Region: Southern RockiesActivities: Hiking, fishing, rafting, hunting, mountain biking, campingSpecies: Rainbow and brown trout Where: The Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument is a swath of more than 240,000 acres of protected public land in Taos County, in north central New Mexico. Much of the land abuts about 50 miles of its eponymous river. The…
The Slumpbuster is a John Barr creation, and it’s intent is exactly as the name implies. It’s big. It’s heavy. It pushes water. It’s the “look at me!” fly that we all search for when things are slow, the action suddenly ceases or under high water when finding fish might be a bit of a…
If you fish in froggy water—slow-moving, maybe a bit muddy—you need to have damselfly nymphs in your fly box. They work well in long slicks in trout water or even in high-elevation trout ponds and lakes. And, of course, they’re great for warm-water critters like bass and bluegill in waters where they’re found. The originator…
TU has done more to protect and sustain and restore native trout species than any other organization, and it’s not close.
Millions pour into western Montana to reconnect the watershed and restore endangered bull trout populations
My first introduction to Red Rock Lakes came a decade and a half ago when a friend suggested that I might think about applying for an antelope hunting license in the area. I was new to Montana and knew nothing about wildlife refuges except for some vague understanding that they were a different type of public land that I guess maybe you could hunt on?
By Brett Prettyman Among the many thoughts running through my mind while traipsing though the wilds is one that does more than the others to clear out the chaos and clutter of every day life. “Am I the first human to stand in this place?” The fact I am even pondering the possibility means I…
With a bit of encouragement and support, hopefully we can dramatically grow the ranks of those who advocate for clean water. The more voices the better
By Mike Kuhr It’s known as the President’s River, but on a recent sunny day in August, the Bois Brule River in Northern Wisconsin welcomed U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), several of her staff, and a number of conservationists for a paddle down its famed trout waters. Sen. Baldwin was just finishing up a weeklong…
How TU staffers in Utah are taking their local landscapes back to the times of mountain men
“Conservation is one of the pillars of the fishing community and as anglers we are meant to be stewards of the aquatic environment. The removal of dams unlocks so much more than just the water they hold – it unlocks the natural potential of anadromous fish. By deconstructing our own creations, we allow nature to rebuild itself in a way that we could never imagine! For this reason, as a business and as anglers, Living Waters Fly Fishing supports the removal of dams on the Snake River.”
The Royal Coachman Lodge is one of the premier Alaska fly fishing lodges located in the heart of the world famous Bristol Bay sport fishing region of Southwest Alaska. The lodge sits on the banks of the Nuyakuk River, a quarter of a mile downstream from the outlet to Tikchik Lake, nestled in the 1.6…
Trout Unlimited has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to plant nearly 17,000 trees along coldwater streams in Michigan. The project, “Reducing Runoff in the Rogue River Watershed,” aims to address stormwater runoff that pollutes, erodes and warms the important West Michigan trout fishery by…
Trout Unlimited’s Rogue River Tree Army planted 17,067 trees along rivers and streams throughout the Rogue River watershed over the last two years. Its “soldiers” are just getting started. The Tree Army, which is funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through the U.S. Forest Service, is made up of TU staff, seasonal work crews and volunteers. This year, the Rogue River Tree Army…
Baitfish imitations work great in the fall, particularly where migrating brown trout are found. As these fish move out of lakes or upstream from big water to spawning habitat, they just get more and more aggressive
In the early 1990s, TU volunteer Rich Redmen had the idea to use large Willow stakes to resurrect a deeply eroding stream bank on the Boquet River in Wadhams, N.Y. At the time, it was a common practice to load eroding banks with large rocks, often called rip rap. But rip rap could cost 15…
By Dave Atcheson “I cast out and try to be patient, waiting for my fly to sink. On my first cast I’m too patient and snag. On the next I begin my retrieve earlier, an excruciatingly slow retrieve, just a twitch of the line here and there to keep my fly undulating above the weed…
By Matthias Bonzo Last year TU began to implement a project we’re calling “Trout and Trees.” Funded by a grant from the USDA State and Private Forestry – Landscape Scale Restoration Initiative, the project seeks to improve near stream (riparian) habitats coupled with instream habitat work to provide as complete restoration to a degraded site…
Trout Unlimited President and CEO Chris Wood will join Keith Curley and Rob Masonis, TU’s vice presidents for eastern and western conservation, respectively, this week when they all “sit down” for the American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s Conservation on the Couch series. The webcast is Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, and viewers can register to…
Sometimes you get what you ask for. Sometimes you get much more, but my experience pursuing Lahontans served me a reminder that things worth having are always worth earning.
