”

    Another fishing experiment in a lifetime full of them. The strike was surprisingly violent. Really, it was just surprising. How often does that happen? We take a minute off. Or maybe just a few seconds. And boom! In this case I had been flipping the end of the fishing rod in hopes of removing a…

  • steelhead

    A lost steelhead history

    Thanks to a new study, we now have a better sense of how many steelhead once returned to fabled OP rivers.

    Study of past data shows declines are steep; more closures in Washington and elsewhere may become the norm. Last week, steelheaders in Washington State were dealt another tough blow with the early closure of the coastal winter steelhead season. Anglers in this region were already fishing under a second season of emergency regulations, implemented in…

  • Snake River dams Fishing Fly tying steelhead

    Tying the Steelhead Coachman

    If you were to look in the box of a seasoned steelheader on the banks of the Snake, Grande Ronde or Clearwater chances are good you'll find.

    I can distinctly remember the first few flies I started fishing with. As I would imagine the case is with many people, that selection of a dozen flies was a 'who's who' of the classics. The Adams, Elk-hair Caddis, Muddler Minnow, Pheasant Tail, and Royal Wulff seem almost like names from scripture in the pantheon…

  • Advocacy Dam Removal steelhead

    How do we bring back salmon and steelhead on the Lower Snake?

    So it turns out Rep. Mike Simpson isn’t messing around.   In February the Idaho Congressman announced intentions to finally tackle the decades-old problem of declining salmon and steelhead populations in the Lower Snake River. Scientific consensus points to the four Lower Snake Dams as the prime culprits.  In a video to the public, Simpson announced his intention to restore wild salmon…

  • Featured Conservation steelhead Voices from the river

    Welcome to winter steelhead fishing

    Dean hollered from upstream as a steelhead took his fly, then hollered again a moment later as the fish released it. At another spot Dean had a nice fish on for perhaps a minute, his rod bowed and bobbing. But that steelhead, too, practiced detachment. Welcome to winter steelhead fishing.

    Molly the water dog and Jenny Weis on Oregon's Umpqua River, before everything blew out. By the third day, it seemed a foregone conclusion that at least one of our three-person party would feel the chilly fingers of a stream no longer kept at bay by their waders. The ubiquitous blackberry vines armoring the banks…