Trout Magazine

  • From the President

    Fishing with, and learning from, Sharon

    There are so many unsung women responsible for making Trout Unlimited what it is today. In honor of Women’s History Month, I want to celebrate one woman who has made an outsized impact on coldwater conservation and me, personally, Sharon Lance.

    "Whoo hoo!" The first time Sharon shouted as she brought a fish to hand on the Roaring Fork, I waded out of my hole, ran upstream, pulled out my camera and took a few pictures of her with the fish. The next time it happened, I walked to the bank and asked if she needed…

  • Trout Talk

    Winter blues, cabin fever and Appalachian envy

    April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. —T.S. Elliot It’s still cold and gray here in the steppe country of eastern Idaho. Snow still covers the yard. Snow is still in the immediate forecast. Winter’s not done yet. Not even…

  • TU Business

    Jen Ripple is a force of and for nature

    “Fly fishing is one of the few sports where you don’t have to be great at it or in perfect shape to enjoy it. It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young, or if you make the perfect cast; it’s still a lot of fun. Fly fishing is a beautiful art form, and women take to that. I think it’s a great sport for women because women are much more about the experience than they are about the catch.”

    I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. One of the best things about working with TU is the outstanding people you meet. If you haven’t met Jen Ripple, the driving force behind both DUN Magazine and so much of what is great in the fly fishing industry right now, you should. Her easy…

  • Advocacy

    Alaskans: Be a voice for reserving water in rivers for fish

    In a world where salmon and steelhead continue to dwindle and disappear, Governor Dunleavy has proposed changes to Alaska’s water management regulations that head us in the exact wrong direction.  Alaskan anglers and business owners are witnessing and adapting to numerous stressors on our wild fisheries, including King salmon decline, unpredictable salmon returns, invasive species, water temperature increases, and more.  All of these are outside our control.    Fortunately, ensuring that water…

  • From the field

    What makes sense when it comes to energy on public lands?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vynVuHGHwYo Click here to ask your Member of Congress to act today! We’ve seen plenty of attempts to pit conservation against energy development in recent weeks, but the reality of what is best both for community and conservation probably lies somewhere in that murky grey area that can never quite be captured in a headline.  At issue is the…

  • Trout Talk

    Are you ready for the F3T?

    March 10 can’t come soon enough.   The Fly Fishing Film tour, otherwise known as F3T, provides a time when I can’t wait to sit in front of a screen. While the snow still flies in Colorado, I revel in films that whisk me away to far-off adventures. I can drool over beastly fish. I get my adrenaline pumping with insane footage, and this year, we can do all this from the…

  • Trout Talk

    Bumping fists with trout

    So I finally shook off the COVID blues and decided to go fishing one day last week.  Yampa River, northern Colorado, and admittedly it might have been a better day to ski, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to fish.   So I trudged through the snowpack to a prime spot, and the sun…