Currently browsing… Alaska
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Whitewater and wild rainbows on an inspiring Alaska wilderness float
But future public access at risk with Alaska governor's proposal to strip Susitna Basin waters of "Recreational River" status
Rafts ready and waiting to be loaded back up for the day ahead. Photo credit: Eric Booton Airborne, we crossed Cook Inlet and began tracing the Susitna River north. My twin sister, Shauna, rode co-pilot in a Cessna 206 atop floats. Moose meandered wetlands and swans dotted water bodies below. In every direction, rivers transected the landscape while glaciers and notorious summits bobbed about in the…
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Protections for Bristol Bay back on track
Photo by Fly Out Media On Friday of last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2019 decision to withdraw the Bristol Bay 404(c) Proposed Determination, putting back in place science-based limits on large mine waste in the headwaters of Bristol Bay. This victory concludes a two-year-long lawsuit by Trout Unlimited and comes in the wake of a recent ruling in…
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Fooling Dollies with dancing streamers
All trout and char, to some extent, are predators — even the little fish that swim in small water and eat virtually nothing but insects. But there are true predators in the salmonid world, and these are the fish that make fly fishers tremble. They're big browns that feed on smaller fish and, during the…
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Trout Unlimited prevails in lawsuit; EPA will reinstate proposed protections
This week, we moved a step closer to lasting protections for the Bristol Bay region and the most prolific sockeye salmon fishery on the planet. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would reinstate the 2014 “Proposed Determination” that would set limits on mine-related pollution in the Bristol Bay region. The move comes…
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Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership hosts tour of Little Susitna River
A headwater stream of the Little Susitna River. Photo by Ted Eischeid. On a rainy day in late August a group of diverse individuals gathered together on the banks of the Little Susitna River. Attendees included staff from state and federal wildlife agencies, tribal representatives, members of local government, political staffers from the governor and…
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Unique partnership spurs effort to restore Alaskan salmon stream
Resurrection Creek, on the north end of the Kenai Peninsula near the community of Hope, still shows scars from placer mining that occurred more than 100 years ago
By Austin Williams Many anglers think of Alaska as pristine and untouched, and, while much of it is, it also has a long and rich history of resource development that contributes to the culture, character and camaraderie still present at the core of many Alaska communities. More than a century ago, salmon canneries and fish…
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One salmonid for the rest of my life? I choose Dolly
You can try to time the silver run or the king run, and maybe you'll get lucky and hit it just right. Odds are, you'll time your date with Dolly perfectly — she's rarely a no-show
I made an off-hand comment on a friend's Facebook post this morning — he uploaded a great photo of a Dolly Varden in Southeast Alaska and I quickly opined that, should some higher power ever dictate to me that I could only catch one salmonid for the rest of my life, it very well might…