Fly fishing offers us the best of this planet. In turn, it demands our best. That’s why we support the people working to protect the wild fish and clean water we love.
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Chair of the Board
Terry Hyman, Washington, D.C.
President/Chief Executive
Officer
Chris Wood, Washington, D.C.
Secretary
Linda Rosenberg Ach, san FranCisCo, CaliF
Treasurer
Larry Garlick, Palo alto, CaliF
Chair of National Leadership Council
Rich Thomas, starlight, Pa
Secretary of the National Leadership Council
Sharon Sweeney Fee, livingston, Mont
Trustees
Stewart Alsop, sante Fe, n.M.
R. Scott Blackley, leesburg, va
Tony Brookfield, Park City, utah
John Burns, neeDhaM, Mass
Amy Cordalis, ashlanD, ore
Josh Crumpton, WiMberley, texas
Mac Cunningham, basalt, Colo
R. Joseph De Briyn, los angeles, CaliF.
Paul Doscher, Weare, n h
Larry Finch, Wilson, Wyo
Susan Geer, gilbert, ariz
Peter Grua, boston, Mass
Chris Hill, Washington, D.C./haines, alaska
Gregory McCrickard, toWson, MD
Phoebe Muzzy, houston, texas
H. Stewart Parker, ChaPel hill, n.C.
Al Perkinson, neW sMyrna beaCh, Fla
Greg Placone, greenville, s.C.
Candice Price, kansas City, Mo
Donald (Dwight) Scott, neW york, n y
Kathy Scott, norriDgeWoCk, Me
Judi Sittler, state College, Pa
Joseph Swedish, silverthorne, Colo
Blain Tomlinson, long beaCh, CaliF.
Terry Turner, glaDstone, ore
Leslie Weldon, benD, ore
Jeff Witten, ColuMbia, Mo./elkins, W.v
Chair
Rich Thomas
Secretary
Sharon Sweeney Fee
arizona, Tom Goodwin
arkansas, Melinda Smith
ColoraDo, Cam Chandler
ConneCtiCut, Beth Peterson
georgia, Carl Riggs
iDaho, Ed Northen
illinois, Mark Wortsmann
ioWa, Bob Sodders
kentuCky, Gene Slusher
Maine, Tammy Packie
MassaChusetts, Bill Pastuszek
MiChigan, Greg Walz
MiD-atlantiC, Noel Gollehon
Minnesota, Randy Brock
Missouri (ozark CounCil)
Jeffrey Holzem
Montana, Mark Peterson
neW haMPshire, John Bunker
neW Jersey, Peter Tovar
neW MexiCo, Jeff Arterburn
neW york, Jeff Plackis
north Carolina, Mike Mihalas
ohio, Matt Misicka
oklahoMa, Scott Hood
oregon, Peter Gray
ozark (ks/Mo) James Soukup
Pennsylvania, Russ Collins
south Carolina, Paul McKee
tennessee, Mark Spangler
texas, Joe Filer
utah, Jeff Taniguchi
verMont, David Deen
virginia, Eric Tichay
Washington, Andrew Kenefick
West virginia, Paul McKay
WisConsin, Linn Beck
WyoMing, Jim Hissong
State Council Chairs
arizona, Alan Davis
arkansas, Michael Wingo
CaliFornia, Trevor Fagerskog
ColoraDo, Greg Hardy
ConneCtiCut, Rich Mette
georgia, Rodney Tumlin
iDaho, Matthew Woodard
illinois, Dan Postelnick
Coldwater Conservation Fund Board of Directors 2024
President
Jeffrey Morgan, neW york, n y
Executive Committee
Joseph Anscher, long beaCh, n y
Philip Belling, neWPort beaCh, CaliF
Stephan Kiratsous, neW york, n y
Stephen Moss, larChMont, n y
Directors
Bruce Allbright, steaMboat sPrings, Colo
Peter and Lisa Baichtal, saCraMento, CaliF
Daniel Blackley, salt lake City, utah
Stephen Bridgman, WestFielD, n.J.
Mark Carlquist, los gatos, CaliF.
Gregory Case, PhilaDelPhia, Pa
Bonnie Cohen, Washington, D.C.
James Connelly, neWPort beaCh, CaliF
Jeremy Croucher, overlanD Park, kan
Matthew Dumas, Darien, Conn
Rick Elefant and Diana Jacobs, berkeley, CaliF
Glenn Erikson, glorieta, nM
Renee Faltings, ketChuM, iDaho
John Fraser, norWalk, Conn
Matthew Fremont-Smith, neW york, n y
Bruce Gottlieb, brooklyn, n y
John Griffin, brooklyn, n y
ioWa, Michael Chilton
kentuCky, Mike Lubeach
Maine, Matt Streeter
MassaChusetts, Josh Rownd
MiChigan, Tom Mundt
Minnesota, Brent Notbohm
Montana, Brian Neilsen
neW haMPshire, Michael Croteau
neW Jersey, Marsha Benovengo
neW MexiCo, Marc Space
neW york, Cal Curtice
north Carolina, Brian Esque
ohio, Scott Saluga
oklahoMa, Bridget Kirk
oregon, Mark Rogers
ozark (ks/Mo) Brian Carr
Pennsylvania, Leonard Lichvar
south Carolina, Michael Waddell
tennessee, Ryan Turgeon
texas, Chris Johnson
utah, Scott Antonetti
verMont, Jared Carpenter
virginia, Jim Wilson
Washington, Pat Hesselgesser
West virginia, Eugene Thorn
WisConsin, Scott Allen
WyoMing, Kathy Buchner
Robert Halmi, Jr., neW york, n y
William Heth, eau Claire, Wis
Kent and Theresa Heyborne, Denver, Colo
Kent Hoffman, oklahoMa City, okla
Frank Holleman, greenville, s.C.
Braden Hopkins, Park City utah
James Jackson, houston, texas
Tony James, neW york, n.y.
Jeffrey Johnsrud, neWPort beaCh, Cali
Jakobus Jordaan, san FranCisCo, CaliF
Matthew Kane, boulDer, Colo
James Kelley, atlanta, ga
Peter Kellogg, neW york, n y
Andrew Kenefick seattle, Wash.
Steven King, Wayzata, Minn
Cargill MacMillan, III, boulDer, Colo.
Ivan & Donna Marcotte, asheville, n.C.
Michael Maroni, bainbriDge islanD, Wash
Jeffrey Marshall, sCottsDale, ariz
Jay Martin, Delray beaCh, Fla
Heide Mason, yorktoWn heights, n y
Gregory McCrickard, toWson, MD
McCain McMurray, golDen, Colo
Daniel Miller, neW york, n y
Robert & Teresa Oden, Jr., hanover, n h
Kenneth Olivier, sCottsDale, ariz
Brian Paavola, key West, Fla
H. Stewart Parker, ChaPel hill, n.C.
Anne Pendergast, big horn, Wyo
Michael Polemis, olD ChathaM, n y
Adam Raleigh, neW york, n y
John Redpath, austin, texas
Michael Rench, CinCinnati, ohio
Andrew Roberts, highlanDs, n.C.
Leigh Seippel, neW york, n y
Paul Skydell, bath, Maine
Gary Smith, st louis, Mo
Robert Strawbridge, III, Wilson, Wyo
Paul & Sandy Strong, lakeMont, ga
Margeret Taylor, sheriDan, Wyo
Robert Teufel, eMMaus, Pa
Jeffrey Thorp, JaCkson, Wyo
Andrew Tucker, larChMont, n y
Andrew Tucker, vero beaCh, Fla.
Deacon Turner, Denver, Colo
Jeff Walters, sCottsDale, ariz
Maud and Jeff Welles, neW york, n y
Tyler Wick, boston, Mass
Geofrey & Laura Wyatt, santa barbara, CaliF
Daniel Zabrowski, oro valley, ariz
[ Chris Wood ]
Pete Wood, who after interning with TU became a lawyer in Idaho, taught me to tie my first bread fly (from an old kitchen sponge, and it was deadly on carp from the Potomac River). I caught my largest native rainbow in Alaska last year with Brian Bowe at the Alaska Sportsman’s Lodge. Pat Berry, who now leads our partner organization, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, taught me to throw a reach cast when he was a guide on the Missouri in Montana at least 25 years ago.
Guides rock, and guiding is a hard business. Their hands are always wet. Back and shoulders sore. Constantly bending over to tie a new knot or a fly. Counseling anglers of various, and in my case, dubious, skill levels to put it closer to the bank; mend upstream; “set, set, set!”
Guides are the best combination of the listening bartender and the garrulous barber. An average guide will put you on fish. A good guide will make you a better angler. The best guides will make you a better conservationist. The best guides intuitively understand and communicate to their clients the connection between clean water, healthy habitats and better fishing. They will tell you to throw your fly behind the big tree that fell from the forest along the stream because the landowner did not cut it down. They will tell you to pound the bank with streamers because the grass along the bank is tall (because the landowner allowed it to grow) and ants, grasshoppers and mice will fall into the creek. They will see a tangle of logs along the bank, that a TU staff crew installed, to mimic the large wood that would be in the river but for historic timber cutting, and make sure you work your fly slowly and carefully because the trout find cover in those snags and snarls.
I think about the influential people in my life. Mom and Dad top the list. My family is right up there. Jack Casey, a high school English teacher who motivated my love of reading and for whom my middle child, Casey, is named is another. My grandfather, Herbert Wood, had a tuneless whistle that I imitate today, and could fix anything. He taught me my love of fixing and building stuff.
I can honestly say that at that singular moment in time on the river, no-one, and I mean no-one, is more influential than my guide for that time that I am in their boat or by their side. They point out habitat features I do not see. They have years of experience to convince me to cast to “Norman” in his favorite spot. They remind me to slow down.
Pancho Panzer, A TU Business leader from the Carrileufu River Lodge will say, “Chris, slow down, slow down! You are putting way too much power in that cast.” I then slow my cast down, and better results typically occur.
I have dedicated my professional life to conservation and have always wished I could somehow convince more guides to use their influence to convince more anglers to become advocates for Trout Unlimited and conservation.
Right before COVID, I fished with a guide out of western North Carolina named, Heath Cartee, of Pisgah Outdoors. He advocated to me and volunteers in North Carolina that we take a harder stand on the state of North Carolina for their hatchery practices. He said “we can embolden and rally a mostly quietly disgruntled sector of the angling public to speak out louder and beat the drum of wild fish first. I think it could spark a movement that will eventually play out for the better over the long arc of time.”
I may have spoken to Heath once or twice in the past few years, but my time with him made me a better advocate for wild and native fish.
EDITOR
Kirk Deeter
DEPUTY EDITOR
Samantha Carmichael
EDITOR-AT-LARGE
Erin Block
Trout Unlimited
1700 N Moore Street Suite 2005
Arlington, VA 22209-2793
Ph: (800) 834-2419 trout@tu.org www.tu.org
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TROUT UNLIMITED’S MISSION: To conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fish eries and their watersheds.
TROUT (ISSN 0041-3364) is published four times a year in January, April, July and October by Trout Unlimited as a service to its members. Annual individual member ship for U.S. residents is $35 Join or renew online at www.tu.org.
TU does occasionally make street addresses available to like-minded organizations. Please contact us at 1-800-834-2419, trout@tu.org or PO Box 98166, Washington, DC 20090 if you would like your name withheld, would like to change your address, renew your membership or make a donation.
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TROUT Magazine
Trout Unlimited
1700 N Moore Street Suite 2005 Arlington, VA 22209-2793
Let’s hear it for the guides who educate, advocate and mobilize anglers for conservation.
[ Kirk Deeter ]
I attended some post-grad classes at the “University of the River” while writing the book Castwork, which profiled fishing guides and landscapes in the American West. Admittedly, the book idea was really a grand excuse to go fishing, and sure, I became a better angler as a result. But the best lessons were discovering that the trout world is about much more than pulling on fish. It’s about traditions and communities that are shaped by, and attached to, rivers. My “professors” were guides Dave Faltings, Pete Cardinal, Pat Dorsey, Denny Breer, Patty Reilly, Rusty Vorous, John Flick, Kea Hause, Kim Leighton, Tim Mosolf, Bob Lamm and Terry Gunn. These great guides, like great teachers, were all about mentoring, and not just commerce. They were all fueled by a drive to help people climb trout fishing’s learning curve and set them up for success in the “real world” of fishing on their own. They were open books. Conscience and respect for the fish and the water were always fundamental. Sadly, some of the Castwork guides are now gone, and now that I’ve been out fishing, writing and editing on my own for many years in the real world, I fondly remember with deep gratitude what they did to influence how I view fishing now. One might say that the guide world has changed over the past 20 years, and that the do-it-yourself angler sometimes feels squeezed by the “industrialization” of fly fishing. I wouldn’t argue that. But seeing how anglers interact with the rivers and fish is, in and of itself, a paramount conservation issue these days, I also think trout fishing needs truly great mentors of all kinds, now more than ever.
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BY MARK TAYLOR
When it comes to long-term restoration projects, Erin Rodgers measures the passage of time not so much by clocks and calendars, but by kids.
So it was when recently recounting a multi-year project on Vermont’s Mettawee River; Rodgers thought back to two big life moments to help her remember the project’s pace.
