Drake Magazine Daily Fly Fishing News and Blog

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Power to the Pound Net

Can commercial netting coexist with Columbia River salmon recovery? A Pound net is a wall of netting that stretches from the shoreline out into a river, funneling fish into a compartment called the “heart,” where fish are trapped but not killed. The nets were once common on the Columbia River, but were banned in Washington…

Swinging for Spring on the Skagit

NOAA solicits public comment for steelhead fishery proposal Home to a revered population of ESA-listed wild winter steelhead, Washington’s Skagit River and its main tributary, the Sauk, have been closed to spring catch-and-release fishing since 2011. That could all change in early 2018, however, as NOAA is considering granting a harvest permit to the Washington…

Texas Trout Streamer Guadalupe River

Texas Trouts

Texans tend to claim that things are bigger in the Lone Star State. That claim seems to hold true when it comes to trout. Starting in November of each year, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department begin dumping some 300,000+ rainbow trout into waters around the state as part of their annual Winter Trout Stocking…

Boggan’s Oasis Burns

Grande Ronde River institution has been a steelheaders’ hub since the 1940s Boggan’s Oasis, home base for anglers fishing Washington’s Grande Ronde River, burned to the ground last Saturday night. Situated at the bottom of the circuitous Rattlesnake Grade along Highway 129, Boggan’s is the only semblance of civilization for miles. It’s been a hub of…

Video Daze: The Slow Down

Our good friend Gray Struznik—this guy—is more than just a fisherman, he’s also an unbelievable mathemagician. He’s been crunching numbers and has come up with a solution to limit his and his clients’ footprint on Olympic Peninsula steelhead rivers: something called the Slow Down. Check out what Struznik’s been up to, and don’t forget to…

Atlantic Salmon Crisis—Continued

Nearly two months after the Cypress Island spill sent more than 100,000 unasked for Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound waters, Washington’s salmon farming industry continues to blunder along—big time. Recent headlines reveal an attempt at bribery, evidence of another pen on the brink of collapse, and a permit approval from the state for juvenile Atlantic salmon to…

Atlantic Salmon Crisis—Continued

Nearly two months after the Cypress Island spill sent more than 100,000 unasked for Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound waters, Washington’s salmon farming industry continues to blunder along—big time. Recent headlines reveal an attempt at bribery, evidence of another pen on the brink of collapse, and a permit approval from the state for juvenile Atlantic salmon to…

The Memory of Fish, Fall Tour

Dick Goin remembers the Elwha. After migrating to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula during the Dust Bowl, it was the river and its abundant salmon runs that helped sustain his family. In the award-winning documentary The Memory of Fish (2016), now touring select Pacific Northwest stops, Goin brings his salmon advocacy to the front lines of a crucial fight—the…

The Memory of Fish, Fall Tour

Dick Goin remembers the Elwha. After migrating to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula during the Dust Bowl, it was the river and its abundant salmon runs that helped sustain his family. In the award-winning documentary The Memory of Fish (2016), now touring select Pacific Northwest stops, Goin brings his salmon advocacy to the front lines of a crucial fight—the…

Video Daze: Andy

Andy Anderson’s photography goes well beyond the flyfishing microcosm. And all of it is well worth a look. Here the lens is reversed and the renowned shooter shares some of his thoughts and philosophies about the art form to which he’s dedicated his life. Presented by: YETI and Orvis.

Wyoming Squashes State Water Protections

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is greenlighting a reclassification of about 80 percent of Wyoming’s recreational waterways. The move from a primary- to secondary-contact designation means that the streams in question are no longer recommended sites for fishing, swimming, or recreation in general. The change also means those waterways can now house levels of e.…