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Is it spring yet?
It’s cold here along the northern fringes of the Snake River Plain — snow blankets the ground, and the wind has a sinister bite, even though it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. As I’ve gotten older, this is the time of year I like the least — it’s cold, but it’s going to get colder. There’s…
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Women love to see other women on the water
I’ve been fishing the majority of my life. From a young age, I yearned to join my brother and dad on the river, so once I was old enough to safely wade solo, I did just that. Since that young age and for years later, I always fished with either male family members or my…
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Grayling giggles on the Gulkana
Her infectious grayling giggles mirrored the steady stream of top-water action so well that none of us had to look to know the story
It took time, but I finally learned that you cannot wholly recreate a successful trip. My best advice? Don’t even try. Any attempt to do so immediately sets you up for disappointment and, in all honesty, undercuts the thrill of the trip. Every adventure is bound to be a little different, and wiser heads will nod as I add that this dash of uniqueness is part of the curiosity, and appeal, that…
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Native stories, for fish and people, are still untold
Since 1867, an obelisk has stood in the center of Santa Fe’s downtown plaza to honor fallen Union soldiers in Civil War battles fought in New Mexico, as well as soldiers who fought against “savage Indians." Another structure nearby honors Kit Carson who, as a Union colonel, did as much as anyone to push the Southwest’s Indigenous People to the brink of extinction. A statue on the grounds of one of Santa Fe’s prominent cathedrals honored…
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First look at Denali
I'd come all the way to Alaska and saw more grayling than I'd ever seen in one place. And I didn't catch a single one from this river. And I didn't mind a bit
With a view like this, a fishless day isn't too bad after all Just a glance over the side of the canoe revealed the life swimming in this crystal-clear spring creek situated just off the Alaska Highway about a 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks. Big Arctic grayling—and some of the biggest whitefish I'd ever seen—cruised…
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The amazing trout gender reveal
The alevin at the trailside museum are looking great! How can we tell the males from the females?
Also known as sexual dimorphism — luckily no forest fire risk with this reveal The alevin are looking great and we only need about 291 more names. But, "Are they males or females?" asks Elanor the Animal Expert (age 7) from The Bronx. Thanks for the great question, Elanor. While "gender reveal parties" are the…
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Conservation victories make not fishing tolerable
Fall fishing is typically one of my favorite times to be on the water. The crowds shrink, the colors pop and the trout eat. But this fall, I’m spending more time recovering on the couch than under the cottonwoods with some meat tied to the end of my line. Recovery from my third surgery this year is going…
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