Trout Unlimited continues to increase its efforts in the Great Lakes region. The past year saw a wide range of success across the “Protect, Reconnect, Restore and Sustain” components of our mission. Projects included habitat restoration of more than 17 miles of high-priority coldwater streams and improving/replacing several barriers to fish passage to open additional…
By Eric Crawford If only it was as simple as an adipose fin. The presence of an adipose fin is universally recognized as the mark. An individual with an adipose fin is, with a few exceptions, considered a wild steelhead. On the other hand, those marked, clipped, or ad-intact fish, they are the hatchery ones. Although it is…
On Feb. 5 the United States House of Representatives passed HR 4031, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Act. This bill seeks to increase the GLRI funding back to its original levels of $475 million. The bill had support from 50 bi-partisan co-sponsors and passed 373-45. Additionally, 15 Representatives spoke in support of the bill. They…
By Michael Gibson Nothing clears the mind like a good chukar hike. So, when the boss called for a work/chukar retreat in lower Snake River Country, I got excited. Late-season chukar in some of the best, and most rugged, chukar country the planet has to offer. About now, you are probably wondering, what’s this got to do with fish? We’ll get…
California’s Bay-Delta, where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers converge to form the largest estuary on the West Coast, is the hub of both the state’s water supply and the second largest runs of salmon and steelhead south of Alaska. The Bay-Delta is also the hub of the struggle over how to provide enough water…
Growing up in New Mexico, I took for granted that there were fishing spots where no one would want to go. Steep hikes, brush and snags everywhere, places that required too much work to get to. “Joke’s on them,” was my thinking; if only people knew that it was so much more fun than work. The people who knew…
Editor’s Note: John McMillan is the science director for Trout Unlimited’s Wild Steelhead Initiative, and one of the preeminent steelhead scientists in North America. He is also an accomplished angler and, like his father before him, a dedicated coldwater conservationist. This post can also be found on the blog of Wild Steelheaders United. Although winter…
