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Light the pilot for a young angler and share the craft
I look back on my fishing life, and I can play certain moments in my mind like black-and-white highlight reels. That first snout of a brown trout sipping a grasshopper fly I cast in the right spot along the riverbank. That first tarpon jump, that made my knees knock as the silver king splashed down on…
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When the weather breaks and the rains come
Photo by Mark H. Anbinder A group of friends had meticulously planned a big float of the upper Henry's Fork from Big Springs to Mack's Inn this past weekend. It's been a hell of summer — we went the better part of a month without rain and here in Idaho Falls, we went through the latter…
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When terminal doesn’t have to mean the end
Sometimes you get what you ask for. Sometimes you get much more, but my experience pursuing Lahontans served me a reminder that things worth having are always worth earning.
Conservation success and concern for Lahontan cutthroat trout Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to reach the Master Caster class of the Western Native Trout Challenge, attempting to land each of the 20 native trout species in their historical ranges of the 12 states in the West. You can follow Ritz as he…
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Take photos of the scenery, not the fish while on the boat
What I’m about to say might bother some people and as a professional photographer for over 20 years I can’t believe I’m even thinking about saying it. It’s time to stop taking photos of our fish while in the boat. We’ve all seen and read the news of temporary restrictions on rivers like the Upper…
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Playing the numbers game isn’t a sustainable strategy
If we don’t at least talk about how anglers pressure fisheries, is habitat work just window dressing? Numbers. That’s the word that pops to mind when I see this image. I asked you all what you thought yesterday. Many said “bobber.” (OK. I think most of can agree that “strike indicator” is a bit over-cooked).…
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Paying it forward in New Mexico
I want to share a quintessential Trout Unlimited story...
I want to share a quintessential Trout Unlimited story. Last week, I was virtually testifying before a subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee on a mundanely named, but important, bill called the Legacy Roads and Trails Act. As usual, the government affairs team had me well prepared to advocate for a bill that would…
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Everything you wanted to know: Lahontan cutthroat trout
Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) Species Summary and Status: The Lahontan cutthroat trout is native to the Lahontan Basin of northern Nevada, northeastern California, and southeastern Oregon. One of the oldest lineages of cutthroat trout, it originally inhabited the ancient Lahontan Basin at least several 100,000 years ago. As of publication, 72 self-sustaining Lahontan…
