Currently browsing… Steelhead
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The gift of the skunk
One learns not to expect much when fly fishing during the winter months. At least around here, or if you’re me. Regardless of the season, sometimes you step into a river and just know something’s off. The water’s not moving right, or the sound of the wind rings particularly empty and distant. I envy steelhead die-hards their familiarity with this feeling, the impending, inevitable void, and how they march into it undaunted. A guy I know…
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French onion soup fit for a Yeti
Makes 2 to 3 “to go” mugs. 4 to 6 yellow onions 1-½ tbsp salt plus more for seasoning to taste 2 tbsp butter 4 cups water ¼ cup sherry ¼ cup red wine 1 cup flaked or shredded cheese such as Gruyere, Emmentaler, Parmesan or Fontina 2-3 slices stale bread If preparing over campfire, build up sufficient coals to last about…
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Salmon SuperHwy logs 95 miles … and counting
The project's 2020 Annual Report highlights the power of conservation partnerships to deliver real benefits for coldwater fish and local communities, even in troubled times The Salmon SuperHwy is the largest fish conservation and economic development partnership on the north Oregon coast. Led by Trout Unlimited’s Sarah Zwissler, the SSH program just released its annual…
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Riding the Skunk Train
TU-led partnership with historic railroad restores key salmon habitat on California's north coast Trout Unlimited works with many different types of partners in developing and completing stream restoration projects. Mining and timber companies, ranchers and wine grape growers, private landowners and water suppliers are among the diverse entities that make possible TU's efforts to enhance…
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Our failure to remember affects salmon and steelhead conservation
'The best run in years' doesn't mean things are getting better overall We’ve all heard stories from our grandparents of unbelievable abundance and sizes in their fishing forays — the salmon so numerous it boggled the mind, and those Lahontan cutthroat trout so big you couldn't wrap your arms around them. Yet even with these anecdotes it’s still hard to internalize just how different our experience…
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Tying the Repeat Offender
Trout spey fishing is all the rage these days, particularly in rivers that boast runs of anadromous fish that are swimming home and reacquainting themselves with fresh water and the food they used to eat before they took the salt to dine on the ocean's bounty. Below, Matt Callies with Loon Outdoors ties a great…
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Desperately seeking steelhead in Alaska for science
After a long float plane flight back to Juneau, a hurried meal and a handful of Ibuprofen, I turned in for the night with one last thought – Tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll find the fish and all of this will be worth it.
By Mark Hieronymus After the first couple of hard-earned, bushwhacked miles, about the time we had fished every inch of beautiful holding water in this wild, remote river, and just after we finished post-holing our way through a couple hundred yards of thigh-deep snow, I started to second-guess myself. Months of reviewing fisheries and habitat…