“The Mettawee is one of those funny projects where I base a lot of it on when my two kids were born,” said Rodgers, a project manager for Trout Unlimited’s Northeast Coldwater Habitat Restoration Program. “I’ve got various pictures of me on site with children strapped to me.”
In 2015, the year Rodgers’ daughter Alice was born, the Forest Service started working on in-stream habitat in the Mettawee’s headwaters on the Green Mountain National Forest.
Then came the big year of 2017. That’s the year her son, Simon, was born. It was also the year that TU and the U.S. Forest Service teamed up to take out the first two of six barriers blocking fish passage on the Lake Champlain tributary, which has been designated as one of TU’s Priority Waters in Vermont. TU’s shared Priority Waters provide the foundation of a strategic blueprint to protect, restore and reconnect wild and native
trout and salmon waters across the U.S.
The final barrier on the Mettawee came out in 2023, wrapping up the original goal of opening up the river from its headwaters in the Green Mountain National Forest all the way to Lake Champlain.
“It was more intensive than a lot of our projects and I for sure spent a lot more time in the area than on
many of our projects,” Rodgers said. “There’s always something more that can be done to continue to improve the health of the watershed. But to be able to string six projects together like that is really hard, especially in New England.”
All about partnerships
Although the Forest Service was a key partner, none of the barriers were on Forest Service land. But the partnership made sense because of the connectivity between the stream on private land and within the Green Mountain National Forest.
“Every watershed in the forest is an opportunity to protect and enhance aquatic resources,” said Jeremy Mears, a fisheries biologist with the Forest Service in Vermont. “These areas provide clean water as well as cold water refugia for native fish species. Additionally, we are creating infrastructure resiliency in the face of increasingly damaging storm events. We also are maintaining access for the public to use these lands.”
About the fishery
The river’s productivity made it a priority. The system’s headwaters feature robust populations of native brook trout. Rainbow and brown trout are the dominant species in the river’s middle and lower stretches, though there are also some brook trout in those reaches.
“The Mettawee provides an opportunity for multiple species of trout but is also a fantastic native brook trout stream,” Mears said. “Now that barriers to passage have been removed it will be interesting to see what that does for the fishery and fish populations.
“This will help protect trout from the warming water temperatures by providing access to colder upstream waters.”
Permanent protection on Forest Service land and an established riparian buffer as the stream passes through the picturesque community of Dorset Hollow added to the appeal.
A Joint Chiefs grant from the Forest Service and the National Resources Conservation Service provided some funding, but most of the funding was from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lake Champlain Basin Program and Vermont’s Clean Water Act funding.
Mears said the work fell under a Joint Chief’s project called Poultney-
Mettawee Watershed Restoration Project. Other partners included the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Poultney Mettawee Natural Resources Conservation District, TU’s Southwest Vermont Chapter, Vermont Fish & Wildlife, TU’s New England Culvert Project, USFWS Partners for Fish & Wildlife and Vermont DEC River Management Program.
The final barrier on the Mettawee came out in 2023, wrapping up the original goal of opening up the river from its headwaters in the Green Mountain National Forest all the way to Lake Champlain.
The recent agreement between TU and the Forest Service to fund up to $40 million in infrastructure projects over a five-year period also provided some money for the final phase of the work in 2023, Rodgers said. That agreement was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Rodgers put the ballpark price for all that work at between $1.3 million and $1.5 million.
The uppermost culverts, at Towers Road and Pastures Lane, both were replaced in 2017. The lower barriers followed over the next few years, with a break in work during the COVID pandemic.
There were a few unique challenges.
In one case, a landowner hoped to preserve a unique spillway. “The family loved it and didn’t want it touched,” Rodgers said. The structure was able to be saved even as the main dam was removed.
In another case, work revealed a surprise dam buried by silt just 50 feet above another dam. “There was no record of that dam on anyone’s deeds,” Rodgers said, laughing. “We had no answers as to why there might be two dams just 50 feet apart. Maybe someone had built it to make a swimming hole or something ridiculous like that. “Fun things happen when you work on a landscape scale.”
At times the effort required installation of temporary bridges so crews could reach project sites—and so area residents could reach their properties.
The final barrier, at Sugarhouse Lane, came out in 2023.
“It was a weird one,” Rogers said. “There was a bridge built on top of the dam, but no one could tell us if the dam was built and the bridge was put on it later, or if the dam was built so the bridge could be put on it.”
Regardless, the plunge pool below the dam had scoured the streambed upstream, so a large portion of the dam was not supported by anything structural. “The structure was quite unsound, one of those private structures that, until someone has to pay attention to it, nobody understands just how bad it is,” Rodgers said. “The construction guys were like, ‘We don’t know if we want to take an excavator over this bridge,’ so that’s one where we installed a temporary bridge.”
In addition to replacing the barriers with bridges, crews also completed some in-stream restoration to improve fish habitat, which is something Rodgers and her teams have been accomplishing across the region.
“Erin and her crew have accomplished miles of strategic wood addition on both the north and south half of the Green Mountain National Forest,” Mears said. “We currently have work scheduled on the north half to work with TU to begin a larger riparian restoration. We all wear many hats and the relationship works well.”
Rodgers said she thinks the project is a great example of what can be accomplished on a watershed scale. “I really appreciated the more focused approach we were able to take in that area,” she said. “It was a lot of effort, for sure, but one that I would like to see us replicate in a lot more places over time.”
“Erin and her crew have accomplished miles of strategic wood addition on both the north and south half of the Green Mountain National Forest.”— Jeremy Mears
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This past February, Trout Unlimited and its partners in the California Salmon and Steelhead Coalition—The Nature Conservancy and California Trout—commemorated a decade of working together to protect and restore native salmon and steelhead on California’s north and central coasts.
At a celebratory event in Sacramento, state legislators, tribal leaders and leaders from the California Natural Resources Agency and Cal-EPA joined the coalition partners in honoring assembly members Jim Wood and Steve Bennett for their leadership in conserving salmon and steelhead and their watersheds.
The coalition works collaboratively with a wide range of partners to recover salmon and steelhead populations by leveraging shared science and policy expertise to improve streamflows and coldwater habitat.
Wood represents California’s 2nd District, which covers California’s north coast from the state’s wine country to the Oregon border, and includes legendary fishing waters such as the Smith, Lower Klamath, Eel, Gualala and Russian Rivers. Wood has announced he will retire from the state legislature at the conclusion of this legislative term.
Bennett represents California’s 38th District, which includes the Ventura and Santa Ana Rivers and their headwaters.
The southern steelhead, now one of the state’s rarest native fishes, is native to these waters. Tributaries such as Piru and Sespe Creeks offer rare trout fishing opportunities in this part of the state. Bennett has strongly supported efforts to remove the derelict Matilija Dam on the Ventura, a priority for action in the recovery plan for southern steelhead.
Matt Clifford, longtime TU water attorney and, as of March 25, the new
director of TU’s California Program, has worked closely with assembly member Wood for years to improve state regulations and planning pertaining to drought, streamflows and water supply management in that region of that state to which Coho salmon—now listed as endangered—are native.
Clifford called Wood, “One of California’s true stream and salmon champions,” and lauded Wood’s commitment to addressing the challenges of ensuring that both fish and people have enough water throughout the year, especially in drainages where climate change is intensifying the hallmarks of California’s Mediterranean climate: hot, dry summers, during which small stream systems often dry back, and wet winters.
Clifford also said Wood has been a staunch supporter of state funding for stream restoration and reconnection.
Karuk Tribal Council Vice Chairman Kenneth Brink and Yurok Tribal Council Vice Chairman Frankie Myers, key leaders in the long campaign to restore the Klamath River, attended the ceremony and spoke of the meaning of salmon and healthy rivers to their tribes and their hope for the future now that four old dams on the Klamath are being taken out. Myers recently announced his candidacy for the assembly seat for the 2nd District. Since 2014, the California Salmon and Steelhead Coalition has worked collaboratively with a wide range of partners to recover salmon and steelhead populations by leveraging shared science and policy expertise to improve streamflow and freshwater habitat. The coalition supports science and policy actions such as creating minimum instream flow standards for coastal watersheds and developing management plans to help
communities meet those standards in drought years, refinement and implementation of the California Environmental Flows Framework,
networks of streamflow gauges and development of modeling tools to assist with management decisions.
—Sam Davidson
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Ivan Valdez, owner of The Reel Life fly shop in Santa Fe, N.M., still recalls young Jeremy Brooks emptying his pockets of coins and wadded bills to pay for fly-tying materials. He remembers the boy working out new fly patterns under the tutelage of shop staff or sorting fly bins to earn his keep for the countless hours he spent there. No doubt about it, the kid was passionate about his fishing.
Jeremy began guiding for Valdez the summer before his senior year of high school. Even then, everyone knew he would make a name for himself in the New Mexico fishing scene. He was intelligent, humble and patient, a philosopher and a naturalist. He knew the Sangre de Cristo Mountains like the back of his hand and dreamed of enhancing their watersheds through a career in conservation. First though, Jeremy wanted to guide some of the
world’s great fisheries. In 2019, when he was bound for the Ponoi River on the Kola Peninsula, the plane he was on crash-landed. Jeremy was among those who did not survive.
Having watched Jeremy grow up, rooting for his success as a father would have, Valdez was inconsolable. He eventually found peace through a group of other boys who had spent their childhoods geeking around The Reel Life just like Jeremy had. Like Jeremy, some of them hung around his store so much that Valdez figured he might as well hire them. They were respectful and knew how to fish. “I loved the looks on clients’ faces when I introduced them to these baby-faces who were supposed to put them on fish. It wasn’t uncommon for them to ask if the boys had drivers licenses.”
Nik Adler had met Jeremy at The Reel Life when they were in middle
school and remembers their first time fishing together at a nearby lake. “That’s how it was, kids wasting time, meeting and getting to know each other. Fly shops are intimidating for kids, fly fishing is so technical. In hindsight, I think the shop was just a fun environment.”
Valdez chuckles at the question of whether the atmosphere with his staff was part of some meticulous vision in which he played the sage mentor to a crew of protégés. “It was pretty much an accident. When I got into this business, my motto was ‘Never judge a book by its cover.’ That line was stuck in my head for some reason. Even after I got into the industry, I’d been in shops where I felt brown. I didn’t want my customers to feel uncomfortable like that no matter who they are.”
As Jeremy’s mother, Rebecca Allahyari, remembers, “I so appreci-
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ated the welcome my son received as a boy. Shop employees, themselves young men, sharing stories and advice. An hour or two at the shop was often the highlight of Jeremy’s weekend.” When he was older and a guide, she remembers a day he called early because of lightning: “The client was not happy, but Ivan had his back. It meant a lot for Jeremy to be supported like that.”
While Valdez doesn’t deny the role he’s played in the development of the young men working for him, he remembers having some growing up to do himself when he first brought them on. He’d just bought the shop, had to at least act like he knew what he was doing to make money flow into the cash register. There was no time for fear, only action. Ivan remembers watching his staff go through the same process, admiring them as they tackled challenges in the shop and on the stream.
“Guiding is the perfect job for a young person. You spend your day with adults. You’re in charge of making lunch, teaching, keeping people safe. Finding the right way to say things and show respect. There’s so much responsibility involved, which is especially important for young men. The money’s good too. I knew I was putting them in positions that 17-yearolds wouldn’t normally be in. They took the bull by the horns, and as far as I can see, it’s paid off.”
A father of two sons, Nik Adler agrees. Not only as a father but as a man, he says that guiding taught him to look at challenges from multiple perspectives.
“I had my first kid when I was only 21, but I was so mentally present that I knew I could overcome any obstacles. Guiding for Ivan at an early age has transferred into life. And now I can pass that over to my boys.”
—Toner Mitchell
“Guiding is the perfect job for a young person. You spend your day with adults. You’re in charge of making lunch, teaching, keeping people safe. Finding the right way to say things and show respect. There’s so much responsibility involved, which is especially important for young men.”— Ivan
By Walt Gasson (WordsWorth; $20)
I’m going to come right out and say that Walt Gasson is my friend. Heck, Walt is friends with pretty much everyone who gets to know him. But that’s not why I’m plugging his book.
A couple years back, Walt (a fourth generation Wyoming native) retired after more than a decade of distinguished service to TU, which followed 30 years of government, non-profit and private sector work to protect and preserve wild places in the West. But that’s not why I’m pugging his book either.
I’m urging readers to buy a copy of Craven Creek because this mighty little paperback contains some of the most eloquent, honest, connected-to-the-land writing I’ve ever read. His pieces reflect the virtues of family, faith and creatures
like trout, elk, pack horses and ranch dogs with uncanny humility, authenticity and aplomb.
Rod Miller, writing for The Cowboy State Daily, captured the essence better than this Colorado “Greenie” ever could, when he wrote:
“The author, to his credit, avoids the pitfalls common to writers of ‘sense of place’ works set in the West. His descriptions of our landscape are not attempts at the florid, purple prose most commonly found in glossy Sotheby’s catalogs of Wyoming ranches for sale to uber-rich outsiders.
“Rather, Gasson’s writing is direct and clear, and he allows the countryside itself to speak to the reader through wind, sagebrush, snow, emptiness and the wild critters that are its natural citizens.”
