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The lost art of roll casting
I wonder why we don’t pay more attention to roll casting. I can’t count the number of books written about perfecting loops and the overhead cast, but there’s a lot less on roll casting. This, despite the fact that when I’m actually fishing, I find myself rolling over false casting at about a 3-to-1 ratio……
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A good guide can teach even old dogs new tricks
Earl Harper watches as guide Mason Haggard demonstrates a casting technique used to reach rising fish across a fast-moving channel. Chris Hunt photo. A guided fishing trip, even for experienced anglers, can be a great way to identify bad habits, learn new tactics and generally improve your fly-fishing game. Don't believe me? I've been fly…
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Hope and resilience in the Garden State
Imagine that, a native brook trout stream within sight of New York City.
Hope and resilience. Those were the two words that stuck with me as I walked the miles-long trail with Chris Henrickson, the chapter president of the East Jersey chapter of TU. Eventually, we made our way to a small deteriorating dam. Behind the dam, water collects into a small reservoir, where it warms up under…
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Sharing moments in time on a Wild and Scenic Alaskan river
Eric and Ryan rowing across Paxson Lake with Gulkana Glacier in the distance. Photo by Chad Gage. Five years ago, I watched Wyatt, not even a teenager yet, take the oars for the first time on my initial foray to the Gulkana River. During subsequent trips I have been privileged to observe his skills solidify and…
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Love in the time of climate change
For one angler, a wounded California is better than no California at all It was a classic Yuba day with Joe and the Butler brothers—a 105-degree scorcher with the river inviting swimming as much as fishing. As typical as it seemed, the river was in many ways new to me. It had been two years…
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Everything you need to know: Eagle Lake rainbow trout
Eagle Lake rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aquilarum) Species summary and status: Eagle Lake rainbow trout are a lake dwelling subspecies of rainbow trout found in Eagle Lake and its tributary streams on the east side of the Sierra Nevada in Lassen County, California. First described by J. O. Snyder in 1917, Eagle Lake rainbow trout were…
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Some rainbows are real
Eagle Lake rainbow trout are native to the high alpine watersheds of Lassen County, California. Daniel A. Ritz photo. The Eagle Lake rainbow trout is the final fish as Daniel Ritz completes the Western Native Trout Challenge Editor’s note: Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to accomplish the Master…