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The True Cast: Is fly-fishing an “elitist” pursuit?
Okay, so as we shove this “True Cast” column/ship off the dock, we may as well start with a doozie. Every now and then, I get a nastygram telling me I focus too much on fly fishing, that I should get off my high horse, and run more stories about “conventional” tackle, and that fly…
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“The True Cast”
A new column for a new year.
A new column for a new year. New Year’s resolution—write more, and be more willing to say what I “really think.” I’m not assuming that anyone should care necessarily, but there’s a lot of confusing information out there about trout and salmon fishing—the way we go about it, how we measure success, who does what…
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Unearthed: Excavating a wild cutthroat stream in Montana
Here’s a case study for why we need a new approach to abandoned mine cleanups The stamping mill from the old mine is a concrete ruin four miles up a dirt road from the town of Superior, Mont., population 800, in the Bitterroot Range. It’s astride a tributary that you could hop across, Flat Creek,…
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Our digital conservation future
Having finished the online NYT crossword over morning coffee, retweeting some delicious burns on climate deniers, checking Facebook and Instagram, liking a picture of a steelhead, and prioritizing work emails before a day of zoom calls, he/she remarked, “Kids these days are hopelessly addicted to their devices,” as though the Peleton screen was an actual…
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Tongass turns to restoration
Many visitors travel to Alaska to witness the classic scene of bears feeding on salmon. Those who travel to southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest often visit Margaret Creek, a remote salmon stream 22 miles north of Ketchikan. Although, this area is not the pristine wilderness most expect to experience. Margaret Creek is home to sockeye,…
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The best hope for recovering trout and salmon? You.
Thanks to dedicated volunteers, loyal partners, and strong allies, we racked up wins in 2022 Seventeen years ago, when Brian Johnson was hired at TU in California, his boss told him that a coalition working on the Klamath River was advocating for removal of all four dams on the river. The other day, Brian recounted…
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Three of my favorite . . . fly-casting tips
These are the best I’ve ever learned.
These are the best I’ve ever learned I’ve been very fortunate over the years to have spent some time watching and learning firsthand from the masters of casting a fly rod, from Lefty Kreh, Frank Moore, Flip Pallot and Mel Krieger, to John Juracek, Simon Gawesworth, and Tom Rosenbauer—people who literally “wrote the books” on…