Fly tying: Wood Duck Heron

As a utilitarian fly tier, if I can find a fly that’s both simple to tie and effective on the water, I’m in a pretty good place. I like flies that I can a dozen of at a single sitting and not feel like I’ve been hunched over the vise for hours. Video of Wood…

Video spotlight: Labrador Atlantic salmon

Wild Atlantic salmon in the United States are extremely rare—there are a few that hang on in the coastal rivers in Maine, but, for the most part, three centuries of development have cost this iconic fish most of its spawning and rearing habitat and earned it a likely permanent place on the Endangered Species List.…

Trout Tips: Now is the time for lake trout

A lake trout from Shoshone Lake, Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Chris Hunt. I live within a two-hour drive of Yellowstone Lake, the site of one of the greatest environmental tragedies involving native trout in recent memory. In 1994, a non-native lake trout was caught and documented in Yellowstone Lake. Just over a decade later,…

Volunteers team up for Allegheny National Forest Snapshot Day

By Jake Lemon The Allegheny National Forest spans more than 500,000 acres in the headwaters of the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania. With over 1,000 miles of trout water, excellent hunting opportunities and an extensive trail network, including the North Country Trail, in the ANF and surrounding area draws recreationists from throughout the region. The area…

Weister Creek project highlighted on Driftless Area tour

Participants walk along the site of recent restoration on Weister Creek as Project Manager Paul Hayes briefs them on the project. (Photo by Gillian Pomplun, Crawford County Independent.) One of the more notable projects in the Wisconsin part of Trout Unlimited’s Driftless Area Restoration Effort in recent years has been the Weister Creek project near…

Fishing club or conservation group? Asked and answered

By Chris Wood Are we a conservation organization or a fishing club? That was the question for the Trout Unlimited Deerfield watershed chapter in northwestern Massachusetts when they formed almost ten years ago. Kevin Parsons tells the story: “A buddy approached me and said, ‘Let’s create a TU chapter.’ ‘Fine,’ I said “You be the…

Birds of a feather

Step one: throw a long cast down or upstream, immediately click the bail, establish tension, then activate your lure with a six to eight foot pull. Step two: stop everything. In these two moves, you have alerted every trout in the pool to the arrival of a big and vulnerable prey. Step three: resume a…