Foam fly boxes float. If you want to see your flies again, make sure fly box floats, too. Several years ago, I was steelhead fishing on Idaho’s Salmon River. I’d spent the week leading up to the trip tying flies and gearing up. Steelhead on the Salmon were—and still are—a fish that came calling on…
Here’s one from the archives, and I picked it because a lot of fly fishers around the country are dusting off the gear and getting ready to hit the water for the first time this spring. It’s simple, really. Don’t forget to practice. Practice Casting Intro from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo. Ask Kirk Deeter shows…
Fishing in late winter and early spring, before runoff kicks in, can be pretty tricky, given short windows for dry-fly action, the likelihood that, even though the calendar reads April, an out-of-nowhere snow squall is certainly possible and the general finicky nature of cold-water trout. The solution, as Garrison Doctor of Rep Your Water describes…
By Chris Wood Some define conservation as overseeing loss. Loss of wetlands; loss of open space; loss of water quality; loss of species. Aldo Leopold harkened to this when he wrote in the Sand County Almanac that “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.…
Many native trout species, like these bull trout, are rare or endangered. Photo courtesy of USGS. By Jack Williams Sometimes you need to take a step back to see the whole problem. Or in this case, a whole lot of steps because the problem is the decline of native trout across the entire Northern Hemisphere.…
Russ Miller of Fishpond joins Trout Tips this spring to offer some great advice on getting ready for the summer ahead. And the first thing Miller recommends is checking your gear as you prepare to head to the water. Trout Tips | Preparing for a new season from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo. As Miller notes,…
Volunteers plant trees along a small stream in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. Healthy riparian buffers are important for streams. By Steve Moyer Healthy trees, in addition to Trout Unlimited members and mayflies, has to be high on a trout’s best friends list. That is why TU is applauding Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) for…
One of the biggest challenges for new fly fishers is learning water, understanding where trout might hold and approaching water with a solid fishing strategy. Trout Tips | Edit your water from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo. Above, Russ Miller of Fishpond does a great job describing how to approach a classic meadow stream, and offers…
This last week, I ventured high into the eastern Idaho backcountry to chase native Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout on a small mountain stream that clears early from runoff and sports some sizable trout for a stream its size. I’d scoped out a large bend in the creek that, I had calculated, would have me…
When fly fishing water with conflicting currents, we must “mend” our line to get the best possible drift. Achieving the often mythical “drag-free” drift isn’t always possible, but we can usuall extend the life of a fly’s drift over productive water by mending. Trout Tips | Mending from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo. Above, Russ Miller…
We spend a lot of time talking about chasing trout in rivers and streams, but some of the best lake fishing of the year is under way all across the country. Trout Tips | Fly Fishing Lakes from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo. Above, Russ Miller from Fishpond offers up some introductory information, with more to…
Fly fishing lakes for trout can be tricky. With an entire of body of water at their disposal and no need to make quick decisions on food that floats by like it might in a river, trout tend to dial in on what’s in the water at any given time. Still Water Retrieve from Trout…
Choosing the right fly for lakes might seem confounding, but here are a couple of rules to stick to—consider these the “foundation” for choosing flies for stillwater reservoirs, lakes and ponds: 1) Most coldwater lakes that have trout also have small aquatic insects called chironomids. These bugs slowly work their way to the surface, and…
This time of year, when dry-fly fishing is about all I do here on the creeks and streams of the Yellowstone region, I have become a fan of the silica-based fly “dusts” that help soak up water from spent dry flies and give them a second life. Most of us, when fishing dries, apply that…
I love the old-school feel of today’s New Fly Fisher videos. And the short film below is a great all-around tutorial on tackling trout (and bass, frankly) fishing in moving water. Using southern Ontario’s Grand River as a backdrop, host Bill Spicer chases fish with proven guides that have a lot of great information for…
Photo courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife. By Garrett Hanks Extinction, as the saying goes, is forever. Reincarnation? Let’s just say the jury is still out. But the case for rebirth grew significantly stronger over the summer when Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the rediscovery of a native trout species long considered extinct. Thanks to a…
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from TU’s book, “Trout Tips,” which is available online for overnight delivery. You’re throwing a weight and you should feel that. Granted, that weight looks like a 90-foot piece of spaghetti. But unlike conventional fishing, where the weight is concentrated at the lure (or bait), you cast and the…
By Crystal Elliot What do watershed resilience, high-quality fish habitat and sustainable water supplies look like in the Intermountain West? Probably much like it did before western expansion and trapping decimated North American beaver populations in the 19th century. Once numbering in the hundreds of millions, beavers played a principal role in how water moved and…
By Toner Mitchell For the past 10 springs, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has hosted a release of Rio Grande cutthroat trout fingerlings at the – as of 2014 – Rio Grande del Norte National Monument just west of the village of Questa. Initially the event drew decent crowds, 10 to 20…
Bull trout are the native char of the inland Northwest. They live in the coldest, cleanest water and thrive in the most far-flung places. They get big and surly. They chase gaudy streamers, prey on smaller fish and can be very challenging to pursue. They’re also a vital indicator species when it comes to a…
