Five Rivers Odyssey: Restoring a salmon factory

The Staney Creek region of Prince of Wales Island holds 139,000 acres of Tongass National Forest wilderness. This temperate rainforest is the largest national forest in the country and holds a unique biodiversity rich with fish, terrestrial wildlife and forest vegetation. It also serves as means for tourist recreation, subsistence for the resource dependent communities…

The Beaver Believers

Photo by Lizzie Bridges By Megan Euclide I am walking down to the river just after sunrise. There is no wind. Early light reflects off the glassy surface, brighter than I expect at this hour. My waders are already strapped. As I approach the water’s edge, I wonder, will I catch anything today? This might…

Two days, one fly

By Chris Wood Walt shook his head. “It’s up to you man, but I wouldn’t use a streamer. There’s a ton of wood and other snags in the river through the park. But it’s your call.” At the put-in, another guide commented, “I had two really good streamer fishermen hit the same stretch yesterday, and…

Bringing back the Big Wood

Eroding banks along the Bridge to Bridge project area By Chris Wood The sign behind the two-person Trout Unlimited office in Hailey, Idaho, reads, “Parking for Trout Unlimited only. If towed, call Dick York Towing.” It is an inside-Hailey joke as Keri York’s Dad ran Dick York Towing—the only towing business in the Big Wood…

TU’s climate change working group turns five

West slope cutthroat trout. Photo by Chris Hunt By Bill Lanzoni TU’s Climate Change Workgroup continues to advocate for its fellow members to help address the threats to trout habit impacted by climate change. Our workgroup was officially formed at the Santa Fe, N.M., 2014 Annual Meeting and included members who shared very different perspectives…

A living legend and a fishing machine

By Chris Wood “Lefty said, ‘give it a try for a year. If it doesn’t work out, you can come back.’” That was in April 1973, and Paul Bruun, fishing guide, writer, and Wyoming raconteur, never looked back. He moved from Miami Beach to Jackson to write for the Jackson Hole Guide. Lefty Kreh’s counsel…