I wish Walt still worked for TU. I miss his cowboy candor and can-do outlook. But I also wish there were more writers like Walt, and more books like this. So, I’m glad he forged the opportunity to open a new life chapter and write Craven Creek. It isn’t just a book… it’s also a blessing.
—K. Deeter
By Ryan Johnston ($20, buy on Amazon.com or a fly shop)
We’d be remiss if we didn’t include a short review of Reelly: Unbelievable Fly Fishing Guide Stories by Ryan Johnston in an issue of TROUT that’s built on a theme of “guides.” This book follows on the heels of A Reel Job, which relates a number of chuckle-worthy anecdotes from the pointof-view of a well-seasoned river guide, who also packs some serious writing/storytelling chops into his boat bag. Both are worth checking out.
Guiding is an interesting gig, and for most of those who have done some guiding, there is no shortage of fodder when it comes to the strange things you see and experience on the water—some of it having to do with the fish and the fishing, but, by far, most of it related to the “sports” who end up in your boat.
If you wonder what an experienced guide really thinks, these stories cut right to the core. If you fancy the “dream job” of guiding people on fly-fishing trips for a living, this book can be a bit of an eyeopener, and you might not want to know how the sausage gets made. After all, guiding isn’t fishing… guiding is watching other people do something you love to do very much, and sometimes your clients respect and appreciate it, and at other times, the disrespect can be frustrating.
Johnston does a good job of handing the anecdotes with grace and even a little self-deprecating humor (admittedly, the self-deprecating part isn’t all that common amongst many guides). He’s also the founder of Cast Hope, which facilitates getting at-risk and underserved youth on the water to fly fish. He clearly “gets it” and deserves support, as a writer, a guide and an activist.
—K.D.
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In late November 2021, an angler walked into a fly shop along Montana’s famed Madison River and said, “How come the river is shut off?” recalls Kelly Galloup, Galloup’s Slide Inn owner.
Shut off? Sounds ridiculous to be sure, but accurate. A gate on Hebgen Dam broke, instantly cutting the flow. The Upper Madison was dewatered. Fish were stranded. People showed up with buckets as fast as the river disappeared. While Northwestern Energy repaired the dam, volunteers moved trout. But they couldn’t move eggs. Browns had just spawned their redds for the year. The fate of those eggs after the failure wouldn’t be known for two years.
“It was definitely a concerning and stressful time for everyone involved,” says Mike Duncan, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 3 fisheries program manager.
In late November 2023, the fate of those eggs materialized in the state’s annual fish population survey. Fish
spawned during the failure are now big enough to be captured and counted if they survived. If they died, the decline would be striking. There’s no decline.
“We dodged a bullet,” Duncan says. “It could have been a lot worse obviously, but we’re not seeing anything in our monitoring efforts that would indicate decline because of the dam failure.”
The eggs nestled in gravel were definitely out of flow, but the ground was still moist and by some miraculous late season weather perk the temperature didn’t drop during the failure so the eggs didn’t freeze.
to the long-term average of 4,300 fish per mile but the same compared to surveys in recent years.
“I don’t anticipate it turning into a decline in the fishery in the next couple more years,” Duncan says.
The Madison runs 62 miles from Hebgen to Ennis. The first 13 miles of that was dewatered in 2021. Since then, Northwestern Energy has addressed the failure and voluntarily distributed funds for increased monitoring and habitat work. Montana FWP is using that money to reconnect historic side channels and restore a heavily grazed area while also watching fish move throughout the whole system. The fish are naturally compensating for any void the failure caused that the survey might miss.
“We see a lot of fish disburse along the entire length of the river,” Duncan says. “We’ve even captured one by Ennis that came out of Beaver Creek between Hebgen and Quake Lake [a 55-mile swim]. They move around and fill in the voids when something happens.” —Kris Millgate
A combination of rainbow trout and brown trout constitute the upper stretch’s 3,000 fish per mile statistic. That didn’t change. It’s low compared
Outdoor journalist Kris Millgate is based in Idaho where she runs trail, chases trout and hunts birds. She followed salmon migration solo during the pandemic for the Emmy-nominated film Ocean to Idaho. Her new film, On Grizzly Ground, is available now along with her third book, My Place Among Beasts. See more of her work at www.tightlinemedia.com.
One of the most underused tools for an angler is the local public library. These welcoming and accessible places are filled with physical and online resources to help an angler have more successful, enjoyable days on the water.
Libraries are great places to find new, existing and out-of-print books on trout fishing instruction, destinations and literature. With book prices ranging from $25 to almost $50, an angler will appreciate the borrowing window to read a book and see if it is one they want to own. Libraries also offer eBooks, audiobooks and streaming video services.
With book prices ranging from $25 to almost $50, an angler will appreciate the borrowing window to read a book and see if it is one they want to own.
Libraries now have online catalogs available with 24/7 access, with many connected to consortial catalogs within a region. If your local library does not hold a title in their collection, they will be able to bring it in from a different library through the interlibrary loan system.
There are many libraries that house fishing-specific collections. For exam-
ple, the Devereaux Memorial Library in Grayling, Michigan, where Trout Unlimited was formed, holds the George Griffiths and Marian Wright Memorial Fly-Fishing Collection. Unlike other libraries where fishing books are in the stacks along with all the other books, the Devereaux has the Griffiths/Wright Collection set aside. It also has a special online catalog, showing the over 300 titles in the collection, which is a useful guide to the range of trout fishing titles.
Other great examples are the Livingston-Park County Public Library in Livingston, Montana, which also shelves its fishing books separately, with even a separate call number system. And the Phoenicia Public Library, in Phoenicia, New York, which houses the Jerry Bartlett Angling Collection, in an appealing, separate room that resembles a fishing club. The Bartlett Collection website not only lists fishing books, but it has a tab with color photographs to help anglers identify trout and stream insects found in the Catskills.
The Bartlett Collection and the Guilderland Public Library in suburban Albany County in New York’s Capital Region, both allow library patrons to use their library card to borrow fishing tackle. And many public and university libraries also have state and national park passes available for circulation. The Guilderland Library may be the only library in the nation that sells fishing licenses.
The Lyons (Colorado) Community Library has partnered with a local fly shop to offer flytying classes; library staff participate in the school district’s Trout in the Classroom program.
Check with your local library for details on the great fishing resources available to you in your area.
—John Rowen
Artist Cody Richardson—famous for his license plate work in the shapes of different fish—is creating custom pieces that resemble the TU trout.
If you’re looking for a vertical option that demonstrates your affinity to the world’s leading coldwater conservation organization, they can feature one state, one region… whatever you want. And Cody donates a whopping 25% back to a TU chapter you designate.
Perfect as:
• Gifts for outgoing chapter and council officers
• Banquet fundraiser/auction pieces
• Club or lodge wall art
• Any proud individual TU member.
Scan the code to check them out.
Thanks Cody!
BY TOM ROSENBAUER
You’ve heard or read this one, or other variations, by experts who must get most of their information by parroting what they read on the Internet. “Trout don’t like the sun because they don’t have eyelids and can’t squint.” “Trout stay in the shade because their pupils don’t constrict.” Or even this one—“Trout spend their days on the shady side of a river because the water is cooler there.”
All myths. All crap. Trout are visual feeders and have evolved to take advantage of the bright light because it gives them more visual acuity—better resolution and more contrast. Just as smart anglers have learned to remove their polarized sunglasses when the sun goes down or on dark, rainy days, trout get better resolution when more light gets to their eyes.
I am sure anyone who spends a great deal of time on trout rivers instead of staring at a screen can give you vivid examples of trout feeding out in the open, in bright sunlight. And not just small trout. Early season Hendrickson hatches, Pale Morning Duns and Tricos often exhibit hatches or spinner falls on bright days and trout respond to them, including brown trout, which are always supposed to stay in the shade. Yes, sometimes fish will feed in the shade, and sometimes bigger trout, as long as those shady places offer a constant supply of food and the right current speed. However, I think trout congregate in the shade because they are less visible to predators. Ospreys, eagles and herons can’t see them as well in the shade, plus the overhead cover often prevents an avian predator from diving on a fish. But in any given pool,
if the shiny side has better current for food delivery and the shady side is either too fast or too stagnant, don’t waste your time in the shade.
Thinking trout avoid sunlight because they don’t have eyelids, or that their pupils don’t constrict, shows an overly anthropomorphic view and a lack of understanding of how trout see. All vertebrates have two kinds of receptors in their eyes: Rods and cones. Rods are extremely light-sensitive and help us see in twilight, and also don’t perceive color, which is why it’s difficult for us to distinguish the riot of colors in fall foliage after the sun goes down. Rods are concentrated on the periphery of our retina, which is why squinting and constricted pupils helps us in bright light, allowing less light to reach these very sensitive receptors. Cones register color and contrast and help us tell the difference between a stoplight and a caution light, and also give us contrast so we can see the exact shape of the traffic light. Our cones are concentrated in an area of the retina called the fovea, and to keep bright light from overwhelming
our senses, we squint with our eyelids or our pupil constricts to let in less light. I don’t use AI to research my writing, but just for kicks I wanted to see what the Chatbot would say if I asked why trout don’t like bright sunlight. And it told me
In any given pool, if the shiny side has better current for food delivery and the shady side is either too fast or too stagnant, don’t waste your time in the shade.
that their pupils constrict to help them deal with bright light. Trout don’t have eyelids and their pupil stays exactly the same shape no matter the light level. In fact, their lenses are spherical instead of mostly flat like our lenses, and the lenses protrude through the iris, preventing it from opening or closing. So how
do they avoid the need for sunglasses?
First, trout don’t have a fovea and their cones are distributed throughout their retina, which spreads out the intensity of light projected onto each part of their retina. But more importantly, they have a way to protect those extremely sensitive rods. When light levels increase, the rods
retreat back into the inner part of the retina, and a pigment that filters light moves into place to block even more light.
At dusk, the rods in a trout’s eye come out of hiding, allowing trout much better night vision than humans. It takes at least 30 minutes for this adjustment, however, which is why there is often a lull between
the feeding orgy of an evening hatch and the beginning of the nightly patrol of large trout in search of mice, baitfish and crayfish. In an Arizona study of brown trout and Apache trout, brown trout were able to discern objects in light 10 times dimmer than the Apache trout because of their higher concentration of cones. So you would think that brown trout are more likely to avoid bright sunlight, and sometimes it seems like they do, but they must be able to adapt to bright light because my personal observation over many decades of trout fishing just does not bear this out. If my memory were better I could give you hundreds of instances to disprove this, but since memories are fallible and get distorted over time let me just relate my most recent example. This February I spent a couple weeks in Chile and one day I begged my guide, Ives, to take me to my favorite river in the Coiyhaique area, the Rio Huemules. It’s a fickle river, very rich in insect life and aquatic vegetation with mostly slow, shallow runs punctuated by large
waterfalls. This makes it difficult to fish without a decent hatch, but the day promised to be hot and bright, and in Chile, unlike many North American rivers, fly fishing is best, and hatches most abundant, on sunny days because waters run colder than most of our rivers. Not only was the day bright, it was also calm, and getting a day like this in windy Chile is like getting a great cup of coffee on an airplane. Fish were rising as soon as we got to the river, and I had seen a few caddis in the air so I put on a LaFontaine Sparkle Caddis emerger, even though I couldn’t see what the trout were taking. As I moved upriver looking for heads, I noticed first one, then several large brown trout eagerly rising, right out in the open, in shallow water,
in the middle of the river. I blew it on one, caught a couple, and continued to either blowing a cast and spooking the fish or hooking them—to my surprise it was more the later than the former.
I later realized there was a fall of size 16 flying ants, which was what drove the fish crazy, but continued to use the caddis emerger with great success. Go figure. Maybe it looked like an ant to them. It sure didn’t to me but I was not inclined to argue with the fish. These were all large brown trout, between 17 and 20 inches, all in bright sunlight. The shade along the banks didn’t offer the good current flow that the center of the river did, and not once did I see a brown trout feeding in the shadows. Browns are supposed to be more light
These were all large brown trout, between 17 and 20 inches, all in bright sunlight. The shade along the banks didn’t offer the good current flow that the center of the river did, and not once did I see a brown trout feeding in the shadows.
sensitive than any other species and have been proven to see better in the dark than other kinds of trout. In fact, that study from Arizona comparing resident brown and Apache trout showed that the brown trout had night vision that was 10 times better than the Apache trout, indicating that they must be much more light-sensitive. So how can we rationalize this apparent photophobia with what I saw on that day?
Trout go to where it’s easiest to get food regardless of shade. All things being equal, though, they will lie in the shade if the currents bring them enough food because predators can’t see them as well. But given the choice between a stagnant back eddy with no current in the shade and a sunny side of the river with water two to four feet deep and a current speed of around two feet per
second, they’ll feed on the sunny side every time. Trout will stay in the shade if they are not eating because they can stay more hidden there.
