By Jessica Bryzek I recently started working with Trout Unlimited as the West Virginia Volunteer Water Quality and Stream Restoration Coordinator. Out of all the places I have worked, I have never felt so spoiled as I do here in Thomas, West Virginia. Surrounded by miles of primitive trails, wild mountain streams, and blue forests,…
Luck, or skill? In the case of exceptional anglers like the Steelhead Whisperer, it’s mostly the latter. By Jim Burns Consider how much of your fly fishing is skill, how much is luck. This summer I excitedly boarded a plane with my fly tube and sat down, expecting nothing more than a peaceful flight, but…
Rise of the Phoenix: an Elwha River summer steelhead (Photo: John McMillan) By John McMillan Should we invest in dam removal? It’s a question that many communities, businesses and policy-makers are facing these days — partly because of agin g infrastructure and financial liabilities, and partly because of legal obligations to protect water quality and…
Yellow perch were discovered in Goose Lake inside Yellowstone National Park in 1919. Photo by Wikimedia Commons. Wait. Don’t panic. There aren’t any yellow perch inside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. At least not anymore. I’m in the final throes of researching a book on the wild trout of Yellowstone that’ll hit bookshelves next…
By Mark Taylor “Birds!” We were drifting near the Bloody Point Bar Light in the Chesapeake Bay near Kent Island when Joe McGurrin made the observation. “How did I miss those?” he wondered while firing up the outboard on his vintage Grady White cuddy cabin. A few minutes later we were easing into the fray,…
Methow Headwaters. Photo by Hannah Dewey. By Crystal Elliot-Perez Among the the wildest and most pristine places in the lower 48, the 340,000-acre Methow Headwaters landscape in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is now one step closer to being protected from large-scale mining. This is thanks to a recommendation by the U.S. Forest Service late last…
Above: Asian carp threaten the economically vital fisheries of the Great Lakes. Below: Filter-feeding carp could devastate Great Lakes steelhead and salmon, and the opportunities to fish for them. By Taylor Ridderbusch A recently completed survey shows that an overwhelming number of Great Lakes residents support immediate action to build structural protections to keep Asian…
