-
The Thalweg – Best of 2021
Boats. There’s something about them that continues to instill wonder in anglers and recreational users across the country. In 2021, we took a chance and started The Thalweg on Trout Unlimited’s digital magazine. We didn’t know where we’d end up, but the truth of the matter is we didn’t care either. Casual conversations about technique,…
-
Finding an old friend on a new hunt
If you board a jet in Anchorage, Alaska and fly southeast for three hours you can land in Seattle, Washington. Fly three hours southwest and you end up in Adak, a remote island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain. Adak is equidistant from Seattle and Tokyo. It is 274 square miles of treeless tundra that’s constantly battered…
-
Answering the call for help on the Upper Snake
When flows on the Upper Snake in Wyoming were quickly dropped, TU and the people of Jackson showed up to document the impacts—and save stranded cutthroats. Major drops in the Snake River coming out of Jackson Lake Dam happen each year at the end of the irrigation season, but the drastically dry summer of 2021…
-
What’s your favorite TROUT magazine cover from the past 10 years?
As we approached my 40th cover TROUT, I asked the editors which covers they liked best, and they came up with these.
Our team at TROUT magazine likes to think that people can judge a magazine by its cover … at least in part. The cover image sets the tone for everything that follows, so we put a lot of collective thought into our choices. Sometimes we want to provoke you. Sometimes we want to cause you…
-
Surveying what’s left of Eklutna River’s Salmon
Standing on the edge of the bridge, staring down the dry riverbed, I wondered what the Eklutna River would look like when it was allowed to flow again.
This past fall I found myself frequenting the Eklutna River often, after plans solidified for the owners of the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project to briefly return water to the river for the first time since its construction in 1955. The water release was part of the study looking to mitigate the projects impacts on fish populations.…
-
’Tis the Season
When big browns are spawning, it’s a good time to stop and relish the moment What’s not to love about brown trout? They’re crafty, tenacious, mean, strong, and damn near invincible. Jason Bourne, Derrick Henry, Kaiser Soze, and Dracula all rolled into one fish. Increasingly concerned about the plight of North America’s native salmonids, I…
-
Tying the Steelhead Coachman
If you were to look in the box of a seasoned steelheader on the banks of the Snake, Grande Ronde or Clearwater chances are good you'll find.
I can distinctly remember the first few flies I started fishing with. As I would imagine the case is with many people, that selection of a dozen flies was a 'who's who' of the classics. The Adams, Elk-hair Caddis, Muddler Minnow, Pheasant Tail, and Royal Wulff seem almost like names from scripture in the pantheon…