30 Great Places: Chattahoochee-Oconee

Region: Southern AppalachiaActivities: FishingSpecies: Brook, rainbow and brown trout Where: The Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests span nearly 900,000 acres across 26 counties in northern and central Georgia. The region provides some of the state’s most outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities and natural wonders, including Georgia’s tallest mountain (Brasstown Bald, at 4,784 feet), 75 miles of the Appalachian…

Voices from the River: A meal from the wild

Chicken of the woods mushrooms. Photo by the author. By Chris Hunt A little over a year ago, I stood up to my thighs amid a thick run of pink salmon in a remote, rainforest stream on Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island, trying like hell to tempt one of the few early cohos that were…

Wild: Little Lost River bull trout

Little Lost River bull trout. Photo by the author. I first fished Idaho’s Little Lost River in the early 2000s. I’d heard rumors of bull trout swimming in the high-desert stream that would hit dry flies intended for rainbows and require two hands for the “hero shot” after the battle. The latter might be true…

30 Great Places: Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Region: Southern Appalachia Activities: Fishing Species: Brook, rainbow and brown trout Where: Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles 800 square miles along the border of western North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee. Within a day’s drive of nearly half of America’s population, it’s the nation’s most popular national park, with upwards of 9,000,000 visitors annually. Why:…

Voices from the River: The only thing to do today

by Jenny Weis The only thing that made sense to do on our second marriage anniversary was to go fishing. A voracious lifelong angler, my husband, Sam, introduced me to fly fishing. He supplied me with the rod, reel, and meticulously organized bead box I used today. The net I used to land the rainbows,…

30 Great American Places

September is a month tailor-made for sportsmen and women and there is no better place to spend it than on our public lands. The dog days of summer have given way to cooler temperatures and a multitude of opportunities beckon hunters and anglers: brown trout chasing streamers, elk bugles ringing through the mountains, ruffed grouse…