Trout Magazine

  • Restoration

    Creating balance on a Lower Sacramento tributary 

    paynes creek aerial view

    A new diversion facility on Paynes Creek improves fish passage for Northern California’s salmon and steelhead  Photos by Katie Falkenberg Flowing into one of Northern California’s most robust salmon rivers, the Lower Sacramento, Paynes Creek offers excellent spawning grounds for Chinook and Central Valley steelhead. But it’s also an important source of water for the people and…

  • Fishing

    The rarest hatch: Hard water in Virginia 

    ice fishing at sunset

    The text was short.  “How’s your schedule looking next week?” I typed to my buddy Sam. “I think we’re going to get a hatch by Sunday.”  He replied quickly: “Hatch? It’s February and it’s freezing.”  “Exactly,” I answered. “It’s the rarest of hatches here in Virginia: fishable ice.”  Ice fishing is an annual pastime for our friends up North. Here in…

  • River Champions

    Building resilient rivers and communities  

    M.E. Sorci River Champion

    Generally speaking, hitchhiking in remote, mountainous areas is probably not a good idea. Simply put, there are a lot more bad possibilities than good ones. It’s certainly not a situation where one might expect to find a job that would change the direction of their life.    But in 2019, somewhere between Wyoming’s Wind River Range and Teton Valley, Idaho, in the passenger seat of…

  • Photo of the Week

    Photo of the week – remnants

    fish skeleton remnants tu photo of the week 2/23/26

    When walking from one fishing spot to another, we are often reminded of the cycle of life. Whether that is obvious like when seeing a fish skeleton like this or just contemplating those who came before us and got us to where we are today, rivers have a way of showing us just what we need when we need it.

  • Fly tying Trout Talk

    TROUT Tying Tip – woolly bugger

    trout fly tying tip woolly bugger

    Another fly you shouldn’t leave home without is the woolly bugger. You can tie in a wide spectrum of colors and sizes, and is a good trout producing streamer in lakes or rivers.   So, follow along with this week’s fly tying video from Orvis to master this pattern.   See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Fishing Video Lessons

  • Partnerships Community Conservation From the field

    Volunteers roll up their sleeves to embrace two struggling western waters

    Healing a river takes time. It takes skill and knowledge. It takes funding and resources. It takes communication and partnership building. Most importantly, it takes planning, passion and persistence. For Clear Creek in Colorado and LaBarge Creek in Wyoming, Trout Unlimited volunteers and staff have brought all of those needs together thanks to two Embrace…

  • River Champions

    Defining moments on the Truckee

    The indicator dipped below the milky green waters of Northern Nevada’s Truckee River. Riley Roberts pulled hard on his 10-foot 4-weight. He looked at the water through the green mirror of his sunglasses. “Fish? No, maybe a stick?” he wondered with a laugh. “Wait, what? What is that?” As the line slowly lifted out of…