Voices from the River: Grazing reality

By Toner Mitchell Livestock grazing has always played a leading role in shaping the image, if not the substance, of America. Evidence is everywhere from the burger in your hand, the jeans covering your butt, possibly your favorite pro football team (“America’s Team”), to the truck you drive “til the cows come home,” even if

Yellow perch … in Yellowstone?

Yellow perch were discovered in Goose Lake inside Yellowstone National Park in 1919. Photo by Wikimedia Commons. Wait. Don’t panic. There aren’t any yellow perch inside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. At least not anymore. I’m in the final throes of researching a book on the wild trout of Yellowstone that’ll hit bookshelves next

Fly tying: Black Bear Green Butt

It’s tough for me to get really excited about steelhead flies this fall–Idaho’s steelhead run as been dismal, so much so, that I haven’t bothered to make the trip to Salmon to swing flies. The last thing the few fish that made it home need is another angler harassing them. Video of Black Bear Green

The caddis: ‘The most dishonest fly ever’

Big trout won’t chase adult caddis as much as they will go after emerging caddis that are still in the water. Tom Rosenbauer doesn’t like caddis flies. OK. Maybe you need some background. I’m in snowy Island Park, Idaho, for a couple of days this week to drop in on the School of Trout, a

Video spotlight: How to Fish Out of a Flats Boat

In recent years, fly fishing the flats of the Caribbean has become an expensive passion for me. I like to go at least once a year, usually in the spring when the weather here in Idaho can be still be relentlessly cold. And I usually try to do a lot of my flats fishing on

Reflections on another western fire season

By Tom Jones Those of us who live in the west have spent yet another frightening summer navigating our fire season, which has become longer and more intense over the years with climate change. On June 1, a fire started north of my home in Durango, Colo.. As the 416 Fire began to move toward us, my