Sam Dean photo By Mark Taylor With forecasters calling for unseasonably warm temperatures and our work calendars surprisingly open on a recent Tuesday, my buddy Sam Dean and I decided to take a day off to go fishing. “We could hit the Smith,” I said, mentioning a tailwater about an hour south of our homes
Soda Creek, tributary to the upper Eel River. Large wood structure project directed by TU’s North Coast Coho Project. The Eel River is the beating heart of California’s “Lost Coast,” a swath of rugged country famous for its steelhead a nd salmon streams. Historically, the Eel was the third largest producer of salmon and steelhead
Members of Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited raising money for trout all over America. By Kirk Deeter I love Texas. Always have, and always will. It’s hard to explain for someone who was born and raised on the Great Lakes far away from the Lone Star state, and has lived in Colorado for the past 20-plus
A brook trout falls for a Royal Coachman, a fly many believe is a “killer pattern” for backcountry trout. Should we redefine our angling lexicon? By Kirk Deeter I received an interesting message the other day from a good friend of mine, who basically asked me to reconsider words like “killer” or “deadly” in my
Flipping through the television channels the other night, I noticed a promo for “Killing Bigfoot.” It apparently isn’t enough to just find that son of a gun anymore. I wonder… if someone actually does kill Bigfoot, would that be treated as a homicide or simply poaching? Some states might want to start selling Squatch tags,
Bob Russell, owner of the Butte Creek Mill and savior of salmon and steelhead. By Chrysten Lambert On Christmas Day, 2015 tragedy struck the historic Butte Creek Mill when it burned to the ground. The flour mill, which is located on the banks of Little Butte Creek, was the only remaining hydro-powered mill still in
A bill that would protect lands in Okanogan County from mining is moving forward after a markup in today’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. The Methow Headwater Protections Act of 2017, S. 566, comes on the heels of a 20 year mineral withdrawal, cementing protections for an area known for it’s agriculture and
By Eric Booton I couldn’t resist chuckling to myself as I boarded a flight from Anchorage to Los Angeles with my fly rod in hand. I work, live and play in Alaska. The salmon state. The land of 30-inch rainbow trout. Home of seemingly endless fishing options. Yet I, a self described mountain bum, was
Sunset at Boswell Landing 2015. Photo: Paul Hosford/U.S. Forest Service By Jen Ripple As Americans, we consider ourselves a cultured people and rightfully place high value on the arts. The arts allow us to speak a common language regardless of social, economic or racial barriers. Nowhere is this more evident than in the great city
By Sam Davidson If given the choice between fishing while standing in water and fishing while sitting in it, I nearly always go for the upright option. Maybe that’s because I didn’t spend much time in boats, rafts or other flotation devices as a kid, wher eas I spent plenty of time wading in rivers
Fish like this stout wild Pennsylvania brown trout have helped TU staffer Chad Chorney’s transition from the West to the East. By R. Chad Chorney “What? You’re moving from Idaho to Pennsylvania? Why would you ever do that?” I can’t tell you how many times I received that reaction from friends and colleagues when I
By Chris Hunt When she was 11 months old, Delaney took some of her first ungainly steps in the blond sand of Luffenholzt Beach and dipped her toes in the cold Pacific. When she was 2, she stepped barefoot into the frigid September waters of Toponce Creek, high in the Portneuf Range of southeast Idaho.
Bill Templin and wild trout, SF Kings River. By Sam Davidson Almost twenty years ago, a man who had carried on a long term love affair with what must be one of the most underappreciated trout streams in the Sierra Nevada decided he was in a generous mood, and would form a group to share
By Dave Atcheson It was one of those perfectly still, fog-draped mornings on Trout Lake, so tranquil its surface looked as though it might shatter if I put paddle to water. My buddy Jim and I, as we had so many mornings, angled the canoe toward a favorite weed bed and glid ed to a
By Eric Booton I felt a slight hesitation as the group collectively chose to avert our former plans in order to float Willow Creek. I had the thought but I didn’t dare say it out loud. Was this going to be another fishless story from Willow Creek? I can’t recall how many times, but it
by Jenny Weis The only thing that made sense to do on our second marriage anniversary was to go fishing. A voracious lifelong angler, my husband, Sam, introduced me to fly fishing. He supplied me with the rod, reel, and meticulously organized bead box I used today. The net I used to land the rainbows,
By Eric Booton Chrome. Silver. Red gold. All the worthy descriptions of fresh, wild Alaska salmon imply monetary value, and for good reason. Here in Alaska, wild salmon attract tourists from around the world. These trusted fish provide employment for guides, commercial fishermen, processors, chefs, pilots and many others. In the final frontier, salmon, fortunately,
By Mark Taylor “We’re moving.” My parents delivered the news to me and my sister in the spring of 1986, while we were away at college in the Midwest. While it was a little odd to think that I’d never go back to the home I grew up in, I was excited about the new
Editor’s note: This piece originally ran on the White Mountain Woman blog. By Robin Robison As an avid female angler, I am always looking for ways to connect with other women who love to be on the water. I have been fishing my entire life and some of my favorite memories are of time spent
A Firehole River brown trout caught on a small soft-hackle. By Chris Hunt For years and years, fly fishing for trout, for me, was a three-period game, not a four-quarter contest. It was hockey, not football (even though I’m not much of a hockey guy). Depending on the season, the time of day or the
