The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks today implemented an immediate closure of all water-based recreation (fishing, wading, floating, tubing, boating, etc.) on the Yellowstone River and its tributaries from Yellowstone National Park’s northern boundary at Gardiner to the Highway 212 bridge in Laurel—stretches totaling more than 183 miles of river.
Whether packing an iPhone or a strapping multiple GoPros to your shins and elbows, capturing decent fishing footage these days is for everyone. Not just professionals. Recognizing that potential, the fly-line think tank at RIO products is launching its very own Amateur Fly Fishing Film Awards this month.
Earlier this week Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) actually did a solid for steelhead, designating the Elwha and Nisqually rivers as wild steelhead gene banks. That means these two formidable systems will no longer see hatchery steelhead dumped off the shortbus and into the mix. It also shows that the powers that be…
Junior fly-casting phenom, Maxine McCormick, 12, recently competed in the U.S. Casting Championships in Kentucky, where she became America’s No. 1 female fly caster for accuracy. Her score also bested world champion Steve Rajeff—aka the greatest caster in history. McCormick will now join three other members of the San Francisco/Oakland Casting Club to compete in the world championships…
English rocker Eric Clapton, 71, is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. He’s also, evidently, an Atlantic salmon fishing boss. While on a flyfishing trip to Iceland last week, Clapton landed this 28-pound, 42-inch slab on the Vatnsdalsá River, setting the record for stroking the river’s biggest salmon of the summer. He…
Rivers in the Rockies are heating up, which means you can either abide by hoot-owl restrictions and retire to your backyard kiddie pool, or—better yet—leave the Speedo at home and hit a cold spring creek full of hopper hammering browns. Here, filmmaker Todd Moen travels to cooler waters, capturing Montana’s annual hopper event in full…
Introducing the Yakamas’ new steelhead rehab program Steelhead in Washington’s Yakima River are doubling down on spawning thanks to a reconditioning program run by the Yakama tribe—spelled differently than the river. A study published recently in North American Journal of Fisheries Management shows a successful pattern of repeat spawning in female steelhead during the decade-long…
Montana’s iconic Smith River is facing two challenges to its unsullied flyfishing future: A proposed copper mine on a vital tributary that would endanger the entire river ecosystem. And mining industry blowhards who want to limit public sentiment in the decision-making process. That’s why Montana Trout Unlimited (MTU) is asking anglers to lean on the…
A coral reef 639 miles southwest of Port Victoria—the capital of the Seychelles—Cosmoledo Atoll is home to some of the headiest, healthiest giant trevally flats on the planet. Not to mention prime habitat for triggers, bones, and milkfish. That’s why we love it… and it’s why you should too. Here, follow the Alphonse Fishing Company crew…
Dutch John, UT—One fly. One full day of flyfishing. One great cause. The 2016 Green River Single Fly tourney takes place Aug. 25-26 on Green below Flaming Gorge Dam. Now in its 8th year, the event brings teams together from across the West to face off against the river’s biggest trout, while raising funds for…
Four hundred miles is a significant feat, say for an electric car on a single charge. (Tesla is currently testing vehicles with a similar range.) It’s also a helluva push for a juvenile tarpon, a fish that would typically stick close to home until reaching sexual maturation. But according to findings from Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s…
South-central Alaska’s Susitna River is a 300-mile sweetheart home to all five species of pacific salmon, including the state’s fourth largest chinook run. The Susitna has also been pegged for its hydroelectric potential, contending with several dam proposals over the last 60 years. The latest threat called for erecting the country’s second tallest dam, upstream…
This past winter, Frankie Marion at C1Films began shooting a video solely devoted to barracuda flyfishing in the Keys; A) Because it hadn’t been done. And B) Because these badass fish do it all from an angler’s standpoint.
South Florida’s Everglades has been dammed, diked, and drained—in the name of developing America’s superswamp—for decades. Now a coalition of concerned individuals and organizations intend to fix the horrific results of mismanagement of Florida’s waters. Their “Now or Neverglades Declaration” petition targets lawmakers and enforcement agencies, urging them to restore the flow of clean, fresh…
Move over Lefty, and prepare to snap the shit out of it. Hank Patterson has teamed with Orvis in what may be the most comprehensive instructional flyfishing series ever. Package includes 46 DVDs, piles of NSFW fish porn, scintillating A River Runs Through It reenactments, and 135 hours of bonus Hank footage.
“I CALL THESE OUR FEEL-GOOD PROGRAMS,” says Dennis Dunsmoor, Director of Colorado Correctional Industries (CCI), referring to several small-scale businesses he oversees, including rod-building, that are run out of the Arrowhead Correctional Center in Cañon City. “We don’t make money off of them, but the offenders learn skills that will help them on the outside.…
OLYMPIA, WA—Does time have the power to turn half-baked ideas into golden (or in this case crimson) opportunity? When it comes to the outlawed practice of salmon ranching, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has voiced its desire to find out.
When filming flyfishing, a lot of things need to go right. And the only guarantee is that things will go wrong. In the latest episode of Redington’s Find Your Water series, get a look behind the scenes when fish don’t bite in dream locations, anglers can’t set the hook on camera, and Ma Nature tries…
From flip-phone poon footage to an international filmmaking movement that’s spurred show-touring and award-winning cinematography, flyfishing films have made awesome strides in the last decade. So let’s make a party.
So far this year, the bison are winning. In June, a 62-year-old Australian man was tossed like a shrimp on the barbie while stepping in for his close-up with a 1,400-pound Yellowstone National Park grass grazer. A couple weeks earlier, a 16-year-old Taiwanese girl suffered a similar fate after a bison gored her while she…
If you named your first born “Madison” you’re definitely part of the problem: A river that’s gaining drift-boat traffic despite the audacity of its trout population to stick to status quo numbers. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, angling pressure on the upper Madison River, the roughly 50 miles between Ennis and Quake Lake,…
A poet and Texas songwriting legend, Townes Van Zandt left a powerful, if not destructive, legacy in his wake. And for his son JT, viewing Townes’ musical fervor encouraged him to find his own passion for the outdoors. “My takeaway from my dad and how he wrote songs was a particular perspective and aesthetic about…
In the southeastern corner of Montana, Fort Smith stands out as a no-stoplight town with a handful of fly shops, a drift-boat littered trailer park, and a premier trout fishery running through the backyard. It was also the scene of a grisly murder that came to light in 1999, when local authorities discovered the strangled…
Summer 2015 left Snake River salmon and steelhead hankering for relief. The thermal barrier created by the four lower Snake River dams contributed to soupy water temps nearing 70 degrees. And thousands of federally threatened and endangered returning adults and out-migrating juveniles met their demise.
Hilary Hutcheson’s father, Dave, has dedicated his life to the outdoors. After spending decades as a Park Ranger at Mount Rainier National Park, he retired to Montana’s Glacier Park and all but retreated from the wild activities that defined his career. But Hilary is changing that, by taking her father out on the water to…
Oregon’s proposed wild steelhead sanctuary named for North Umpqua River angler-in-chief Frank Moore is set to receive a jolt of grassroots support after the bill engineered to give it life sits stalled-out in congress.
Area waters expected to reopen to fishing soon OLYMPIA, WA—Following the stalemate that temporarily closed many Puget Sound fisheries, state and tribal leaders this week shook hands on a deal that should open specific summer salmon seasons for recreational fishing, “within a few weeks.” Co-managers agreed on this year’s Puget Sound salmon seasons after several…