Help us protect the places you love to fish, and to make your fishing better.
We’ve made progress improving water quality since the Clean Water Act. Why undermine the law that can help us finish the job?
Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean the fish aren’t eating — and that means they can be caught.
Washington commonly institutes fishing restrictions to protect vulnerable fish populations, like they did for steelhead in Scotty Creek, but these restrictions, unfathomably, do not extend to a destructive form of recreational gold mining called suction dredge mining.
Many of us know that like painting, fishing is an incredible art that has the power to tell stories of ecosystems, landscapes and cultures. In Alaska, we are lucky to have partners who are passionate about both. Spelman Evans Downer, a Cooper Landing-based artist and...
Trout Unlimited has received three federal grant awards totaling nearly $750,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for stream protection and restoration projects in the upper Delaware River watershed. These grant awards support the...
Illinois RiverPhoto courtesy Ken Morrish Southwest Oregon is a place defined by steep country and untamed rivers where we can go to find solitude, dramatic landscapes, and some of the best habitat for big game and wild anadromous fish in the lower 48...
South Park, Colorado By Scott Willoughby The Bureau of Land Management’s Royal Gorge Field Office covers some 666,000 acres of public lands sloping eastward from the Great Divide, through Colorado’s Front Range and into the rolling grasslands of the High...
For nearly 90 years, the abandoned lower Eklutna Dam blocked salmon migration on the Eklutna River, contributing to the downfall of the salmon fishery. In September of 2018, we, along with many others, rejoiced the successful removal of the lower dam. This dam removal marked a first step in reconnecting 22 miles of salmon habitat and securing a free-flowing future for the Eklutna River.
Washington commonly institutes fishing restrictions to protect vulnerable fish populations, like they did for steelhead in Scotty Creek, but these restrictions, unfathomably, do not extend to a destructive form of recreational gold mining called suction dredge mining.
Many of us know that like painting, fishing is an incredible art that has the power to tell stories of ecosystems, landscapes and cultures. In Alaska, we are lucky to have partners who are passionate about both. Spelman Evans Downer, a Cooper Landing-based artist and...
Illinois RiverPhoto courtesy Ken Morrish Southwest Oregon is a place defined by steep country and untamed rivers where we can go to find solitude, dramatic landscapes, and some of the best habitat for big game and wild anadromous fish in the lower 48...
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Hatch Magazine. My father once told me that “home is where you hang your hat.” I believed it, for a time, at least. I mean, as a young boy, who was I to argue with the wisdom of a grownup? I’ve come to realize,...
We all have a passion in life, even if, like my kids, we haven’t really figured out what it is yet. For fly fishers—real, die-hard, rather-fish-than-eat anglers—our passion is simple. A rod, a line, a fly and some water are all it takes to ignite the lamp in our...
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Hatch Magazine. My father once told me that “home is where you hang your hat.” I believed it, for a time, at least. I mean, as a young boy, who was I to argue with the wisdom of a grownup? I’ve come to realize,...
The deviation from the plan started when the app we were using to navigate across downtown Seattle in morning traffic guided us down appallingly skinny, twisted streets and a scenic tour of old neighborhoods that did not, in the end, deliver us to the ferry any more...
Aging. We all do it – every minute and second of every day. Why is wisdom gained only with age? Hitting a rather large, round number earlier this year, I’ve been reflecting on life – how to spend more time living my life, how to spend more time with the people I love,...
If you’ve followed along with Trout Unlimited’s campaigns in Alaska over the past few months, you know that from Pebble Mine advancements to Roadless Rule rollbacks, incredible places like Bristol Bay and the Tongass National Forest are at great...
There is a risk to presuming that the first few minutes of a fishing outing will portend how the entire day will unfold. How often do we struggle early, and then rally? How often do we dominate early and then fade? But we often can’t help ourselves,...
Once you have the simple cast down—the pick-up-and-lay-down cast—it’s time to start bringing your line hand into the equation. In the short video below, Orvis’ Pete Kutzer shows us the proper method for holding the line while casting, including where your...
I love to swing soft-hackle flies. It’s one of the best fishing methods I know for trout in steadily moving water with a generally constant depth. Below, RIO Products Brand Manager Simon Gawesworth shows you what kind of water you’ll be looking for when...
Atlantic salmon—at least those that swim wild in the ocean and migrate into the rivers and streams of Newfoundland and Labrador—are a bucket-list fish for a lot of fly fishers. And they should be. They rival any other salmon species when it comes to taking flies and,...
