Fishing in the Olympics?

Photo courtesy of Bassmaster Classic As I watched Chloe Kim defy gravity on a snowboard last night, I was reminded of the splendor and the impact of the Olympics, and what it means to the compeitors who have devoted their lives to just a sliver of actual living. For Kim, it’s the half-pipe. She learned

Taking action to protect the places we live and love

This week’s news that the EPA was suspending the Clean Water Act’s protections for headwater streams was a stark reminder that elections have consequences. The previous presidential administration worked for years to write the rule, and the new one doesn’t like it. Game over, right? No. Don’t forget an unassailable fact—elected leaders are elected. By

Voices from the river: Cassie’s fish

The Steelhead Whisperer and his daughter with a jewel from the Big Sur River. By Sam Davidson On Martin Luther King Day three men and a diminutive young lady went fishing on California’s Big Sur River—a tiny but fierce watershed on the central coast with a bona fide steelhead run—and the smallest member of the

Six great winter fishing destinations

Most of trout country is in the grips of winter, but that doesn’t mean trout fishing has to stop. Fly fishing for winter trout can be just as productive as spring, summer or fall fishing if anglers take care to adjust to the changes in trout behavior, habitat and, of course, cold temperatures that might

Voices from the River: The altruistic angler

The Steelhead Whisperer, on his home water, in his characteristic pose. By Sam Davidson Apparently I like to observe important fishing occasions by making other anglers feel better about themselves. 2017 was a case in point. I ended the calendar year, and the 2016-17 winter steelhead season (in March), in the same fashion: by going

Making the world a better place

TU does more work than any other organization in the country to make fishing better. For example, in Mill Creek, a tributary to the Russian River in California, we worked for seven years with our partners to remove a dam to reopen 14 miles of critical spawning habitat for imperiled Coho salmon. Across the country

Looking back at 2017

By Chris Wood Last week, I had an hour between meetings in Carmel, California, so I called Tim Frahm, who directs our CA coastal steelhead work. He invited me to look at a project that Christy Fischer, his spouse, and he had worked on. Over chicken sandwiches they told me a riveting story about how