When a net-pen enclosure holding more than 300,000 farmed Atlantic salmon, owned by Canadian company Cooke Aquaculture, broke open in August, approximately 160,000 fish escaped into Washington’s Puget Sound. Atlantics are classified by the state as an aquatic invasive species and a “pollutant.”
The first places I explored as a kid, outside of my backyard, were the small creeks and wetlands near my home. They were full of tadpoles, salamanders, and, if we were lucky, turtles. I spent countless hours trying to fit various animals into Mason jars, but mostly I just covered myself in mud.
I’ve made a lot of trips between northern Minnesota and northern Michigan. Usually I’m fishing my way across, hunting hex-eating browns and flats-cruising smallies in July, and backwoods muskies in November. By far the fishiest route is U.S. 2 through the Upper Peninsula and across the Mackinac Bridge down into the top of the mitten;…
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Booze consumed me as I sat listless in the upper bar of the Dogwood; a restored Mississippi riverboat docked a few hundred yards east of the Hopedale, Louisiana, boat launch. For the next two days and nights, the Dogwood would serve as home and headquarters to anglers competing in the 2017 Sheepy tournament—a tongue-in-cheek backcountry…
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Is this what mortality feels like? They’re in the deep pools, the ones that are filling now with yellow alder leaves. They come up easily to a humpy or an elk-hair caddis, bright browns and brook trout flashing the colors of autumn. At least that’s what I suppose. I don’t know for sure, actually.
DetailsForty five days and a thousand miles into his self-propelled journey from western Canada to coastal Mexico, Brian Ohlen caught a steelhead in California. In between all those pedal strokes and casts, he makes a case for preserving public river and stream access in this strong short from BlackburnMedia.
Forty five days and a thousand miles into his self-propelled journey from western Canada to coastal Mexico, Brian Ohlen caught a steelhead in California. In between all those pedal strokes and casts, he makes a case for preserving public river and stream access in this strong short from BlackburnMedia.
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.…
DetailsThe 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.…
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This week’s episode of The DrakeCast takes us to The Faroe Islands, which is a small archipelago in the North Atlantic, about halfway between Norway and Iceland. I was there to experience the culture and see if I could find a couple fish. But during my stay, what I found was an insulated country and…
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As part of their annual Tailer’s Ball event, the team at Flood Tide Co has gathered works from some of the best artists in the biz for a silent art auction that’ll help pitch funds toward Hurricane Harvey relief and restoration efforts in Texas.
As part of their annual Tailer’s Ball event, the team at Flood Tide Co has gathered works from some of the best artists in the biz for a silent art auction that’ll help pitch funds toward Hurricane Harvey relief and restoration efforts in Texas.
David Letterman once said that fall is his favorite season in LA, “watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.” In truth, LA is one of those seasonless anomalies. Which means you can jump off a train and fish mako, carp, and calico bass in a day—pretty much any day. Watch Jeremi get…
DetailsDavid Letterman once said that fall is his favorite season in LA, “watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.” In truth, LA is one of those seasonless anomalies. Which means you can jump off a train and fish mako, carp, and calico bass in a day—pretty much any day. Watch Jeremi get…
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9 lessons from a seasoned storm vet Harvey left its mark on Texas. In its wake, Irma, what’s being called one of the most vicious storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, is passing Puerto Rico and now barreling toward The Bahamas and South Florida, where she could make U.S. landfall in the Keys as early…
DetailsMore than four years in the making, Our Two Hands combines striking cinematography and enlightening interviews with leading fish conservationists to chronicle society’s tangled relationship with salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. It also asks the tough questions that we as an angling community can’t ignore: “How have our communities differing ethics and values surrounding…
DetailsMore than four years in the making, Our Two Hands combines striking cinematography and enlightening interviews with leading fish conservationists to chronicle society’s tangled relationship with salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. It also asks the tough questions that we as an angling community can’t ignore: “How have our communities differing ethics and values surrounding…
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“Our home is in Texas. Our headquarters is in Austin, but we have friends and neighbors all over this state. Like everyone, we are deeply feeling the current situation and looking for ways to help. We are launching the Howler for Harvey T-Shirt with 100 percent of all proceeds going directly to relief efforts in…
Details“Our home is in Texas. Our headquarters is in Austin, but we have friends and neighbors all over this state. Like everyone, we are deeply feeling the current situation and looking for ways to help. We are launching the Howler for Harvey T-Shirt with 100 percent of all proceeds going directly to relief efforts in…
DetailsWith hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon runaways swimming Puget Sound waters and threatening native Pacific salmon stocks, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is now blocking all permits for new net pens in the region.
With hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon runaways swimming Puget Sound waters and threatening native Pacific salmon stocks, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is now blocking all permits for new net pens in the region.
“I’ve been fly fishing since I was a wee little grasshopper. Hell of a long time with the fly. To me, the only way to catch a fish really is on the fly. Spinner? Not that exciting. One salmon on the fly is better than ten on the spinner.” –Connie Corcoran, the fishing manager and…
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“My sister and my mother were not interested in fishing. So it was my dad and your dad and the boys. And we’d have brandy when we’d catch a fish. My dad would open the big green tackle box and bring out this silver flask and we’d all have to have a snort of brandy. Bill…
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“We’re chasing trophy fish and it’s hard. It shouldn’t be easy. It will kick your ass. It’s physical. Big flies hurt more when they go into you and its covering miles and miles of water. But you know, none of us got into this game because flyfishing was easy. We got into it because it…
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In 1879, common carp from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., rode a train to Denver, where they were dumped into the noxious waters of South Platte River just below its confluence with Cherry Creek. Next month, the 11th Annual Carp Slam celebrates the wary nature of those thriving fish with a pro-am…
DetailsFresh off a successful Fly Fishing Film Tour run, the latest collaboration between Rolf Nylinder and Peter Christiansen is now accessible to those who missed it on the big screen. Fly Fishing in the Anthropocene takes its viewers into the untouched wilderness of Kamchatka in search of oversized rainbows, salmon, and char. As always, Nylinder and Christiansen provide…
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“You’re going to get your ass kicked, over and over again. It’s gonna tear you apart. You’re sore, you’re bruised, your hands are ripped apart, your shins are ripped apart. Your equipment is destroyed, but you can’t wait to go out the next morning.” -Russ Schnitzer. To find out what he’s talking about, check out…
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