It’s dry-fly season. Well, it’s what I like to call “hopper season,” especially here in the West, where big trout will look up for terrestrial bugs that will occasionally end up in the water, thanks to a timely wind gust or just dumb luck. But...
I’m not ready to give up on summer just yet—hoppers are flitting about and occasionally slapping the water here on our western trout streams. But the media world generally moves about a month ahead of schedule. So I wasn’t surprised when I saw that Orvis...
We all have a passion in life, even if, like my kids, we haven’t really figured out what it is yet. For fly fishers—real, die-hard, rather-fish-than-eat anglers—our passion is simple. A rod, a line, a fly and some water are all it takes to ignite the lamp in our...
Steelhead are never easy to catch. If they were … well, they wouldn’t be steelhead. But they might be especially difficult to catch on a skated dry fly. One western river, the desert section of the lower Deschutes, is known for big, fresh-from-the-Columbia...
Once you have the simple cast down—the pick-up-and-lay-down cast—it’s time to start bringing your line hand into the equation. In the short video below, Orvis’ Pete Kutzer shows us the proper method for holding the line while casting, including where your...
For more than a decade, Montanans have worked together to create a lasting solution for public lands in the Blackfoot River watershed. That solution is the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. This bill will protect the Blackfoot River by permanently protecting its...
Atlantic salmon—at least those that swim wild in the ocean and migrate into the rivers and streams of Newfoundland and Labrador—are a bucket-list fish for a lot of fly fishers. And they should be. They rival any other salmon species when it comes to taking flies and,...
Illinois RiverPhoto courtesy Ken Morrish Southwest Oregon is a place defined by steep country and untamed rivers where we can go to find solitude, dramatic landscapes, and some of the best habitat for big game and wild anadromous fish in the lower 48...
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Hatch Magazine. My father once told me that “home is where you hang your hat.” I believed it, for a time, at least. I mean, as a young boy, who was I to argue with the wisdom of a grownup? I’ve come to realize,...
Water for Camp, watercolor, Charlie Russell. Source: Wikipedia By Tom Reed It is wide open terrain, a landscape that leaves no question as to where Montana got its nickname: Big Sky Country. This is the land of Charlie Russell. He was the quintessential artist of the...
Editor’s note: This first appeared in the Los Angeles Times. By Mike Dombeck and Chris Wood In the faraway Amazon, politics and commercial exploitation are fueling fires that threaten the world’s largest tropical rainforest. Closer to home, in Alaska, the...
Steelhead are never easy to catch. If they were … well, they wouldn’t be steelhead. But they might be especially difficult to catch on a skated dry fly. One western river, the desert section of the lower Deschutes, is known for big, fresh-from-the-Columbia...
Help us protect the places you love to fish, and to make your fishing better.
Trout Unlimited staffers consistently contribute important articles to a number of scientific papers and journals. We are also proud to share two books recently published by the American Fisheries Society. “Trout and Char of the World” is the first...
By Connor Ford The annual Trout Unlimited Teen Summit is a dream come true for any teen who loves fly fishing and is interested in conservation. It sure was for this teen from Holly, Michigan. Five days of fishing for wild trout in wild places, experiencing local...
By Ivory Williams Have you ever seen a river turned inside out? I have and it is a pretty shocking sight. For the past six summers I worked as an intern for Nez Perce Fisheries. Trout Unlimited and the Nez Perce Tribe are partnering on some projects throughout Idaho...
By Jonathan Wilson-Thieroff The 2019 Trout Unlimited Teen Summit recently took place outside of Anaconda, Montana, on the shores of Georgetown Lake. Although we stayed at the lake, most of our days were spent around Silver Bow and Rock creeks. We learned a lot about...
“Schedule it when I’m not around.” Meigan and Lucas Bell pestered me for weeks to host a showing of Live the Stream in the national office of Trout Unlimited. I am glad my assistant didn’t listen to my direction. Live the Stream is a fantastic movie. Its...
Editor’s note: The TU Costa 5 Rivers Program sent a handful of college students to the Columbia River basin to study the challenges facing the drainage’s fisheries. At 4:30 a.m. we stumbled from our tents and into brisk chilly air. We zipped up our...
Editor’s note: The TU Costa 5 Rivers Program sent a handful of college students to the Columbia River basin to study the challenges facing the drainage’s fisheries. At 6 a.m. we started driving from La Grande, Oregon to the Grande Ronde River headwaters –...
