My life can be separated into two distinct parts: Life before I picked up a fly rod, and life after it. I began my fly fishing journey in the rolling hills of western Wisconsin, the place where I call home. It was the beginning of January and my hands were freezing cold; every moment I
A tale of water, reclamation and tough decisions
The 2018 5 Rivers Odyssey crew. Photo courtesy of Flylords It is that time of the year: long days, great hatches, and the 5 Rivers Odyssey. Now in its third year, this year’s 5 Rivers Odyssey participants will be exploring the Pacific Northwest for the next five weeks. In partnership with the U.S. Forest Service,
5 Rivers Odyssey: Morgan Bradley
My name is Morgan Bradley and I am from Telluride, Colo. From a young age, I began fishing with my dad, who has been a life-long angler. It started with a spin rod, fishing with worms and other bait for species like catfish and bass back when I used to live in Phoenix, Ariz.. When
Summer steelhead on a skated fly
Editor’s note: This is the second of two posts on skating flies for summer steelhead from the director of TU’s Wild Steelhead Initiative. Go here to read the first. Recently, I shared some thoughts on the gear, techniques, and stream knowledge you might need to fish for summer steelhead with a skated fly—one of my
The value of new technology: eDNA and O. mykiss
By Natalie Stauffer-Olsen, PhD. It is always exciting when new technology becomes available that can help us understand, manage and protect wild steelhead, the mavericks of the Pacific salmonids. Steelhead and rainbow trout populations can be difficult to predict, model and understand because of their very plastic (scientific term for highly variable) life histories, from juveniles to
Reconciliation for fish and people in California’s Central Valley
Dr. Rene Henery leads a small team of Trout Unlimited program staff who work on improving and restoring habitat, passage and flows for imperiled Central Valley salmon and steelhead. This effort has taken promising strides over the past several years toward a collaborative, adaptively-managed approach to rebuilding wild runs of native fish and the fisheries
New Zealand mud snails in Michigan trout streams
More than 180 non-native species have been introduced to the Great Lakes region, and many of them have been categorized as invasive, causing potential threat to native ecosystems and their populations. One relative newcomer is causing concerns about its potential risks to the region’s trout streams. The New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is an aquatic invasive that has appeared in Great Lakes streams only recently.