A fat and happy Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout. By Chris Hunt Two summers ago, as I walked along a small alpine creek in the Caribou Range here in eastern Idaho, I spied what may rightly be called the sexiest stretch of trout water I’ve ever seen. The stream—by itself a modest flow—pushes down a
The iconic Sundial Bridge, spanning the Lower Sacramento River in downtown Redding, California before and during the Carr Fire. By Sam Davidson California is burning. There are 17 wildfires charring the Golden State, at present. The biggest and gnarliest (of 2018, anyway) is the Carr Fire, which has torched more than 100,000 acres, mostly of
By Mark Taylor The river was brown. Coffee-with-heavy-cream brown. It’s-been-raining-for-days brown. You-don’t-have-a-chance-in-hell brown. “Top off the raft and get the stuff down to the shore while I go drop off the truck,” I told my fishing partner for the day, Brett Prettyman. “I’ll probably be back before you’re done.” So, if conditions were more appropriate
A native Yellowstone cutthroat trout. A backcountry treasure. Photo by Chris Hunt. By Chris Hunt Who knows how many times I’d driven over the little creek as it flows southeast through an arched culvert toward its eventual confluence with the mighty Yellowstone River. A hundred? At least a hundred. And every time, I made a
The sun sets on an epic day in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah. Brett Prettyman/Trout Unlimited. By Brett Prettyman Years ago, when I was starting out as an outdoors newspaper reporter, the editor looked at my request for a photographer to go on a 40-mile backpacking trip for six days and laughed. “Take a
Upper Klamath Lake and one of the many fine spring creeks in this area. By Sam Davidson My first fishing experience on a true spring creek was in the upper Klamath River basin in southern Oregon. I knew little ab out such waters in those days. I took a detour while on a long road
By Jenny Weis The familiar routine of hooking up the boat to the hitch took only a couple minutes. By the time I was done, my friend Sam had met me at Eric’s house and I was pleased, but not surprised, to see him holding a box of donuts. We had a couple-hour drive ahead
Platter-shaped spadefish are incredibly strong, and great in fish tacos! By Mark Taylor During an interview a number of years ago with a very successful tournament bass angler, the man leaned in and asked in a hushed tone, “Can we go off the record?” “I guess,” I replied, expecting him to give me some inside
By Eric Booton I hear the dark call of a common loo n behind me as I cast and can’t help but recall the family trips in Wisconsin and Minnesota where the song of a loon was as important to my grandma Betty as catching a fish is to me. Just one loon or one
Photos of the Naknek River by Mark Hieronymous By Jenny Weis Working in communications for Trout Unlimited, I encounter more than a fair share of “grip ‘n grin” fish photos. Given this, I like to think of myself as somewhat of an expert on the components for what makes the perfect photo. In my humble
By Mark Taylor Trout anglers love a good hatch, when popping bugs create a feeding frenzy. I was on Virginia’s J ackson River recently when a different kind of hatch came off with a fury. I heard it before I saw it: Happy shouts and the echoing booms of plastic kayaks hitting river rocks. Soon,
By Eric Booten Excuse the grip and grin, but this fish and smile come with a story. I enjoyed talking fish with Sam, my fishing buddy and coworker. Several hours of the work week were routinely lost to these discussions, but when you work to protect fish and their habitat, sometimes you just take some
Some of the “new generation of conservationists,” Bay Area Youth Fly Fishing event, May 19, 2018. By Sam Davidson I recently spent a day fishing for trout—a rewarding mix of small wild fish and 10- to 12-inch stockers—on an obscure tributary to the upper Salinas River that flows out of the Santa Lucia range on
By Toner Mitchell I recently visited a tailwater stream known for its capacity to produce lots of brown trout, some of them quite large. The reservoir feeding this stream is operated exclusively for downstream agricultural users, the result of which is that the fishery i s also renowned for its poor conditions in winter, when
By Eric Booton I start by asking the kids “what kind of rod is this?” While holding up a basic Shakespeare 8-weight combo rod on display for them to analyze. The answers vary, some are wrong, some are accurate, and some are obscure. The best answer remains “it’s an old timey rod!” I am self-taught
The author, wade fishing the Trinity River. By Sam Davidson A guy I didn’t know die d recently while wade-fishing the lower American River near Sacramento. One moment he was there, the next he wasn’t. Impossible to say, exactly, what happened, since no one witnessed the incident. Apparently, he was a newbie to wading, likely
By Kirk Deeter I just finished floating the Deschutes River in Oregon with my friends from Korkers. The Deschutes is easily one of my favorite rivers to fish (and least favorite rivers to wade) in the world and there’s nobody better to fish that river with (and remain mostly vertical) than the crew from Korkers.
By Mark Taylor I have a friend who is an artist at the fly-tying vise. I mean, literally an artist. His creations don’t end up in the water, let alone in a fish’s mouth. They go into shadow boxes. Other friends actually fish their fancy flies, including articulated streamers that can take an hour each
By Eric Booton I learned a memorable lesson while on an overnight camping trip with a group of friends during college. We camped next to a small and freshly stocked reservoir in a quiet, Colorado valley. The fishing was easy and trout were on the menu. The following morning was complete with consequence, not just
“History is written from what can be found; what isn’t saved is lost, sunken and rotted, eaten by earth.” —Jill Lepore By Dave Ammons Hey, I found your fishing rod. It was early morning during my daily walk up the road as the lig ht was breaking across the canyon walls. I passed the day-use
