Congress stood by and watched as the highly successful, fifty-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) expired on October 1st. Possibly the most important conservation program in the country, the LWCF funded national, state and local parks, civil war memorials, national forests, fishing and hunting access, and myriad more needs on public lands.
Broad coalition to rally on the lower Snake River in support of removing four deadbeat dams WAWAWAI LANDING, WA—On Saturday, Oct. 3, salmon advocates, tribal members, anglers, kayakers, outfitters, orca lovers, and business owners will join forces to rally on the Snake River and unfurl a 100-foot banner with a singular message: Free the Snake.
DetailsMicro Management is packed with pint-size tarpon mastering the art of flight—all part of Dan Decibel’s submission to the 2015 POONFECTA (Baby Tarpon on fly Tournament) Film Festival. Which he won, by the way.
I STOOD AT ATTENTION in front of my Colonel after a firm and deliberate salute: “Captain Church reporting as ordered Ma’am.” “Yes, Captain Church, why did I just find out during my executive staff meeting that you were detained in a Qatari jail?” Her look said that she demanded more of the story than the…
DetailsIN JULY, the Bahamian government and the Bahamas Fly Fishing Industry Association (BFFIA) announced proposed changes to laws governing bonefishing in the Bahamas. Some of the proposals—like requiring visiting anglers to hire a guide—created public outcry, private controversy, and several scintillating blogfights. But our own investigative reporting uncovered a few lesser-known proposals:
LET’S GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY: I’m not going to win any casting competitions. As a self-taught angler, my poor habits are deeply ingrained, the result of years spent with mismanaged routines and questionable form. My tailing loops have tailing loops. I’ll often find my backcast hurtling toward something behind me because I’ve managed…
DetailsMY FLYFISHING HABIT has led me to believe that I should buy land on a trout stream. I first thought of this plan a few years ago, when my day job was going well enough to allow me to entertain such a potential folly. And so it went, a dedication to the idyllic concept that…
DetailsThe problem was simple: We were thirsty and couldn’t find beer. Barreling north out of Little Rock, we careened through Ozark mountain highways, pushing that little rented Ford like we were competing in some sort of Redneck Indy Invitational. K.V. must have been as thirsty as I was, because he took the corners fast enough…
DetailsFollowing the international bitchstorm that’s been brewing around the future of Bahamas flats fisheries—inclemencies mostly attributed to the Bahamas Fly Fishing Industry Association’s nationalistic grandstanding—some sensible communications have recently come to light. Last week, Tribune 242, a Nassau-based publication, reported that The Department of Marine Resources has “pretty much determined” that persons will need to pony…
DetailsCalifornia anglers may soon find themselves inventing new methods to get down. We’re not talking breakdancing here, but a potential lead ban similar to the ban for hunters beginning in 2019.
Terrace is a big-fish nerve center in northern B.C., where guide and Steelhead House owner Darren Wright mines the mighty Skeena and its tribs for annual returns of chrome. In this short film from Simms, hook up with Wright and his partner Missy MacDonald for a tour of their stellar homewaters.
SOUTHWEST ALASKA—A floatplane carrying 10 passengers—including guests and guides of Rainbow King Lodge—crashed on takeoff from a small lake near the town of Iliamna on Tuesday morning, killing three passengers and leaving several others critically injured.
With recreational logging’s spike in popularity across the Pacific Northwest, it was of little surprise that purveyors of handcrafted firewood would follow suit and ignite excitement. Meet Jesse Horn, owner of Smoke & Flame, a Vancouver, B.C.-based artisanal firewood company that sells bundles of premium kindling for $1,000. Duraflame starter logs be damned. Via the…
DetailsThis October, Oregon Board of Forestry (BOF) will decide whether it will help nurture in-state steelhead, salmon, and trout populations by increasing the size of riparian buffers that shield streams and rivers from chainsaws and excavators.
Savage rainbows, ridiculous mousing, and home to the unsanctioned Smirnoff Olympics—Kamchatka, da! In Zhupanova, Matt Jones and Oliver White explore one of the most beautiful and scenic rivers in the region. “Its close proximity to Petropavlovsk (one hour by helicopter) and its huge rainbows make it perhaps the most popular river on the peninsula.”
Among the lesser reported events of President Obama’s recent visit to the 49th state was a coho spawning all over his shoes. The local woman helping him handle the fish said the salmon was happy to see him.
Living Rivers—Surf is the first of two short films highlighting one of the many unique water cultures in the American West. “In the rush of water spilling from the high mountain peaks of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, surfers are finding standing waves that move with life and never end.” Next up, Nymphing Maverick’s.
Ah, yes, the coveted fishing hall pass. Score one and enjoy temporary freedom from fulfilling girlfriend/wife or boyfriend/husband duties. Once expired—after a day or two… 10 days, max.—return home, mow the lawn, engage in date nights with your intolerable neighbors Steve and Barbara, and rebuild the points needed for the next exit. Here, Dustin Miller…
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The Japanese word gyotaku—say it with me kids, gee-oh-tah-koo—translated literally means “fish rubbing,” which is basically what it is.
PORTLAND, OR—Native Fish Society (NFS) and its founder Bill Bakke were awarded the Carl R. Sullivan Fishery Conservation Award by the American Fisheries Society (AFS) in recognition of Bakke and the organization’s pioneering work in the recovery and conservation of wild, native fish across the Pacific Northwest.
The “minnow run” on Patagonia’s Collon Cura River is legendary—mostly because it keeps the local rainbows fat and happy. Beattie Outdoor Productions and Off the Grid Studios recently saddled up with Patagonia River Guides to fish and film the phenomenon.
[On Aug. 5, a crew tasked by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate a leak at a defunct mine near Silverton, Colorado, sent millions of gallons of toxic tailings into the Animas. The accident that turned the river into a mustard-colored media spectacle went on to cause three states and the Navajo Nation to…
DetailsZack, Sam, and Travis of the Montana Wild crew take their drift boats on a journey down southeast Montana’s Bighorn River, where the goal is to fish and explore a remote 50-mile stretch that cuts through the Crow Native American Reservation. Thunderstorms, rising trout, and rugged landscapes join them in their search. Via Smith Optics.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is still accepting comments on “Wild Steelhead Gene Bank” selection in three Puget Sound regions: 1) North Cascades, 2) Central/South Puget Sound, and 3) Hood Canal and Strait of Juan de Fuca. Remarks must be received no later than 5 p.m. Pacific time on August 13, 2015.
Montana’s Missouri River is beloved for its prolific insect hatches, ready-made drift-boat water, and thousands of trout per mile. But for Brian Kimmel and Adipose Boatworks’ founder Tracy Allen, the flyfishing flip-side—shallow-water carp “hoovering” bugs in the froth—is equally addictive. Via Todd Moen, at T-Motion Theater.
A million gallons of toxic wastewater—enough to fill one and a half Olympic-size swimming pools—spilled into southwestern Colorado’s Animas River near Silverton, turning it day-glo orange and prompting city staff downstream in Durango to halt public use.
Flyfishing and exercise are strange bedmates. Waving a 3-oz. rod, for instance, doesn’t require Arnold’s biceps or Lindsey Vonn’s glutes. And that fried-chicken-case-of-Miller combo from last weekend’s drift-boat session negates rock hard abs. But if you like to run and hanker for craft beer and good fishing, Andrew Todd’s Rocky Mountain Flyathlon is a Colorado-based calorie…
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