TU working to avert disaster for Oklahoma’s Lower Illinois River

TU grassroots leader Scott Hood with a nugget from Oklahoma’s Lower Illinois River. The Lower Illinois River below Tenkiller Ferry Dam is one of only two streams in Oklahoma with a year-round trout fishery. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) manages this tailwater for trout, striped bass and other game fishes thanks to cold-water…

Five Rivers Odyssey: Exploring the Tongass

The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States and is home to the third largest island in the United States, Prince of Wales (only Kodiak and the big island of Hawaii are bigger). The 5 Rivers Odyssey crew spent 10 days on Prince of Wales to learn more about issues…

How TU defines success in the Klamath River basin

TU’s Tim Frahm swinging on the Klamath River near Weitchpec. The legendary Klamath River is the third most productive watershed for salmon and steelhead on the West Coast, after only the Columbia and Sacramento Rivers systems. The Klamath is also Ground Zero for one of the most challenging water conflicts in U.S. history. Trout Unlimited’s…

How I’ll be celebrating Alaska Wild Salmon Day

Heidi and a Bear Trail Lodge client with a nice Bristol Bay rainbow. Photo courtesy of Heidi Wild Re-posted from the Peninsula Clarion. By: Heidi Wild In 2018, Bristol Bay broke the record of returning wild sockeye salmon. As the rest of the state closes to salmon fishing, Bristol Bay is breaking records. I’m stunned…

Voices from the River: Teachers and preachers

By Toner Mitchell The four-day gathering was a professional development course for secondary school teachers, its mission to explore the nexus of fly fishing, religion and philosophy, and how the re sulting ferment might motivate resource conservation in anglers (and students). We discussed several texts, some Thoreau, a PhD thesis arguing that fly fishing naturally…