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‘Posted’ signs a sad end to a chapter
How much trouble is it to ask permission to access a choice swimming hole? An Oregon landowner reluctantly posts his property after neighbors repeatedly ignore his requests for a heads up before swimming.
Dad has always been proud of the spot. "It's the best hole on the creek," he has said many times about the spot down the hill from his house. That's something of a guess. Dad hasn't explored the entire creek, a tributary to Oregon's South Umpqua River that runs for probably 15 miles from its…
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Low water, big problems
Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. You’d think I was checking the score for game seven of the World Series, but I wasn’t. Obsessively, I hit refresh on my trusty Riverbrain app no less than 50 times the day before our trip hoping to see the spike go up on our beloved Colorado River. But the flows didn’t…
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Tips for chasing coastal cutthroats in the Pacific Northwest
Coastal cutthroat trout from a stream near Ketchikan, Alaska. Chris Hunt photo. By Chris Mayes The coastal cutthroat trout is a fish of many names: sea-run cutthroat, blue-back, harvest, among others. Regardless of the name, most Pacific Northwest anglers agree the coastal cutthroat is a fantastic gamefish for anglers of all ages. Often the top…
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Bury your fly to rid it of unnatural odors
If you’re getting some obvious follows on your streamer, but not getting the takes you want, this might be what gets a trout to make that final commitment. It won’t hurt, that’s for sure
Several years back, while fishing for bonefish on Long Island in the Bahamas, Capt. Markk Cartwright gave me a great tip that translated well beyond the finicky bones on the flats around Dead Man’s Cay. It’s a tip I use every time I cast streamers and nymphs for trout, too. “Bury your fly in the…
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Quick tip: Wrap your glass in duct tape
Most folks know that taking glass containers on rubber rafts is almost always is a no-no. The idea is simple and and, in my mind, pretty much common sense. You break a glass container on the boat there's a real chance you might pop your boat. Plus it's incredibly hard to clean up in a…
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How to know if a caught fish is in trouble
Summer is not quite here yet, but it’s already sizzling in many places throughout America. So it’s extra important to be mindful of water temperatures. Put a thermometer in your fishing pack, and know when to give trout a break. Once water temps push above 65 degrees (which they are, right now in rivers like…
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Federal funding improves water efficiency in the West
In Wyoming, the federal Farm Bill is put to work improving irrigation on the Henry's Fork of the Green River. Each installment of Western Water 101 will be accompanied by a podcast, released weekly. Find the fifth episode below, and subscribe to get each new episode as it's released. This important funding reduces labor, improves…