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Short casts: Smith River mining, albies off shore, coho coming home
Photo by Thom Bridge, Helena Independent Record There are a handful of happy boaters and anglers this week in Montana, and a whole lot of disappointed folks, too, as Smith River float permits were announced. You win some, you lose some. The Smith, perhaps Montana's best-known backcountry float-fishing excursion, is a great early season float,…
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A River’s Last Chance
The first time I saw the Eel River flowing under the remote redwood forest along Humboldt County's Avenue of the Giants, I saw a dirty, blown-out river that the locals swore to me was home to massive steelhead. I lived in the small city of Eureka for a couple of years in the late 90s,…
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Completing the Utah Cutthroat Slam
Tom Doxey caught this Yellowstone cutthroat in northwestern Utah to complete his Utah Cutthroat Slam. Courtesy photo. By Tom Doxey My quest for the Utah Cutthroat Slam began in April 2016 when the program was introduced at the Wasatch Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo. I was lucky enough to be the high bidder on…
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Voices from the River: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
by Sam Davidson Maybe the most difficult thing about being an avid winter steelhead angler isn’t the guaranteed frigid digits, abominable weather, mostly blown-out rivers or the challenge of actually hooking one of those transcendent slabs of muscle. For me, anyway, it is coming to terms with March 7, and the increasing probability of wearing…
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TU Business Spotlight: Trout Scapes River Restoration, LLC
By Walt Gasson Like any great company, Trout Scapes River Restoration, LLC is about great people. Brian Cowden is one of those great people. Brian comes to Trout Scapes after being the VP of Sales and Marketing for a Montana based river restoration firm. Prior to that role, Brian worked at Trout Unlimited where he…
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Short casts: Spring in Montana, steelhead in the Tongass, Minnesota expo
Every year about this time, I'm lured over Monida Pass into the Beaverhead drainage, and, inevitably, after a day or two of fishing, I go a bit farther. I'll venture from there, up the Big Hole to the Bitterroot, or maybe even farther north to Rock Creek, where I tell myself a sqwala might make…
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Video spotlight: The Kamchatka Steelhead Project
Just as Alaska is home to the northern-most populations of steelhead in this hemisphere, Kamchatka boasts big and mysterious chromers, too. The film, "The Kamchatka Steelhead Project" is an example of what can be done with a little collaboration, a touch of creativity and the passion that anglers have for these incredible fish. On Russia's…