Thirty five years exploring the waters of Wyoming’s Carbon County as a fishing guide connected Jeff Streeter to the landscape of the region in a way few come to realize. After three decades of leading clients to fish on the Encampment and North Platte rivers, among...
I’m in Little Rock, Ark., this week for the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference. Our hotel is situated right on the banks of what looks to be an angry Arkansas River. Years ago, I worked as an editor and reporter for a couple of small newspapers...
They look nervous. Until camp started, most hung by their parents, belying their teenage trend toward independence. Most are from Pennsylvania, but surprisingly at least seven of the 23 attendees at the 2019 Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp are from...
We had a great winter here in Idaho. Lots of high snow. And then spring arrived with buckets of rain in the valleys and more snow up high. We’re closing in on the first day of summer, and our backcountry trout streams are still surging with runoff. High water is...
By Paul Burnett Trout Unlimited members often ask about opportunities to engage with active and ongoing conservation projects. Grassroots-based programs like willow planting and Trout in the Classroom are great ways to contribute, but are also seasonal in nature and...
Saint Ambrose once said, “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” That sentiment defines the work of Trout Unlimited’s Veterans Service Partnership, and was visible at the recent “couples trip” hosted by the VSP and the Friends of the Upper Delaware....
My buddy Dennis is a nuclear engineer. He travels the globe through his job and works with disparate foreign governments who are turning to nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels. One of Dennis’ many jobs is to help those governments test various...
You know spring is taking its time in Yellowstone when ice floes are cruising down the river between Lake Village and Canyon on Memorial Day. It’s just been one of those years—lots of late snow, and, as of Monday, more than a solid week of high-country...
Climate change is a major threat to trout and salmon. Their habitat is quickly changing and there will be a lot less of it in the future. But we still don’t have an understanding of if, or how, these cold-water fish might evolve to adapt to a warmer environment. ...
Dustin Wichterman lives trout. By day he manages Trout Unlimited’s restoration and protection work in the Potomac headwaters. Most of the rest of the time he’s either fishing for trout or dreaming about fishing for trout. And a big part of...
“I have concluded that I am going to stay alive long enough to see salmon return to healthy populations in Idaho.” Those words by U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) at a conference at the Andrus Center last week may do more to project the recovery of the imperiled Snake...
This year is the International Year of the Salmon, and it couldn’t have come too soon. Wild salmon the world over are in peril—once plentiful stocks are dwindling in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Dams block migration. Proposed industrial development,...
Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from the new book, “Catching Yellowstone’s Wild Trout: A Fly-fishing History and Guide,” by Chris Hunt, Trout Unlimited’s national digital director. The book, endorsed by TU, is available for...
It was humid and drizzly—the warmest day of the year so far, but nothing could contain the excitement of these kids. “Are you excited to go fishing,” I asked a young boy named, Derrick. His smile was all the answer needed. More than 40 inner city kids met...
Jim looked at me in disbelief. “What?” I repeated my question, “Why is it important that we recover southwestern native trout?” “Let me tell you a story,” he said. Jim Brooks was the longtime lead of the Gila Trout recovery team. Gila trout are native to the...
My TU coworker Mark Taylor has a great laugh. Kind of a mix between a giggle and guffaw. A guffawggle, if you will. I know this because I’ve seen Mark in any number of circumstances—mingling with conference attendees at a hospitality suite, surrounded by his...
The room is full for the banquet. I first came across the Narragansett chapter of Trout Unlimited seven or eight years ago, when a few frustrated members contacted me and complained that the chapter was assisting the state in stocking over native fish in violation of...
Gary recalls talking to a road engineer more familiar with channelizing and straightening rivers in response to floods. As he looked over the work “his face fell from pink to grey, and he said, ‘We have been doing this wrong for 100 years.’”
I unhitched the camper just off the road in a trailhead parking area. It wasn’t occupied, and with the rain and wind of late, I didn’t expect company anytime soon. A lonely, soggy firepit adorned the center of the lot, but that was the only sign that anybody had been...
Many of us know that like painting, fishing is an incredible art that has the power to tell stories of ecosystems, landscapes and cultures. In Alaska, we are lucky to have partners who are passionate about both. Spelman Evans Downer, a Cooper Landing-based artist and...
By Eric Crawford The Idaho Fish and Game commission today announced that the fabled Clearwater River steelhead run would be closed to fishing starting Sept. 29. This closure, initiated to protect the few returning two-ocean, or “B-run” steelhead, is a...