People wonder why trout rise better in the evening, after the sun slips below the hills. Fair question but I am not certain it relates to trout not liking bright conditions. I have seen unexpected spinner falls late in the afternoon on cool days, well before the sun goes down, and trout appear to respond just as well as long as there is abundant food on the water. The Battenkill has an unusual species of mayfly in the genus Baetisca, which is a very blunt-bodies insect with long wings. It looks like an oversized Trico in size 16. The spinners of these mayflies fall at about 5 p.m. on June evenings, well before the sun goes down, but if you are lucky enough to hit one you can catch the largest surface-feeding brown trout of the year, when it’s light enough to see them and you don’t need to deal with the swarms of bats this river hosts at dusk.
I suspect that most of the time trout rise better after the sun goes down because that is when insects are most active, not because of the lowered brightness. The biggest threat to adult aquatic insects is desiccation and they are less likely to lose moisture after the sun goes down. It may also be due to reduced predation by swallows and cedar waxwings, but regardless a setting sun often sets off an insect burst. Two of the most observant and preceptive anglers of our time, Englishmen Brian Clarke and the late John Goddard, also believe it’s insect abundance that
Fish the shade if you want, and by all means pay attention to the angle of the sun in the sky. Just don’t expect to find trout in a patch of shade that offers nothing else.
stimulates this magic hour, not light levels, and stated so in their excellent little book, Understanding Trout Behavior
Maybe you still don’t believe me and feel that trout stay in the shade when water temperatures hit the high 60s because the water is cooler. Sorry. Water in rivers mixes too thoroughly, and water gives up its heat so slowly, that a measly patch of shade won’t give trout any relief from higher water temperatures. A mile-long shady bank might offer a degree or two of cooling as long as the current lane stays to that side, but a short piece of shade punctuated by brightly illuminated water above won’t do trout any good.
There is one instance when bright sun might inhibit trout feeding. I was fishing the Bitterroot River in Montana
one April morning with fly shop owner and guide John Herzer, and John mentioned to me that the stretch we were fishing, which ran roughly west to east, fished better in the morning because later in the day, as the sun descended into the west, it was shining right into the trout’s eyes and they were less likely to rise at that time. Since that day I’ve been cognizant of that idea and early mornings and late afternoons when the sun is lower and I think the idea has some merit. And as I remember, when I had that great fishing on the Huemules the sun was at my back.
Fish the shade if you want, and by all means pay attention to the angle of the sun in the sky. Just don’t expect to find trout in a patch of shade that offers nothing else.
BY THOMAS REED
Adventure and independence have been intertwined parts of my life for as long as memory stretches. The tall pine country of my mountain boyhood home and the free spirit that washed across the general human attitude in the ’60s and into the ’70s intersected perfectly to feed the interdependence of those twin qualities. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to do it on my own. This led to maps. Reading. More maps. Then a DIY-lifestyle.
In grade school my pal David and I decided we were going to run away from home. Not because of any dark horror in either of our childhoods, which were both as idyllic as can be imagined for rural Rocky Mountain boys with the world at their toes in and around 1968. Instead, we fancied ourselves modern day explorers, the fur trade’s Osborne Russell come to life in an 8-year-old frame and we were at the edge of the high Rockies with plans to dive in. We got no farther than a giant stand of ponderosa pine in the middle of a meadow about a quarter mile from our school where we were waiting until dark to make our ultimate move into the great beyond. We had packs, sandwiches and hand drawn-maps and managed to scare the life out of our parents, consideration of others being a developed and learned skill relatively beyond the reach of an 8-year-old’s logic.
More reasonable adventures ensued in later years, including a plan to climb all of my home state’s “Fourteeners”— peaks above 14,000 feet in elevation—before I was 18. I think I got to 32 before that pivotal age. To do this, I poured over the topographical maps I got from the federal government, read accounts of other mountain climbers and bought a guidebook.
Imagination had not a single limit.
Dad had a whole bookshelf of pulp Westerns authored by guys with names like Max Brand, Luke Short and, of course, Louis L’Amour. Dad preferred Russell to Remington, but his general tastes were as Western as his country Colorado upbringing. Mom trended in a more cerebral and deeper direction with authors such as Jane Goodall, Rachel Carson, Margaret Murie and Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Pair this with a masters in archeology and a deep love of Native American culture.
All of this was fuel for that adventuring brain and an independent spirit that would rather go it alone and make
I
For many years I did not understand this about those who guided others. How, I wondered, can these folks sit back and watch someone flail away with a fly rod at a pod of rising trout? How can they put their bird dog onto a covey for a client, only to see the birds burst for the sky and not a feather touched? Or climb a mountain to spot a trophy elk of a lifetime only to let someone else shoot it?
I even dabbled a bit in the guiding game, taking a few paying customers out and seeing them whiff on pointed birds that my English setters had pinned. It was a bit maddening and I determined it was not for me. As life progressed, I tried teaching experiential outdoor skills to students but even that did not quite fit for my persona. In those days, I would rather be doing the casting and shooting than watching it done.
But two things happened somewhere along the way. One while I was relatively
can think of no greater act of generosity, at least among those of us who adore the outdoors, than setting someone up for success and sitting back and watching rather than partaking.
mistakes, than be shown where to go and how to do it. In short, I eschewed the guided experience. This life in the outdoors would be on my own hook, by God.
I can think of no greater act of generosity, at least among those of us who adore the outdoors, than setting someone up for success and sitting back and watching rather than partaking.
young, the other at an age that “society” might think of as past one’s prime.
In the 1990s I was teaching fly-fishing skills, among other things, at an outdoor school in Wyoming when we educators had an opportunity to learn from three expert fly anglers through an Orvis clinic. Two of these instructors were legendary, Lori-Ann Murphy and the late Paul Roos. At that point, I had been
fly fishing for perhaps 30 years. I taught myself how to fly cast on the front lawn as a kid, using a fiberglass noodle of a rod. Sure, I wanted to find and catch trout on my own, figure out the hatch on my own, figure out the match on my own, but I was not so arrogant as to think I knew it all. In that one clinic, I learned far more than any of the reading and the DIY-flailing I had done over those decades and I refined my casting and my fishing, and I became a much more adept angler. I also became a better educator and I began to see the great generosity that lies at the heart of those who teach as they guide.
The second event was significantly more life-changing than a fly-fishing clinic taught by three of the best. In my middle 50s, I became a father. This, as much as anything, has made me understand the joy a guide can get out of another’s success, another’s education and another’s growth. This is not to say that a client is like a child, but I’m reasonably certain that the emotion of seeing someone succeed, learn and grow in the outdoors is the same whether you are helping a client catch her first trout, or helping your son catch his. It comes down to a word, generosity. Moreover, I maintain we all are, in some way or another, outdoors or in, guides.
Indeed, in that dirt-covered youthful upbringing of mine, I was in fact being guided without even knowing this was going on. This is the most skilled way of guiding, an authority figure—in this case my parents—who encouraged, pointed and turned loose their independent child to learn, trusting that he would do well and when he did not, that he would strive to do better. There was no “do it this way, not that way.” The education gifted to me by my parents had no room for demands and stern instruction. This is the quality of the best of those who guide others on forest and stream. A little
instruction, a little gentle education, a lot of encouragement and a lot of love. Of the quarry, of the act of connecting with said quarry, of willing and eager people and of wild nature. No one wants to have “STRIKE!” yelled at him all day long, believe me. My parents had a library, they wanted their kids to be outdoors, they created a wonderful home, they made the world safe for their boys, and there was opportunity to do whatever
was fancied in a wonderful life under a wide-open high-country sky. Can’t ask for better guides than that. That is generosity worth emulating.
Thomas Reed lives and works from his home outside Pony, Montana, where he and his wife raise children, goats, horses, cattle, chickens and produce on their organic farm/ranch. He is the author of several books including, Blue Lines, A Fishing Life.
One January when, for personal reasons, winter had dragged on longer than usual, a friend told me he’d been catching trout at the Culvert Pool on tiny size 28 dry flies. The Culvert Pool is on a nearby small river, a mile’s walk past the locked gate on the access road to the dam. It lies a few riverbends downstream from the spillway, where the overflow channel from the reservoir comes in from river left and runs under the dirt road through an oversized culvert—hence the name.
This bottom-draw dam has been there for 60 years, but the river below it never lived up to the usual profile of a tailwater as a prolific trout fishery. No telling why, but the river has stubbornly retained its character as a run-of-the-mill freestone with a population of middling-sized brown trout. It’s not a bad little trout stream and it’s only minutes from home, but on the average day more people walk their dogs along it than fish it, if that tells you anything.
Actually, the most beneficial effect of this dam was the café in the nearest town that a woman named Margarite founded in the 1960s to feed the workers during its construction. It was in a small log house a block north of Main Street (now an accountant’s office) and served plain but luscious breakfasts and lunches at prices that were cheap even then and seem inconceivable now. By the time the dam was completed and the hungry workforce moved on, the cafe had become a regional institution and Margarite had grown plump, grandmotherly and locally famous for her home-made pies as well as for threatening to deny dessert to anyone who didn’t finish their vegetables.
After Margarite died her daughter and granddaughter ran the place for a while longer, but their hearts weren’t in it and it soon faded away. Now the closing of that café marks the official end of the good old days and nostalgia for it separates the old-timers in the valley from those upstart new-comers.
Anyway, it was over breakfast at that café in a long-ago January that my friend Todd told me about the Culvert Pool and the size 28 flies. He was just answering my question, “What have you been up to?” but he went into way too much detail, had clearly been going up there several times a week and I recognized the symptoms of the mid-winter shack nasties that cause victims to blow idle projects all out of proportion.
From there it’s a short and predictable story. Todd’s report gnawed at me until I’d gotten my hands on some size 28 hooks. They were the smallest fish hooks available at the time (roughly the size of a question mark in the fine print of a contract). I’d
never tied on anything that little, but I managed some rudimentary flies, then hiked to the Culvert Pool, found the pod of rising fish and, at the end of long, agonizing drifts with 8X tippet, managed to hook and land a couple of small, puzzled-looking brown trout. I had to hand it to Todd; the sheer ridiculousness of it did seem to scratch some otherwise unreachable itch, but once was enough. After that I went home and continued to wait for spring.
Here in northern Colorado, what I think of as recognizable fly fishing doesn’t begin to sputter to life until sometime in March. In a typical year—if such a thing exists—the freestone streams are still too cold for fishing down here in the neighborhood of 6,000 feet and
up in the nearby headwaters you could still stand on snowshoes and listen to feeder creeks gurgling under the drifts, something I used to do most winters until the pilgrimage lost its novelty.
But half an hour’s drive west, on the nearest good tailwater, March isn’t too soon to start hoping for midge hatches and pods of rising trout. Of course, midges can and sometimes do hatch anytime the rivers aren’t frozen—witness the Culvert Pool in January—but when you live in a state with no closed fishing season, you have to designate your own opening day, and I’ve decided mine is in March.
Most people on the river then are fishing nymphs and sometimes I am, too, dredging conventionally small flies with weight added to the leader to get them
down deep where the trout are waiting for spring more patiently than I am. I learned to nymph fish in the 1970s on Colorado’s South Platte River where locals said the method was invented back in the 1930s. I have no reason to doubt that except that since then I’ve fished no fewer than a dozen other rivers around the country where locals also claimed authorship. But the fact is that a nymph fisherman does with artificial flies what a bait fisherman has always done with worms and a cane pole, so it was there in the public domain from the beginning for any fly caster to pick up and use, and plenty of them did.
In the intervening years I’ve weighted my leaders with split shot, wire, Twistons and lately a kind of weighted putty that
goes by the brand name of Brown Nymphing Mud. But nothing has ever worked beautifully and nothing ever will because fly casting is an elegant system specifically designed to cast flies so close to weightless that they’ll float and adding weight is simply an insult to the finely calibrated action of a good fly rod.
Still, some days you have to nymph fish if you want to catch anything (and who’d go fishing if he didn’t want to catch anything?) but I wait till March because by then there’s at least a chance that aquatic insects might hatch and trout might rise to the surface to eat floating flies. I like catching fish too much to be a stickler about this, but I do agree with an old guide friend of mine who always taught his novice clients to fish nymphs,
I’d never tied on anything that little, but I managed some rudimentary flies, then hiked to the Culvert Pool, found the pod of rising fish and, at the end of long, agonizing drifts with 8X tippet, managed to hook and land a couple of small, puzzled-looking brown trout.
but insisted that they ditch the sinkers and switch to dry flies whenever trout began to rise. And if anyone asked why, he’d say, “because that’s just how it’s done.”
The first time I went up to that good tailwater this year the little river was desperately low: flowing at around 20 cubic feet per second where 100 is about right for fishing. We had a big snowpack, but it was still locked up in the mountains, and with an eye to filling the reservoir, water managers were only letting the minimum trickle out of the dam—not much more than it takes to keep a fish wet.
But it was time, so my friend Vince and I drove down the canyon below the dam on a bright but chilly day, stopping to look at familiar runs and pools on the way. Not much was happening. We didn’t see any rising trout and didn’t spot any fish suspended under the surface, although we thought we should be able to with the low, clear water and bright sun.
There were a few other fishermen out early, but then this tailwater is a local magnet and I don’t think I’ve ever gone up there without seeing at least two or three die-hards even in the most unpromising conditions. We stopped to watch some nymph fishers, but it’s not exactly a spectator sport. Some fishermen are so good at this that it almost doesn’t seem fair to the trout and I wish I knew their secrets, but even the best of them reduce the traditional grace of fly casting to a workmanlike plonk in the interest of efficiency.
