Currently browsing… Orvis
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Collaboration and compromise restore trout almost lost in Colorado
A Colorado River cutthroat landed in Colorado. Daniel A. Ritz photo. Progress and discovery alive and well in the center of the fly fishing universe Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to reach the Master Caster class of the Western Native Trout Challenge, attempting to land each of the 20…
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Everything you wanted to know: Colorado River cutthroat trout
Colorado River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus) Species status and summary: The Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT) historically occupied most cool water habitats of the Colorado River watersheds in Colorado, southern Wyoming, eastern Utah, extreme northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. Currently, however, Colorado River cutthroat trout occupy approximately 16 percent of their historic range, primarily…
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Excuse me… just slamming through
Owen Prettyman fishing a small creek while attempting to complete his Utah Cutthroat Slam with a Bonneville cutthroat trout. Daniel A. Ritz photo. Making memories to last a lifetime in Utah Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to reach the Master Caster class of the Western Native Trout Challenge,…
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Everything you wanted to know: bonneville cutthroat trout
Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii utah) Species summary and status: The State Fish of Utah, the Bonneville cutthroat was historically found in the Bonneville Basin, including suitable habitat within Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada. Although scientists believed pure strains of Bonneville cutthroat were extinct, a few isolated populations were discovered in Utah in the 1970s and…
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Chasing the Wyoming Cutt-Slam and keeping the wolves away
Looking back, I saw Sweet, who had coyly picked a honey hole on a backwater around a small island I didn’t even notice, who was looking upriver at me and grinning ear to ear. At that moment, I remember thinking he resembled a child showing off his hard work.
Sunset on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Once the stronghold of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, invasive lake trout now threaten the native species in this iconic fishery. Daniel A. Ritz photo. Learning the meaning of refuge and what it means to defend it in the Cowboy State Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States…
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The elusive Arctic char of the Kenai Peninsula
Portaging from lake to lake was a unique experience while fishing the Swan and Swanson lakes in Alaska. Daniel A. Ritz photo. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge was on fire, but the fishing was not Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to reach the Master Caster class of…
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Pursuing ‘the people’s fish’ in Alaska
“When we think about people, and the ‘habitat’ people utilize, we don’t just look at the superhighways where they can easily be seen traveling," he said. "People don’t live on the freeways, people don’t ‘spawn’ on the freeways or on their commute.”
The author traveled to the end of the road in his pursuit of Dolly Varden. Daniel A. Ritz photo. Searching for Dolly Varden in southeast Alaska Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to reach the Master Caster class of the Western Native Trout Challenge, attempting to land each of…