Trout Unlimited has received three federal grant awards totaling nearly $750,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for stream protection and restoration projects in the upper Delaware River watershed. These grant awards support the...
Illinois RiverPhoto courtesy Ken Morrish Southwest Oregon is a place defined by steep country and untamed rivers where we can go to find solitude, dramatic landscapes, and some of the best habitat for big game and wild anadromous fish in the lower 48...
South Park, Colorado By Scott Willoughby The Bureau of Land Management’s Royal Gorge Field Office covers some 666,000 acres of public lands sloping eastward from the Great Divide, through Colorado’s Front Range and into the rolling grasslands of the High...
For nearly 90 years, the abandoned lower Eklutna Dam blocked salmon migration on the Eklutna River, contributing to the downfall of the salmon fishery. In September of 2018, we, along with many others, rejoiced the successful removal of the lower dam. This dam removal marked a first step in reconnecting 22 miles of salmon habitat and securing a free-flowing future for the Eklutna River.
By Morgan Agee I am so excited to be the new West Virginia water quality and monitoring organizer for Trout Unlimited and look forward to spending the next year with the TU team restoring, protecting and educating about the place where I grew up and learned to love...
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Hatch Magazine. My father once told me that “home is where you hang your hat.” I believed it, for a time, at least. I mean, as a young boy, who was I to argue with the wisdom of a grownup? I’ve come to realize,...
One of the most promising conservation campaigns of this era is making steady progress in a river system that, historically, has been the third most productive for salmon and steelhead on the West Coast. A new video from Trout Unlimited showcases some of this...
TU Teen alum Andrew Dang recently received the inaugural Emerging Leader Award at TU, an accomplishment that received some stellar coverage in the Summer issue of Trout magazine. As part of the award, Headwaters staff had a chance to talk with Andrew about his time at...
Teen leaders at the 2019 TU Teen Summit in Montana. Each year TU welcomes 300 new TU Teen members through our twenty-four regional Conservation and Fly Fishing Summer Camps & Academies. These budding teen members are usually learning about Trout...
We all have a passion in life, even if, like my kids, we haven’t really figured out what it is yet. For fly fishers—real, die-hard, rather-fish-than-eat anglers—our passion is simple. A rod, a line, a fly and some water are all it takes to ignite the lamp in our...
My first Make a Difference Day still gives me goosebumps. It was October 2006. We had decided to do a special volunteer event just for the national day of service. We did not expect much as we had decided to take a regularly scheduled volunteer event, coin...
By Jacob A. Fetterman When I decided to change my major toward the end of my freshman year at Lock Haven University, I had no idea about the journey to follow. I was looking for a career that would allow me to positively impact the...
The deviation from the plan started when the app we were using to navigate across downtown Seattle in morning traffic guided us down appallingly skinny, twisted streets and a scenic tour of old neighborhoods that did not, in the end, deliver us to the ferry any more...
The Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, manages more public land – 245 million acres – than any other land management agency, the vast majority of which is located in 12 western states and Alaska. And that’s just the surface lands; the...
Sand Creek Lakes What a thrilling prospect to catch native fish in a spectacular wilderness setting like in the picture above. That is what anglers’ dreams are made of. Years of hard work, planning and enduring partnerships strove towards...
Aging. We all do it – every minute and second of every day. Why is wisdom gained only with age? Hitting a rather large, round number earlier this year, I’ve been reflecting on life – how to spend more time living my life, how to spend more time with the people I love,...
If you’ve followed along with Trout Unlimited’s campaigns in Alaska over the past few months, you know that from Pebble Mine advancements to Roadless Rule rollbacks, incredible places like Bristol Bay and the Tongass National Forest are at great...
There is a risk to presuming that the first few minutes of a fishing outing will portend how the entire day will unfold. How often do we struggle early, and then rally? How often do we dominate early and then fade? But we often can’t help ourselves,...
Water for Camp, watercolor, Charlie Russell. Source: Wikipedia By Tom Reed It is wide open terrain, a landscape that leaves no question as to where Montana got its nickname: Big Sky Country. This is the land of Charlie Russell. He was the quintessential artist of the...
Editor’s note: This first appeared in the Los Angeles Times. By Mike Dombeck and Chris Wood In the faraway Amazon, politics and commercial exploitation are fueling fires that threaten the world’s largest tropical rainforest. Closer to home, in Alaska, the...
Win a Flycraft 3-person boat, a suite of Yeti gear, an Orvis rod and MUCH MORE. Sixty winners in all!