This was our first time out in months and conditions were marginal, so we
were having trouble getting our heads in the game. I was beginning to wonder if this would be a day of driving and looking at water that would eventually end up at the coffee shop in town, but then we found a long, glassy run where a few trout were leaving quiet dimples on the water, so we pulled on our waders and rigged up with small dry flies and even smaller midge pupae on droppers. This promised to be ticklish fishing, what with the small flies, clear water, bright sun and my casting still rusty from winter, but the fish must have been eager because I missed a take after just a few casts (probably from setting too quickly) and then hooked what felt like a small fish a few minutes later. I can’t remember when or where I hooked my first trout on a fly, but I vividly recall that feeling that would translate as “holy-crap-this-actually-works” because I’ve reexperienced it with every fish I’ve hooked since, including that one.
I glanced downstream to see if Vince had noticed I had a fish on and saw that he was playing one of his own. So I kept my fish leashed on a tight line until he released his and glanced up at me to see if I’d noticed his, and there I was with my rod bent, acting casual. That seemed more dignified than screaming “fish on!” over an eight-inch trout.
We managed to eke out a few more browns and one rainbow before the hatch petered out an hour or so later—enough to prove that our first two weren’t just flukes—and ended up at the coffee shop anyway. As usual, we stood out like sore thumbs amid the crowd of busy
millennials, so we took our coffee out back to look at the river upstream of the reservoir. The bank we were on was parklike, with ornamental trees, benches and a meandering sidewalk, but the far bank was left as it’s always been, if only because it’s too steep to pave. No fish were rising.
The right conditions to a fisherman are like a bull market to a stock broker—still a crapshoot, but with better odds—but the timing is tricky, especially in the shoulder seasons when people like to say, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.”
This year we had a snowy winter that lurched in fits and starts into a cool, rainy spring and in a region where solar power is especially viable because of all our sunny days, we went for weeks at a time without seeing more than the odd sliver of blue sky. It was shaping up as the kind of year when the rivers would blow out early and runoff would linger like a toothache.
I knew I had limited time to fish and that once runoff began it would last forever, so I got up to the tailwater often, alone and with friends, and whichever it turned out to be seemed like my favorite way to go fishing. With friends the conversation was filled with the comfortable shorthand of shared references and private jokes. Alone there was the pleasant drive through ascending forested foothills—with or without the radio, depending on my mood—until I topped out above the valley that holds the reservoir and caught a glimpse of the alpine mountains to the west looking arctic and forbidding. But you only get a glimpse here because as you approach the scenic overlook you have to watch out for tourists wandering onto the road, distracted by scenery or tame chipmunks or obliviously backing into traffic with their phones to frame photos of their families.
Down on the river I found an unoccupied run I like and ducked off the road into the pull-out. I had the place to myself except for a pair of mallards muttering in a backwater while a fat, mud-gray little
dipper with mating season on his mind perched on a midstream rock proclaiming his love sickness with what sounded like the first bars of a symphony. I knew from experience that there were several places in this run where fish could be and that day they were widely strung out in a lazy mid-river current—the first place any fisherman with half a clue would look for risers.
windshield clean enough to let you see a little more clearly.
The right conditions to a fisherman are like a bull market to a stock broker—still a crapshoot, but with better odds—but the timing is tricky, especially in the shoulder seasons when people like to say, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.”
I waded in downstream so that as I worked up current, all the fish above would have their backs to me and maybe wouldn’t spook at my cast. That’s the kind of precaution you take when the river is flowing at 20 cubic feet per second, while at a higher flow you could cast across current or maybe even snake a long drift downstream without blowing the whole run.
By the time I got back to the pickup I’d caught and released four trout and was a little surprised when the dashboard clock said that three and a half hours had passed. I read somewhere that the practice of Buddhist meditation evolved from the practical stillness of fishermen and hunters who spent long hours being attentive to their surroundings without distraction, searching less for enlightenment than for something to eat. That’s not to say that even a lifetime of fishing will make you a Zen master, although it just might squeegee your emotional
Things progressed from there in a more or less predictable order, if not actually on schedule. As April 15th approached, I paid my taxes and put out the hummingbird feeders and a hungry bear fresh from hibernation tore down two of my seed feeders just as the migrating birds began to arrive: northern orioles, white-crowned sparrows, house wrens, lazuli buntings, western tanagers and so on—some to stay the summer, others just passing through on their way farther north. All the usual suspects that add color and music to the world, but noticeably fewer of them than even just a few years ago. In the short run, we can blame that on the western droughts and massive wildfires of recent years, but according to the people who keep track of these things, there are now three billion fewer birds in north America than there were just 50 years ago because of detrimental human activity—a silent genocide that’s gone largely unnoticed except by people who spend time outside.
Meanwhile, it kept raining—lightly and steadily most days, but with occasional frog-stranglers. We got a year’s worth of rainfall in seven weeks, flood warnings were so common they became meaningless and the volunteer fire department in the small town at the mouth of the valley began filling sandbags, still gun shy after our thousand-year flood 10 years earlier when we got a year’s worth of rain in three days. The streams steadily filled with rainwater plus the first of the snowmelt and they began releasing water from the dam into the tailwater in abrupt spurts that, on the stream flow graph, looked like a crazily ascending stairway. The trout didn’t like it and neither did the fishermen, but the water is bought and paid for and commerce always takes precedence, so that’s just
how it’s gonna be. And in fact, it’s these tailwaters that stretch the spring fishing out for extra weeks into the runoff every year. No dam is ever an improvement on a free-flowing river, but I’m with my late friend Gary LaFontaine on that one. He said that as a conservationist, he’d fight new dams, but as a fisherman, he’d catch trout in the rivers below them when they got built anyway.
Early in May four of us met up on a larger tailwater over on the West Slope to spend a few days looking for spring hatches. This is an annual trip where we’ve come to expect small mayflies, some miniature caddis and the ubiquitous midges, but, just like at home, the flows bumped higher every day and the hatches were off. Now and then a few midges would emerge, a few trout would rise to them and we’d manage to catch a few of those, but there are no whiners in this group and we agreed that a handful of
trout were better than none and that we’d had such good fishing here in past years that we were long overdue for a slow trip. We were taking the long view: The wildfire danger was as low as we’d ever seen it and late summer and fall would be glorious, with fat fish and rivers full of water.
Everything was blown out back home and the day I drove around to look at streams was the same day the plume of smoke from hundreds of wildfires in eastern Canada descended and temporarily gave northern Colorado the worst air quality in the world. I stood for while on a high bank watching a solitary spin fisherman. He was expertly slicing a Mepps spinner through the heavy current and I thought he might hook a fish any minute, but my throat was raw and my eyes were watering from the smoke, so instead of waiting I drove home and checked my emails.
A friend had written, “Any fishing up your way?”
I answered, “I was just gonna ask you the same question.”
The advent of runoff means the end of spring fishing and I knew that over the next six weeks (or maybe more in this wet year) chores would be accomplished that only I could have done and it would all be for the best, but in terms of my fishing life, I’d experience the kind of lost time we normally associate with UFO abductions and severe alcoholism.
So I drove to my current favorite café for a hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and brown gravy— Midwestern comfort food right here in the Rocky Mountains. I walked in carrying a book and a waitress I didn’t recognize introduced herself as “Rayleen, but you can call me Ray,” and added, “Now let’s find you a quiet booth where you can read.”
BY TERRY GUNN
There are fishing guides, and then there are GREAT fishing guides.
We usually think of fly guides as working one of the big Western waters such as the Missouri, the Bighorn, Lees Ferry, the Snake River or the Kvichak in Alaska. Or the Florida Keys, or perhaps Michigan’s Pere Marquette.
Throughout the world, there are thousands dedicated professional fly-fishing guides—men and women who give it their all every single day in fresh and saltwater. I know some Belizeans who have guided bonefish and permit flats for 60 years and now have grandsons who are guiding. Guiding anglers is an honorable profession that requires passion and dedication. Unfortunately, there is no manual or study course that truly prepares one for the real world of guiding. A guide needs to be able to say, “May I help you with that?” with sincerity, not, “holy crap, are you tangled again?”
I’ve been very fortunate to encounter and spend time with a few guides whom I consider superstars. And I believe there is a common thread that all great fly-fishing guides possess: an ability to offer service without being condescending. Lefty Kreh once told me that the difference between a great guide and a crappy guide was that a great guide shared knowledge, whereas a crappy guide displayed knowledge. Share or display… as usual, Lefty was right!
BY
There are many words that can be used to describe a great guide: coach, teacher, gofer, leader, mentor, confidante, custodian and more. The great ones know how to master the following:
A great guide is patient in all situations and leaves the ego at home. Impatience is contagious and is unacceptable in all forms when it comes to guiding. Lose a fish? It might be a disappointment, but it’s not the end of the world. Maybe there will be a better one right around the next bend. Losing your patience with an inept client is your internal method of signaling that you are not quite worthy yourself.
Thirty-some years ago I had a fellow in his 80s get on my boat. He handed me a fly reel that looked well used. He told me that when he was a kid, he had saved his money to buy this reel so he could catch a fish. After he caught a fish, he was intent on catching a lot of fish. Then it was all about catching a big fish; then there were a lot of big fish. He continued, “Today, Terry, I’m happy to just be here and my hope is that we might catch a fish.”
I’ve since heard this and variations of this story many times. I’m not sure if he was the originator or not. But I know for a fact it rings true. In the journey of fly fishing there are steps and stages that we all go through. The true essence of fly fishing is to savor every moment on the water and treat every fish as a gift. But, there is never a need to overdo it.
I started to rig up one of my rods for him, a new Sage with an Abel reel. He reached out and put his hand on mine and said, “Terry, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll use my old reel today.”
This can be one of the most challenging parts of guiding. A great guide will hope to exceed any and all expectations of a customer. This begins with good communication and an inquisitive guide. I remember a day on the river with a husband and wife. The man pulled me aside and said, “Terry, today it’s all about my wife. I want you to spend the day with her and get her to love fly fishing.” I sent him off to a riffle as I turned my attention to his wife. After a couple of casts, the wife looked at me and said, “You would be
A great guide will hope to exceed any and all expectations of a customer. This begins with good communication and an inquisitive guide.
What is it that a customer wants from a guide trip? Learning new skills? A better cast? Lots of fish? Tips to become a better angler? A great guide will know the answers to these questions within the first hour of the trip.
doing me a huge favor to spend most of your time today with my husband. He loves fishing so much and I don’t. I’m just here because of him.” How does a guide win that one?
What is it that a customer wants from a guide trip? Learning new skills? A better cast? Lots of fish? Tips to become a better angler? A great guide will know the answers to these questions within the first hour of the trip.
Accumulated knowledge comes in many forms but there is no Ph.D. program on guiding. So, for a guide to get really good, he or she has to spend time on the water honing their skills. An exceptional guide is observant of all things that occur in their environment.
Denny Breer of Green River guiding fame once said, “Time on the water equals fish.” No truer words have ever been spoken. There is no substitute for recent experience and time on the water to know the trends on where to and how to catch fish. In other words, the occasional weekend guide will catch the occasional fish, but the full-time professional will always prevail over the long haul.
Preparation also encompasses everything that leads up to a trip. A great guide will provide the client with all the information they need to plan their trip and to arrive prepared with everything needed for a successful adventure. It begins and ends with excellent communication. As a customer, always consider that guides work long days and answering a call and booking trips while guiding is not good etiquette.
You can judge a book by its cover and you can judge a guide by how they treat their equipment.
That treatment of “equipment” does not begin with whether or not they casually toss a rod and reel into the rear of the shuttle vehicle, but the vehicle itself. A working fishing guide doesn’t
necessarily need the latest, biggest and best vehicle—a scrape or two kind of looks like the guide sneaks customers into hard-to-reach places—but it should be free of yesterday’s empty soda cans and crumpled coffee cups. It could be a safety factor to have a well-washed windshield.
The old cliché tells us that you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression. Equally true is the knowledge every great plan has a backup plan.
A guide cannot learn very much when their lips are moving and tongue is wagging. A great guide asks questions and listens. Customers do not come on the water to hear about their guide’s trials and tribulations.
No one wants to hire a guide and hear how bad their cast is. I once was fishing near a young guide whose customer hooked a tree on the backcast. The guide said “hold on” and walked back to retrieve the fly. He came back to the customer and said, “I’m sorry, that was my fault; I should have told you that tree was back there.” That moment is one in which I learned a life lesson that I applied to my guiding every day for the rest of my career.
A customer must trust their guide to make the right decision on weather conditions and water. A great guide will never deliberately put himself/ herself or the client in a dangerous position be that on foot or in a boat. However, nature and equipment can conspire to imperil anyone, anywhere,
at the most unexpected of times. The great guide always has a backup and a plan to avoid trouble, or if the unexpected happens, control the situation, deal with it and get everyone home safely to fish another day.
Guides are privy to all sorts of potentially confidential information they hear while on the water. It might be as simple as overhearing two customers discussing a business transaction or a rocky marriage. A great guide is also a confidant and keeps anything that is seen or heard in strict confidence.
