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Wet wading season arrives
A great day for a double feature.
As I stepped into the rushing water, the cold instantly filled my wading boots and flooded over my calves. The crystal-clear water rushed up to the bases of trees and shrubs and hid most of the rocks I know in this stretch of river. With that, the typical lies of the high mountain brook trout were also obscured,…
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Stranded in grizzly country
It pays to be prepared, even when you're just out for a casual drive We’d walked well over a mile down the lonely Forest Service road, well out of the way from the Island Park bustle. The sun was retreating and the mosquitoes had discovered us. And we had a long way to go. Mostly,…
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How a little black box led to a healing experience
By Joshua Crumpton I am the founder of a hunting and fishing guide service in the heart of Texas, and as a minority in the outdoor community, the past few days have been very meaningful for me. I am humbled by the outpouring of support, love, and understanding from my fellow anglers and hunters. At…
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Practicing equity at Trout Unlimited
“Why doesn’t TU stick to fixing rivers?” I’ve been asked this question more than a few times this week, this year—really, numerous times over my past 12 years on staff at Trout Unlimited. Generally, I pick up the phone and talk with folks. TU is a place where relationships are deep, and that sort of…
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The Land Ethic
We can turn to Aldo Leopold for important lessons that are ideal for the times.
Aldo Leopold was a philosopher, an ecologist and, very importantly, a writer. As though possessed of his talent for translating the universal, we quote him ad nauseam. And though the southwest still bears scars from his killing of wolves, cougars and other varmints, his eventual embrace of the predator as a force for ecological balance exemplifies a flexible and evolving mind that left a significant mark whenever it…
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Personal best brown a quarantine surprise
By Rob Shane If you told me I’d be stuck at home for an indefinite amount of time and encouraged to practice social distancing when I do leave the house, I never would have imagined it would result in me catching my personal best brown trout. It all came together on a beautiful, brisk morning — the way most great…
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Pining for salt
The coronavirus outbreak has put many a travel plan on the back burner this year.
Normally, I would’ve recently returned from a saltwater fishing trip this time of year. But as we all know, 2020 is far from normal. COVID-19 isn’t a great excuse for me because I haven’t even seen the ocean in three years. Priorities, huh? But I can still dream about the trip that could’ve been and reminisce about…
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