Traditions: Pig tails and pink spots

Dustin Wichterman and daughter Brooklynn quickly pose with a West Virginia brook trout before releasing the fish. By Dustin Wichterman To say that angling has always been a big part of my life is probably an understatement. It has been imprinted from both sides of my family, and after finding out that several of my…

Rivers and roads: Connecting people … and fish

By Laura MacFarland A majority of Wisconsin’s 115 fish species, including trout, need to move throughout a watershed seasonally or at varying stages in their lifecycle to feed, find cooler water, avoid predators, and reach spawning habitat. Rivers, long and linear in nature, are vulnerable to habitat fragmentation thanks in part to our immense network…

Traditions: Tenkara in America

A Dolly Varden in southeast Alaska, caught on a tenkara rod. By Randy Scholfield Boulder, Colorado, thinks differently. While at times mocked for its free-range ideas and hemp-fueled lifestyles, there’s no doubt the “People’s Republic” is booming as a hub for creative entrepreneurs and independent thinkers. Oh yeah—it doesn’t hurt that Boulder is surrounded by…

Video spotlight: Yakutia

Jako Lucas has been fly fishing the world and making movies about it for some time now, but his latest effort about the massive fish of Yakutia might be one for the ages. The region most folks only know exists on the playing map of the boardgame “Risk,” is plenty fishy, as you’ll see in…

Of monuments and missed opportunities

By Chris Wood The one that got away isn’t always a fish. Eighteen years ago, I got a phone call from the forest supervisor of the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest in southwest Oregon. He wanted President Clinton to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to make a big chunk of the forest a national monument…

Tradition | Trout Camp Essay Contest | Alexander

Each fall, TU Camp and Academy graduates are invited to enter the TU Teen Essay Contest in which they share their camp experiences. This year we had four finalists, and Alexander’s essay is the second in this series as the second runner-up. Alexander is from California and traveled all the way to Virginia to attend…