A great guide is always competitive— not in a fish-counting way—but always striving to do better at everything that they do. When I was guiding, my goal every day was to be the best fishing guide in the world. I may not have been, but I tried to be. In order to make a decent living, guides work long days and sometimes grueling schedules. Show me a wealthy fishing guide and I’ll show you a trust fund.
A great guide loves the water. The water the guest is fishing is the same water that supports a guide and their family and provides enjoyment to countless other anglers. A guide does not own public waters. As a matter of fact, the guide unselfishly shares it with everyone, and it’s the guide’s responsibility to protect and preserve these waters to the benefit and enjoyment of everyone. The great guide takes the time to share this love of the water with customers every day.
The great guide takes the time to share this love of the water with customers every day.
BY THOMAS REED
Kevin Costner, Charlie Russell, Robert Redford and Norman Maclean all have painted pictures of a Montana similar in scope. Broad, sweeping valleys, soaring tall peaks, thrashing and braided rivers, prairies and buttes rolling to a limitless horizon. This is what the author A.B. Guthrie deemed Big Sky Country, a term poached by a ski area and beautifully rephrased as a “House of Sky” by Ivan Doig. This is ordinary Montana, the Montana that people consume on national television shows and envision when reading Doig or Guthrie.
This is not the Montana of Tim and Joanne Linehan, two of Montana’s most extraordinary people who live and run Linehan Outfitting Company in an extra ordinary place—the Yaak Valley.
“We tell people that the Yaak is where the Pacific rainforest crashes into the Rockies,” says Tim from their home north of the tiny burg of Yaak, tucked right up in the extreme upper left corner
of Montana. “This is an end-of-the-road place. There are no major through-ways, no Starbucks. It is heavily forested, a boreal forest that is tighter, denser and more like the Pacific Northwest than most people’s vision of what Montana is.” It is this exact landscape that drew Tim and Joanne—they’ve been married 29 years as of this writing—to this isolated corner of the Big Sky State in the early 1990s. The Yaak reminded Tim of his New Hampshire roots and it was a place oozing adventure. In 1992, they started Linehan Outfitting Company right on the banks of the Yaak River as it
“We let it grow organically, in a manner of speaking, but we did make a conscious decision to do it all, to beef up the hunting program a lot. That’s kind of an old school model of outfitters who did it all. We do.”
—Tim Linehan
flows its way languidly southward out of Canada on its brief foray as a tributary of the Kootenai River. Thirty-two years later, the Linehans run one of the most respected businesses of its kind in the entire country, taking anglers and hunters all over this corner of the state, anglers and hunters who come back year after year.
They come from all corners and all walks. The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was a client. The Boston chef Gordon Hamersley, famous for his roast chicken, is a friend and long-term client and culinary mentor to Joanne, who is somewhat legendary in her own right for her skills with food. Not only do their clients come back year after year, but so too do their guides—their senior guide recently announced his retirement at the age of 75 from 28 years with the Linehans.
In this day and age, many outfitters are specialists with one niche only, say just trout fishing on certain rivers. Not so LOC. “We let it grow organically, in a manner of speaking,” says Tim, “but we did make a conscious decision to do it all, to beef up the hunting program a lot. That’s kind of an old school model of outfitters who did it all. We do.”
Today, the Linehans run English setters on their three species of grouse—blue, ruffed and spruce—in the fall. They guide hunters on big buck whitetail deer later in the season, deer that are famous for heavy, dark antlers. Linehan’s guides put clients on black bear, moose, elk and even mountain lions. In the spring, they’ll do a few days guiding on the Missouri River before the Kootenai River, their home river, turns on. Then they will spend their days on that tailwater catching rainbow trout and enjoying their special niche in a famous state.
Tim and Joanne Linehan run an Orvis-endorsed program whose mainstay for fishing is the Kootenai River, a tailwater downstream from Libby, Montana. The Kootenai is famous for its ridiculously clear blue-tinted water flowing over beautiful red, blue, orange, brown and white river rock. PMDs, caddis, terrestrials and blue-winged olives are typical hatches and the rainbow trout is the primary quarry.
On the river, the company has a lodge with full accommodations, including meals, while up in the Yaak Valley, the company maintains several nice cabins where clients supply their own meals. Joanne locally sources much of the food. “We try to really keep it within 50 miles of here, we are working with young farmers and just really trying to keep it fresh, local and organic,” says Joanne, who is famous for not only standard table fare, but wild game recipes like mountain lion poppers that were a huge hit around more than one dinner table.
During the height of the season, the company is keeping six guides— mostly all local people—busy on a typical day and the Linehans are particularly pleased with the caliber of client they encounter.
“We have always had great clients,” says Tim. “We have been very lucky and that makes life really easy. They come here to experience this part of Montana and they are just here for the experience.”
Joanne and Tim attribute their great clientele to the long relationship that LOC has had with the Orvis Company, which entices a client with great ethics and a conservation standard.
On the latter point, the Linehans are well known for their conservation ethic. Both have been TU members for nearly their entire lives. “It became very clear to us early on that good conservation is just damned good business,” says Tim. “We really do believe in giving back and it’s utilitarian because I should protect the resource that helps pay our mortgage.”
The Linehans, working with Montana TU, started a program among Montana’s guides for an annual fundraiser that was a simple idea: donate one day’s tip proceeds to MTU. That program has resulted in thousands of dollars to coldwater fisheries conservation in the state.
BY KARA ARMANO
Guides in New Zealand seem to be in a bit of a time warp. Today, in many U.S. fisheries, it is all about numbers. “How many fish?” is the most common question at the end of a guide day.
But in NZ, the mission is all about “the fish.” Not necessarily the biggest, but the best, and heaps (as the Kiwis say) goes into defining “best”: The best river beat that hasn’t had pressure for days if not weeks… the best sighting of a targetable, hungry trout… the best
approach, cast and presentation. And hopefully, the best take. Of course, these beastly browns will guarantee a big fight as well.
The numbers of fish you’ll catch during a stay at Owen River Lodge might not be great. But the mission is not to
catch the most fish. A day of seeing and targeting 5 to 12 fish is common, but of course, catching them is another matter. Ultimately, the experiences you’ll have catching each trout will be hard won and recounted in fine detail.
Perfectly situated near the banks of the Owen River, this lodge is quiet with stunning gardens and views, incredible food prepared from local sources (often from veg and herb gardens about 20 feet
from the table), and cozy accommodations perfect for a rest after a long day hunting trout.
Fishing in New Zealand is hard, but Owen’s guide team creates experiences that are memorable, and they do everything in their power to set you up for success. They fight for the fish by ensuring they are not over pressured. They do their homework by regularly exploring nearby rivers with great care to spot fish and memorize their locations and eating patterns. With over 100 years of combined guiding experience, these trout hunters are passionate, patient and conservation minded.
ORL’s guides are members of the New Zealand Professional Fishing Guides Association, which focuses on sustainable fisheries management. The guides are the most trusted custodians of the rivers and as part of the guides association, they partner with local environmental organizations to protect and enhance rivers and their fisheries when they see something amiss.
All this dedication means that the rivers are incredibly clear, the trout are healthy and large, and you’ll get
The guides are the most trusted custodians of the rivers and as part of the guides association, they partner with local environmental organizations to protect and enhance rivers and their fisheries when they see something amiss.
unparalleled sight fishing like nowhere else on earth. At the top of the South Island, the Nelson/Marlborough region is home to 29 rivers that are accessible from the lodge and more that are just a short helicopter flight away.
During my family’s stay at the lodge, we felt like a “box of birds” (another Kiwi-ism meaning so happy you can barely stand it). The guides pick you up each morning with a plan already in place perfectly tailored to your skills, desires, weather, fishing pressure and more.
We seemed to forget about obsession with how many fish caught and focused instead on the quality of the trout and every second of the hunt, not to mention the spectacular scenery. This is all thanks to the guides’ continued dedication to providing the absolute best experience for each angler.
There’s much to be learned from that.
For booking information see elevenexperience.com
By Christine Peterson
We made the agreement long before we headed north. We were driving down a highway in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, recapping our recent fishing trip (for tiny brook trout) and planning the next one (for monster bull trout).
“If we have any luck finding bull trout, we should each catch one and then be done,” I told my husband, Josh.
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” he said.
“But still,” I argued. “I want to put out there that we don’t need to hammer a fish like bull trout. One and done, fair?”
“Fair,” he said.
We were going to British Columbia to try to catch a species that was once not hard to find and now, because of overfishing, climate change, logging, pollution and habitat fragmentation, is much trickier, especially without a guide.
I wanted us both to be on the same page, that catching a species as unique, and in places as imperiled, as bull trout didn’t need to happen more than once.
Weeks later, in a cold, clear, glacier fed river that wound through an old burn scar surrounded by bright pink fireweed and knee-high saplings, Josh caught a beautiful, silver bull trout. We snapped a few quick pictures, and he slipped the hook out of the fish’s mouth and released it back in the water.
It was one thing for him to make a deal with his spouse weeks ago in the abstract, and another thing to recognize that one and done meant on day two he would be switching from swinging big streamers to being on dog and kid duty while casting to much smaller Westslope cutthroat.
The deal we struck wasn’t part of a regulation. British Columbia closes streams the province feels can’t handle pressure and limits take in other areas. We weren’t resolving to follow the rules—we are consummate rule followers—we resolved to do what we felt was right in that dusty gray area where almost all hunters and anglers reside.
And when we’re out there by ourselves, with no guide to tell us where to step (or not step) or to pinch our barbed hooks, or to tell us not to play a fish so long, it’s up to us.
“A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct,” wrote famed ecologist Aldo Leopold. “Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience rather than by a mob of onlookers.”
The same applies to fishing. It’s up to us to decide how to act when we are our own audience.
DIY anglers have only regulations and their own consciences to follow
The Gray Reef section of the North Platte River wending through central Wyoming is one of those blue-ribbon tailwaters with lots of private water for guides but still enough public stretches to keep the rest of us happy. It’s not a native trout fishery—before dams the North Platte’s cool water ran thick with channel catfish, shovelnose sturgeon and sauger. But a series of reservoirs, habitat improvements and years of stocking made it into a destination rainbow, brown and cutthroat fishery.
Regulations only let you keep one fish over 20 inches, effectively rendering it a catch and release only fishery, albeit one that lets you huck three flies, barbs intact.
And the effectiveness of patterns like San Juan worms or pegged beads with big hooks under strike indicators is starting to take its toll.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently surveyed fish populations for hook scarring and found that at high levels, even practices we all thought were fine aren’t actually fine.
“We’re starting to see some pretty sobering data,” said Matt Hahn, one of the department’s fisheries supervisors. “I think we’ve crossed the threshold now where catch and release angling is having a real impact on the population.”
The department is looking into what they could potentially do with regulations to help this growing problem, but Hahn also said there’s only so much.
“The best would be to reduce the number of injuries to fish, and the easiest way to do that would be to lower the number of fish being caught through tackle restrictions and seasonal closures,” he said.
While regulations have a proven track record of helping species and ecosystems come back from the brink, there’s also plenty we can do on our own when water temperatures are too hot, when we pull up to a river access and combat fishing is the first term that comes to mind, or when we want to pump the oars of our raft or boat backward to strip through a hole once more.
And here’s the thing, while selfregulation might sound like a bummer, it doesn’t need to be.
Instead of waiting for a guide, biologist or regulation to tell you what to do, think about the fishery and use your conscience to guide you.
Josh may have caught his one and only bull trout on the second day of a weeklong trip, but looking back, he doesn’t feel he was shorted of experiences on the water.
He helped our 7-year-old daughter catch her first whitefish. He caught rising Westslope cutthroat trout on dry flies and he stood by my side while I slipped the hook out of my first bull trout’s mouth and released it back into the water.
Sometimes, when we’re the only ones out there, it’s a question of reframing what we’re there for.
“Maybe you don’t need a picture of every fish you catch that’s over 15 inches. Take a picture of the sunset instead,”
Josh may have caught his one and only bull trout on the second day of a weeklong trip, but looking back, he doesn’t feel he was shorted of experiences on the water.
Hahn said. “Or take a cool picture of a mayfly on your reel.”
And it’s also far from as simple as catching one fish and heading home. Sometimes it’s about considering your past experiences and what you really need out of this particular one.
Hahn spent his life catching plenty of fish; he doesn’t really need to have 30-fish days anymore. He also readily admits that if he was in a boat, floating a stream and his teenage son finally had it dialed in and was catching fish after fish, he’s not sure he would tell him to stop. Not right away anyway.
So maybe the next time we’re out there and we’re catching fish on every cast, we can congratulate ourselves, then we can switch up our flies. Try something strange we don’t think will work and see how the fish will respond. Spend a couple beats longer watching an eagle or a heron or a king fisher.
We can also acknowledge there are places that could use more fishing and could benefit from more anglers taking fish home. Maybe leave that trophy trout fishery after netting one or two
and head to streams with stunted brook trout where biologists plead with anglers to catch and keep six or even 12. Fillet them back at camp, season them with a little salt and pepper and enjoy the fruits of your labor for dinner. Better yet, use your extra time on the water to target those fish no one thinks about, the red-eye bass, chiselmouth or bowfin.
