By Chris Hunt The thermometer on my dash read a cold 33 degrees. The calendar claimed it was June 13. Sadly, both were accurate. Welcome to Yellowstone. As I topped Craig Pass heading north, snowbanks still lined the Grand Loop Road, and more was falling. My wiper blades could keep the the white stuff off
A tight-lined nymph produced this and several other wild Spring Creek browns for Mark Taylor during his recent visit to the popular Pennsylvania stream.
By Mark Taylor Scenic and peaceful, this place was not. We were walking on the shoulder of a busy highway in Eastern Pennsylvania, Joe Baylog leading the way. We were in the area working on a film project on TU’s work with the state’s Unassessed Waters Initiative. Baylog, president the Forks of the Delaware chapter,
By Travis Banta It is safe to say we are a fishing family. Grandpa Lee crossed the Madison River to his favorite fishing hole in an old 1940’s era Ford pickup. Grandma Margaret hated that bridge because it was essentially a couple of 2×12 boards and she didn’t like guiding the tires of that old Ford
Wes Gwaltney, president of the New River Valley of Trout Unlimited, fishes the West Prong of the Pigeon River near Gatlinburg, Tenn., in late April. Even as damage from 2016 fires remains, the forest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is greening up with the arrival of spring. (Mark Taylor photo.) By Mark Taylor
By Josh Duplechian Frank is a man with a knack for organization. His black Richard Wheatley fly boxes are neatly arranged in order of size, color and pattern. Frank pinches barbs on all his flies, most of which are either elk hair caddis or nymphs. He is not much of a big, chunky streamer fan.
By Chris Hunt As I write this, I’m tucked into a cabin in Island Park, Idaho. We were chased off the lower Hen ry’s Fork yesterday by high water, but found some willing browns in the nearby Warm River, a spring creek that runs generally clear, even after a spring snowstorm that hit the area
Dave Sweet of the East Yellowstone Trout Unlimited chapter works to install a new rotating drum screen on an irrigation canal coming off of Trout Creek, a tributary to the North of the Shoshone River. The bypass tube back to creek can be seen on the left side of the canal near Sweet’s foot. Thomas
By Eric Booton I practice catch and release. I pinch my barbs and tie on barbless hooks when I can. I carry a rubberized net and am an avid supporter of the keepemwet movement. If you ar e following the Trout Unlimited blog I can pretty safely assume that you are familiar with the concept
by Kirk Deeter I wouldn’t have believed it if it hadn’t happened to me. I went fishing the other day and got an early start on the river, not long after sunrise. The air was chilly, and there wasn’t much bug action (at least not that I could see above the surface) so I decided
By Chris Hunt Every move I made seemed amplified in the little jon boat—every time I set my fishing sling down on the aluminum deck or shifted my flip-flopped feet or repositioned a fly rod, it sounded as if I was ringing an off-key church bell. The little boat was new to me, as was
By Mark Taylor The linear shape protruding from my truck door looked strange and out of place. “What the heck is that?” I thought. I followed the item with my eyes and noted that it went toward the tailgate, where my buddy Sam stood. He was preparing to put a reel onto a fly rod.
By Chris Hunt I’m an unabashed fly guy, so much so that I’m probably part of that snooty long-rod culture that inadvertently looks down their noses at bait fishers. But I have nephews and a niece who have yet to really get into fishing, so I’m coming to grips with my tweedy issues and making
By Eric Booton It’s called Dolly Alley for a reason and we NEVER skip it. You’re not guaranteed to hook up, there are no guarantees in fishing, but if we are headed to the Kenai, you can guarantee that we are stopping at Dolly Alley. Among the rivers and streams that we frequent as anglers,
Garza’s Creek, a tributary to the Carmel River. By Sam Davidson I’ve always been more of a shower guy. I like the feel of running water. I will stew in a hot spring or steam bath once every few years. But clamber into an in-home bathtub for a soak? Maybe three times since I was
By Kirk Deeter I love off-beat, impossible-to-answer questions like these: What fly pattern do you think has caught the most fish in the history of the world? What do you think is the most common fly in the boxes of anglers throughout the world? Of course, I always get the “If you had ONE fly…”
By Chris Hunt Declan’s not quite 4, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t understand that his dad is dying. I’m sure he realizes that things are a little different with his father. The rest of us wander his world with little in the way of fanfare—we arrive on our own two feet and, a while
There is a 3-pound bass and two 18-inch trout holding under this forked snag. Seeing them is one thing. Catching one is another. By Mark Taylor I got back to my home office from lunch today to find that my copy of TU’s new book, “Trout Tips,” had arrived. This had been a working lunch,
By Eric Booton It’s spring again and it’s hard to sit still. I am at the point where I am hoping for one more powder day on skis but would be more than content with the warm weather and soft water. I was at a similar point last April. The snow was starting to melt
(Above) The Lost River Range rises in the distance. Photo by Rachel Andona. (Below) The campfire, where winter washes away. Photo by Cameron Hunt. By Chris Hunt I’ve been known to push the season. As a newspaper reporter some 25 years ago in Buena Vista, Colo., I showed up to cover an April town council
