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A quick guide for fly fishing newbies
National wildlife refuges are often lightly pressured and easy to get to for new anglers. Chris Hunt photo. You have lots of options ... and lots of responsibility A lot of us fly fishers are righteously concerned with the spike in angler numbers thanks largely to the pandemic and the pressure it’s putting on our…
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Worrying about water
All is not right with Lake Meade. As of this writing, Lake Meade is almost 156 feet below "full pool." It's down almost 140 feet below its levels about 20 years ago
My partner and I drove eight hours down to southern Nevada last week for a friend's wedding. It was a classic desert affair, tastefully done, simple and a whole lot of fun. One afternoon, with time to kill before wedding events began to take up the schedule, Toni and I drove out to Lake Mead,…
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Is catch-and-release angling all it’s cracked up to be?
Releasing a nice brown trout back into the river. Kirk Deeter photo. Is catch-and-release angling overrated? It is if the only thing that matters is numbers of fish caught… In 1936, the late, great Lee Wulff said, “game fish are too valuable to be caught only once,” and the “catch-and-release” movement was born. I’m a…
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What’s your best day ever?
Could you put a finger on your best day ever fishing? I know exactly when mine was, well at least so far. My dad and brother were visiting us in Glenwood Springs to fish for a few days in early fall. The weather was cool and crisp in the mornings leading to temperatures I live…
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Put a thermometer in your pack … and use it
One of the greatest threats to the trout and salmon we love is a warming climate that comes armed with a one-two punch of declining winter snow and warming summer water temperatures. Trout need cold, clean water. Simple as that. For most trout, water temperatures that approach 70 degrees prove troublesome and often fatal. Water…
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The tug or the mug?
Is there anything more beautiful than a brook trout? Chris Hunt photo. I love trout. I particularly love wild trout. And, frankly, I don't really care how big (or how little) they are. But this spring, I've been something of a fishing dilettante. Bonefish in the Bahamas. Carp in the desert. Oscars and peacock bass…
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An early summer
It's close. I can feel it. Thanks to a sub-par winter, I'll be able to get up high into the Caribous early this year and start chasing eastern Idaho's native cutthroats, likely before Memorial Day, which is unheard of. It's going to an early summer. And, most likely, a long summer. One of the very…
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