Pinch your barbs. Use smaller hooks. Find a run with no one in it even if it looks like it won’t be quite as good. Don’t take a picture of every fish, and release them as quickly as you reel them in. When water temperatures increase during the heat of summer, fish in the early morning, head higher up into the mountains where the temperatures are cooler or target warmer water species in a lake or reservoir.
Few of these ideas you’ll find reflected in regulations, though some states and national parks are beginning to require barbless hooks, single flies and closing streams during heat of summer.
Instead of waiting for a guide, biologist or regulation to tell you what to do, think about the fishery and use your conscience to guide you.
BY MARSHALL BISSETT
ly anglers love a good argument. It’s mostly collegiate banter that will not lead to an assault on the Museum of Fly Fishing or picket lines outside fly shops, and with no national press since NPR covered The Feather Thief, the grumbling incubates in trade magazines, blogs and forums. There, the cloak of anonymity (flyfishguru999) emboldens even the meekest, and tempers can rise faster than Taylor Swift’s net worth.
The online community, still reeling from the great Tenkara uproar, can now turn its attention to the legitimacy of Euro nymphing, a technique where weighted nymphs, not a fly line, are used to create a fishable cast. It’s the red vs. blue, progressive vs. conservative, competitive vs. recreational, Macs vs PCs, arguments
all over again. A debate over a fishing technique (that 99 percent of the world is still unaware of) can get downright tribal. In case you think this contentious behavior is something new, it is time to check our British history.
Around 1850 in Southern England, the heavyweights of fly fishing started the great dry fly vs. nymph debate, which has persisted in some form or other to the present day. G.E.M Skues, the creator of modern day nymphing, raised the ire of Frederic Maurice Halford, the first true dry-fly snob. So, the games began—the perennial topics of late-night brandy and cigar sessions… catch or release, graphite or cane, vests or packs, barbed or barbless, fluorocarbon or mono?
Euro nymphing, a technique derived from European competitive angling, has been touted both as a miracle drug and a form of cheating. Tim Rajeff, founder of ECHO rods, has jokingly called it “expensive spin fishing.” It fails to meet the definition of fly fishing in the Merriam-Webster dictionary: “a method of fishing in which an artificial fly is cast by use of a fly rod, a reel and a relatively heavy oiled or treated line.” By this standard, we should be putting away those mono rigs and Tenkara rods to avoid a streamside citation. No one is debating the effectiveness of the method, only its legitimacy. Traditionalists decry the absence of traditional casting, the need to match the hatch and, perversely, that euro nymphing is somehow too easy.
Not exactly an overnight sensation, Euro Nymphing has been around for over 30 years and is in a constant state of development. When the Czech team won the world championships in Belgium (1986) and Wales (1990) using a monofilament-based rig, born of necessity since, in their native country, fly lines were hard to come by, the rest of the world paid attention. This led to Polish, French and Spanish styles, and finally the generic tight line nymphing we know today.
The original Czech formula, with its three weighted flies, was not much of an improvement on high stick nymphing with flies hung below a floating indicator
No one is debating the effectiveness of the method, only its legitimacy. Traditionalists decry the absence of traditional casting, the need to match the hatch and, perversely, that Euro nymphing is somehow too easy.
with split shot to weight them down. The rigs were awkward to cast, clunky and prone to horrendous tangles. They did, however, conform to international tournament rules outlawing split shot, indicators and tying tippet and another fly off the bend of a hook.
More importantly, they caught lots of fish. In its latest, minimalist form, a tight line system might typically involve a 4X leader connected to a 5X or 6X tippet and a single small, weighted fly. This, if fished correctly, results in a sensitive, drag free drift—the goal of most trout casts above or below surface.
The problem, it seems, lies in the delivery. With no fly line out of the rod tip, the cast’s shortened arc and wristy forward stroke starts to look like spin fishing. This makes the fly purists crazier than a Texan at a vegan buffet. Let’s face it… “elegant” is not the word to describe lobbing a split shot rig from a drift boat. These are not the gently unfurling arrow-shaped loops so emblematic and revered in fly fishing.
Think instead of how Formula One technology has trickled down to improve the brakes and the performance of the family minivan. Streamlined nymphing systems are an example of how innovation can reduce irritation. On the downside, the analytical “cast, drift and repeat” Euro style can become boring and repetitive. On the upside, you don’t have to be a master caster to get in the game.
Let us not forget the fly tier spending hours to create perfect naturalistic nymph patterns, only to find that an epoxy coated hook with red and black thread and an oversize tungsten bead seems to work just as well. The “Copper John” is sold in thousands of dozens, worldwide, not because it’s the buggiest looking thing, rather, because it sinks into the feeding zone with great effect. In Euro nymphing, the fly design must incorporate sufficient weight to get a size 18 nymph quickly to the bottom of likely runs. As a bonus, the jig style hooks catch fewer rocks and sticks on the stream bottom. The hype around
The “Copper John” is sold in thousands of dozens, worldwide, not because it’s the buggiest looking thing, rather, because it sinks into the feeding zone with great effect.
the technique has led to the mistaken view that Euro nymphing is somehow simplistic and works to the exclusion of other methods. If you think tight line nymphing is easy, try casting 20 feet of 4X leader using only a size 18 perdigon with some degree of accuracy.
Euro technique does not require a $900 rod but it does call for at least a 10 foot rod with an appropriate tip action. Suitable rods are now appearing at reasonable price points on the market as part of a “Euro kit.” Getting the technique right calls for practice and an alteration to the traditional casting stroke.
Another myth is that tight line methods only work with weighted nymphs. The same rig can be used for small streamers, and with a stiffer mono leader, dry flies and soft hackles.
It’s worth pointing out that even in competition, Euro nymphing is not a panacea that works in all situations. Slower water, farther from the angler
will prompt the use of a dry dropper or traditional suspension rig.
At a recent trade show, I had the opportunity to canvass the views of professional anglers. George Daniel, author of Dynamic Nymphing, a seminal work that introduced America to new forms of nymphing, believes that Euro nymphing is simply a natural evolution of tactics.
“Look at the way digital photography has largely replaced film, despite pushback from purists who said it was not real photography and would never catch on,” said Daniel. “Euro is just an improvement on an old technique—the idea is to keep improving our techniques to catch fish.”
It’s no surprise that excellent casters like Simon Gawesworth, author of Spey Casting, only turn to Euro nymphing
when it’s essential to catch a fish in competition. “It does get more people having success on the water, but I am a bit concerned that they might have to unlearn casting habits later on,” he explained.
This is a view shared by Jeff Currier, a member of Masters Team USA who says, “It’s a deadly way to catch fish that I don’t particularly enjoy—I wouldn’t teach beginners because that might be the only method they want to do. Teach dry fly first. I don’t want them just to learn to lob using only wrist.”
Tim Flagler, a guide and celebrity fly tier asked, “What is a fly line anyway? After all, fly lines are all mono core anyway, so what’s the big deal with mono rigs? Where does it start and stop being fly fishing?”
With classic diplomacy, Gareth Jones of Airflo UK added, “I just want to see people catch fish. You can learn to cast well, but what’s the point if you’re not
“Many of us fly fish because we like casting a line, not seeing line peel off a spinning reel. Like all but a few of my (fishing) friends, I use the weight of the flies to pull my line through the air. Given a choice, I prefer having the weight of the line pull my fly through the air.”— Tim Rajeff
catching fish? Euro allows you to present flies without drag. It gets people into the sport and gives them some success early on. It’s a steppingstone to ‘true fly fishing.’”
This should resonate in a community facing charges of elitism and exclusivity. If trout fishing survival lies in getting a fly rod of any length into the hands of a newcomer, giving them a better chance of catching a fish, then where’s the harm?
Even the purest of purists can’t fail to notice the advances of the last 50 years. The world of wax jackets, neoprene waders, creels and fully dressed salmon flies has gone the way of the rotary phone and the Yellow Pages. Late model rods, lines and reels do the job better and modern clothing keeps us on the river year round. The same thinking should apply to new techniques. The dramatic revival of UK reservoir fishing owes a lot to improved fly line design and synthetic fly materials. Advanced spey
rod design has encouraged a new breed of competitive casters.
Let’s never forget that euro nymphing is the child of international competitive angling. If your goal is to Hoover up (a hateful, but accurate term) every fish in a run, ask yourself whether this is this the most responsible treatment of our resources and our fellow anglers. Perhaps the final word best belongs to Tim Rajeff whose irreverent approach inspired this article.
“If all you care about is catching the most fish possible regardless of the technique, you might want to stick a live worm or a salmon egg at the end of your leader,” said Rajeff. “Many of us fly fish because we like casting a line, not seeing line peel off a spinning reel. Like all but a few of my (fishing) friends, I use the weight of the flies to pull my line through the air. Given a choice, I prefer having the weight of the line pull my fly through the air.”
The Suzuki 2.5 horsepower motor is the 13th member of our family right after my parents, my brother, me, our spouses and all six of our dogs. She has been on the Christmas card, has her own room and her own term of endearment: Suzy. (We’re not that clever.)
When we portage to the upper lakes, she must be held upright, so she is usually transported in a bear hug by one of the males in the family. I haven’t heard any of them coo to her, but I won’t be surprised when I do.
Because she is kept in immaculate running condition, she starts the first time every time. Unless she’s feeling like a tease. Then she tosses her safety clip, a bawdy showgirl, taunting her adoring fans.
If we dare to get caught up in the trolling or the loons or the way the light shimmers through the red pines, and we forget to thank and appreciate her, she will flutter, feign fainting, so that Dad must feather the motor, convince her she is beautiful and can work a little longer. If she’s beyond petulant, she’ll cut out, throwing a fit as any diva would, and all together, we’ll clamor, “Oh, Suzy.” She is so melodramatic, such a prima donna.
But like so many divas, her biggest fans have made her feel she’s just that important. We are utterly dependent upon her in our pursuit of lake and rainbow trout. There have been other motors (don’t tell her), but they acted up, and that led to cursing. Suzy, for all her drama, is largely dependable.
She is coddled, pampered. There’s not a scratch on her. She lives in the shed when she’s not fishing with us, has her own rack, won’t deign to consort with the ancient chainsaw, the battered drill. Dad changes her spark plugs often, plies her with oil, nearly polishes the carburetor. At the end of the year she is drained, pickled, promised new riches come spring.
The two old timers we see every year doing the same portage we do and putting us to shame because they carry twice the gear in half the time, also have a Suzy. This makes us proud. Their Suzy is not a diva; she is dented and scratched, worn out by love of a different kind.
Suzy’s hum is the background song to our catching and not catching of fish. She is witness to our ridiculous conversations that are the same every year: about the birch tree that grows out of the rock wall, the fire that burned decades ago and the trout that flung diamonds.
She takes us across the lake, and along the rock wall, and to Judy’s spot, and to where Trav’s big one got away. When we’re discouraged, she keeps on, and when it’s time to go, and we carry her back to our home lake in the bear hug, she is warm and silent, having hummed us across lakes and to fish and together.
BY HEATHER E. GOODMAN
There have been other motors (don’t tell her), but they acted up, and that led to cursing. Suzy, for all her drama, is largely dependable.
BY ROBERT POPHAM
Last November, the Environmental Protection Agency granted a petition to regulate the use of a chemical called 6PPD that is used in tires—and which has been killing staggering percentages of coho salmon in urban streams in the Seattle area. The petition was submitted by Earthjustice on behalf of three Native American tribes on the West Coast, and argued that the use of 6PPD is destroying those tribes’ traditional way of life, which is centered around harvesting coho salmon. By granting the petition, EPA will develop regulations on 6PPD in the near future based on the Toxic Substances Control Act. Whatfollowsistheremarkablebackstoryofhowthissilent fish killer was discovered, and of the explosion of scientific activity sparked by that discovery, which has shown that the scope of the problem extends well beyond coho salmon and the West Coast. In fact, this chemical kills native trout and salmon throughout the entire country.
In the fall of 2000, Bill McMillan, a field biologist for Washington Trout, stood on the bank of Longfellow Creek in urban West Seattle. In the late 1990s the City of Seattle cleaned up Longfellow Creek and several other small urban streams with the goal of improving habitat for fish, hoping that they might again support runs of spawning salmon. They removed culverts that were impeding fish passage, cleaned out trash and established green space along the streambanks—similar to the stream restoration Trout Unlimited does all over the country.
Now, the question was whether salmon would return to the cleaned-up streams. Bill and Washington Trout were surveying the stream for coho salmon spawners. Coho are born in freshwater streams and live most of their lives at sea before returning to streams to spawn.
It had rained heavily earlier that day, and the creek had risen rapidly as it collected runoff from impervious surfaces. Bill recalled, “I noticed a coho drifting downstream near the surface seemingly dead, and suddenly it came to life with a wild skitter across the surface and partly beached itself before drifting onward. Then once again it skittered across the surface and completely beached itself.”
On a hunch, Bill investigated further. “I hurried down and was able to contain it, obviously expiring as I held it,” he said. With death I cut it open and sure enough, full of eggs, unspawned. Subsequently I saw about half a dozen more go through similar antics as the flow continued to drop. Each died unspawned.”
What was killing these big, bright, healthy coho in just a few hours, before they even had a chance to spawn? Bill’s hunch, based on what he saw that day, was that toxins carried in stormwater were the cause.
Finding the answer would require 20 years of dogged, persistent scientific detective work. It would turn out to have
worldwide implications for trout and salmon conservation, and for the health of other species (including humans), which are still being explored. But it is already clear that some of the worst impacts are on native trout and salmon throughout the U.S.
Bill McMillan was alarmed enough by what he had seen that he contacted the ecotoxicology division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Nat Scholz of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Research Center led the investigation. He formed a team that did systematic stream surveys from 2002 to 2009, regularly walking the length of streams looking for coho
What was killing these big, bright, healthy coho in just a few hours, before they even had a chance to spawn?
Bill’s hunch, based on what he saw that day, was that toxins carried in stormwater were the cause.
spawners, dead or alive. Longfellow Creek, where Bill had seen the coho dying, was surveyed daily.
The surveys confirmed that what Bill had seen was not a fluke. During the first two weeks of the 2002 run, more than 40 female coho swam up Longfellow Creek, and every one of them died before they had a chance to spawn. All in all, the surveys found pre-spawn
death rates of 60 to 100 percent in coho in several streams in the Seattle area. Unsurprisingly, population modeling by Julann Spromberg and Scholz showed that with these death rates, “the fish go locally to extinction very fast,” says Scholz.
Scholz and his team also collected tissue samples from the dying coho, hoping to identify the cause of death. They found that the fish had generally been in good health, with no signs of any unusual diseases or parasites and no unusual levels of pesticide exposure. The coho did show elevated levels of some metals and PAHs (chemicals found in oil and gasoline), but nothing that seemed to be capable of killing an adult spawner in a couple of hours. In Scholz’s words, “we didn’t know what the smoking gun was.”
With the usual suspects eliminated, the researchers focused on runoff from roads. Conveniently, runoff from a busy elevated highway in Seattle pours out of a downspout into the parking lot of the Northwest Fisheries Research Center. Work by Jenifer McIntyre, Scholz and their colleagues showed that exposure to this runoff was lethal to both adult and juvenile coho.
Highway runoff consists of a witch’s brew of chemicals: oil, gasoline, other automotive fluids like transmission fluid and windshield wiper fluid, brake pad dust and chemicals from tires. In fact, runoff contains literally thousands of different chemicals. Which of these were killing the fish?
A simple experiment by McIntyre and her colleagues showed that the killer chemical came from tires. By simply abrading some tiny bits of rubber from the surface of a tire and soaking them overnight in water to let the chemicals leach out of the rubber, they made a tire soup which again proved to be lethal to coho.
Shockingly, laboratory tests showed that this tire soup contained more
The surveys confirmed that what Bill had seen was not a fluke. During the first two weeks of the 2002 run, more than 40 female coho swam up Longfellow Creek, and every one of them died before they had a chance to spawn. All in all, the surveys found pre-spawn death rates of 60 to 100 percent in coho in several streams in the Seattle area.
As you drive, and especially when you accelerate, brake or turn, tiny bits of rubber are worn off of the tire surface onto the road, where 6PPD-quinone continues to form. When it rains, the 6PPD-quinone and the rubber particles are washed into storm sewers and deposited directly into our rivers and streams.
than 2000 chemicals. Which one was the killer? Environmental chemist Ed Kolodziej and his lab at the University of Washington took on the challenge of finding the needle in a haystack.
“I work in water quality because I care about fish and aquatic organism health,” says Ed. “I grew up fishing with my grandfathers in New Hampshire… it was definitely my history as a fisherman and my family’s history out on the water catching fish that made me choose that as a career.”
Over the course of the project, Ed recalled visiting Longfellow Creek with his son to collect water samples and seeing coho dying there. “It’s one thing to read about it, but it’s quite another to see it and in some cases, sit there by the side of the stream for several hours as the coho salmon struggle to survive, and eventually not make it. So that was definitely motivating.”
Over the next two and a half years, Ed and postdoctoral fellow Zhenyu Tian narrowed down the list of over 2,000 potentially lethal chemicals through a painstaking process of elimination. They separated the mixture of over 2,000 chemicals into groups. At the first stage, each group might have 200 out of the original 2,000 chemicals in it. Then they
tested each group to see if it was lethal to coho. Only one of the groups was, so that narrowed the search down to about 200 suspects. Then they separated those 200 chemicals into smaller groups, and so on. Finally, in December of 2019, they were finally able to identify the killer as 6PPD-quinone.
“That was an exciting day,” recalls Ed. “That was the first day we had a really strong hypothesis about what the chemical we were looking for was, where it came from, and all the pieces fell into place that day.”
6PPD-quinone was not even known to exist before Ed and his lab found it. But it forms when a closely related chemical, 6PPD, reacts with ozone in the atmosphere. 6PPD is a chemical preservative that is added to tire rubber in the manufacturing process specifically for the purpose of reacting with ozone. Ground-level ozone damages tire rubber by breaking the chemical bonds that hold long rubber molecules together. Those broken bonds turn into cracks in the surface of the rubber, and eventually cause tire failure. 6PPD forms a film on the surface of tires and reacts with the ozone before it can damage the rubber. This reaction between 6PPD and ozone produces 6PPD-quinone.
Ed Kolodziej’s lab found that 6PPDquinone is extremely toxic to coho. Less than one-tenth of a part per billion of 6PPD-quinone in the water around them is enough to kill them, making it the second-most-toxic chemical ever discovered for any fish species. (The most toxic is parathion, a pesticide which has been banned in many countries including the U.S. and European Union.)
To get a sense of how little one part per billion is, imagine a 150-gallon aquarium with coho swimming in it. Now imagine taking a packet of sugar and pouring it on the table in front of you, but instead of sugar, imagine that it is 6PPD-quinone. If you dropped one single grain of it into the aquarium, that would be about 1 part per billion, more than 10 times the concentration needed to kill the coho, and the coho would die. You read that right: a single grain in a 150-gallon tank is enough to kill coho 10 times over.
And there is an enormous amount of 6PPD-quinone out there. Every tire company uses 6PPD to protect their tires from ozone, and it has been in use since the 1960s. It typically makes up about one percent of the weight of a tire, so each
tire on your car contains a few ounces of 6PPD. Over the life of the tire, it continually rises to the surface of the tire rubber, forms a film there and reacts with ozone to produce 6PPD-quinone. As you drive, and especially when you accelerate, brake or turn, tiny bits of rubber are worn off of the tire surface onto the road, where 6PPD-quinone continues to form. When it rains, the 6PPD-quinone and the rubber particles are washed into storm sewers and deposited directly into our rivers and streams.
Every road in the world has these tire rubber particles on it. That means that every river that receives runoff from roads has 6PPD-quinone in it. Runoff from roads in the Seattle area showed concentrations of 6PPD-quinone as high
as 19 parts per billion, and streams had levels as high as 3.2 parts per billion, 40 times higher than the concentration that kills coho.
Tire manufacturers have used 6PPD for decades. So why did it take so long to figure out that it kills fish? The answer may be that in areas where 6PPDquinone reaches lethal concentrations, there are simply no fish left to kill. The cleanup of the Seattle-area streams made them more accessible to spawning runs of coho, and unintentionally turned them into “ecological traps” that lured the coho in, and then 6PPD-quinone killed them. And the surveys of those streams ensured that people like Bill McMillan were there, even on a rainy day, to see the coho dying.
Ed Kolodziej’s lab found that 6PPD-quinone is extremely toxic to coho. Less than one-tenth of a part per billion of 6PPD-quinone in the water around them is enough to kill them, making it the second-mosttoxic chemical ever discovered for any fish species.
Since 6PPD-quinone was identified as the culprit that kills coho salmon, researchers around the world have begun testing it on other fish species to see how they are affected. Sadly, they have found that both brook trout and rainbow trout, the native trout of the eastern and western U.S., are vulnerable to 6PPD-quinone.
It is not yet understood how 6PPDquinone kills coho. This is a very active area of research right now. Researchers including Jen McIntyre and her colleagues have found that it causes significant disruption to the fishes’ blood chemistry, leakage of blood plasma out of blood vessels and into their brains and other tissues, and mitochondrial disruption. But we don’t know whether those are the actual causes of death or simply symptoms.
Since 6PPD-quinone was identified as the culprit that kills coho salmon, researchers around the world have begun testing it on other fish species to see how they are affected. Sadly, they have found that both brook trout and rainbow trout, the native trout of the eastern and western U.S., are vulnerable to 6PPD-quinone. Research is underway to determine whether other native species like cutthroat and lake trout are also vulnerable. While they are not as sensitive as coho, brook and rainbow trout are still quite sensitive. If the 6PPD-quinone concentrations in urban streams around the country are similar to those measured in Seattle, the water in many of our urban streams is lethal to our native trout.
Many other fish species show no acute reaction to 6PPD-quinone, and among these are brown trout and Atlantic salmon. The fact that native brook and rainbow trout are susceptible to 6PPD-quinone, while brown trout are not, may explain why brown trout are able to establish wild, self-sustaining populations in many eastern streams where brook and rainbow trout are unable to do so.
Surprisingly, in several cases, closely related species have very different reactions to 6PPD-quinone. This was noticed in the first surveys in Longfellow Creek, where chum salmon seemed to be completely unaffected even as coho
“We will engage to help mitigate the effects we’re already seeing, prevent further damage from 6PPD-quinone, and ultimately rid it from rivers and streams throughout the country.”
— Chris Wood
were dying just feet away. Similarly, brook trout are quite sensitive, but closely related arctic char are not. When researchers are able to determine the mechanism for how 6PPD kills fish, it may shed some light on these discrepancies.
All the testing so far has focused on lethal exposures where the fish die in a matter of hours or days. Many streams in suburban or rural areas with less vehicular traffic may not reach concentrations that are high enough to kill fish quickly. Researchers are now studying how these sublethal exposures to 6PPD-quinone affect trout and salmon. The cumulative effects of repeated sublethal exposures may injure them, impede their growth or reproduction or otherwise make them less able to compete and survive.
Another important question is how 6PPD-quinone affects human health. We are exposed to this chemical through our drinking water, and we grind up old tires to use as a base for playgrounds and artificial turf playing fields. While efforts to understand the effects of 6PPD-quinone on people are in their infancy, a recent study have found that 6PPD-quinone is present in human urine, with the highest concentrations in pregnant women.
Trout Unlimited goes to great lengths to protect native trout and restore them to their former habitats. “This new science spotlights a new challenge and opens an entirely new chapter of necessary advocacy on behalf of salmon and native trout,” said Chris Wood, TU’s president and CEO. “We will engage to help mitigate the effects we’re already seeing, prevent further damage from 6PPD-quinone, and ultimately rid it from rivers and streams throughout the country.”
How can we protect trout and salmon from 6PPD-quinone? The most direct way is to eliminate 6PPD from tires. The petition to the EPA requested that it “establish regulations prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use and distribution” of 6PPD. However, in granting the petition, the EPA stated that they retain “discretion to determine the content of any regulation…which need not conform precisely to the petitioner’s requested action.”
If the EPA does ban 6PPD, it will take years to get 6PPD-quinone out of our rivers and streams. First, it is not clear how long it will take EPA to issue regulations on 6PPD. They did not commit to a specific timescale apart from saying that they expect to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, a preliminary step where they solicit public review and comment, by fall of 2024.
Second, there may be a delay before the new regulations take effect. If 6PPD is banned, the tire industry will need to find a substitute that can protect tires from ozone but that is trout and salmonsafe. The Toxic Substances Control Act requires the EPA to “consider… whether technically and economically feasible alternatives that benefit health or the environment… will be reasonably available as a substitute when the proposed prohibition or other restriction takes effect.”
In fact, the search for alternatives to 6PPD is underway. On October 1st, 2023, California’s Division of Toxic Substances Control added 6PPD to a list of Priority Products, which requires the tire industry to look for alternatives. In anticipation of the California action, the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association formed a consortium of 16 tire manufacturers to begin that search, but it is unclear how long that process will take. Prior to the EPA ruling, in the absence of any firm date for banning or phasing out use of 6PPD, the tire industry says that “might take as much as 20 years,” according to Ed Kolodziej. The petition to EPA argued that a ban would give the industry a deadline which would “spur technological innovation” and speed that process up. Finally, even when 6PPD stops being used for new tires, it will take years more for existing tires made with 6PPD to wear out and be taken off the road. All in all, we should probably expect that
“Even if we identify good treatment technologies, it will be a monumental task to capture and treat stormwater flowing off the vast network of roads, parking lots and sports fields into the many salmon spawning streams.” —Andrew Kenefick
In the meantime, the only known way to remove 6PPD-quinone from road runoff is to use bioinfiltration, as demonstrated by McIntyre, Spromberg and their colleagues. Bioinfiltration is
a form of green stormwater infrastructure that basically amounts to filtering contaminated stormwater through soil. This approach has the advantage that it also removes other toxic chemicals from the stormwater, including ones we don’t even know about yet.
The feasibility of the bioinfiltration approach will vary greatly from one stream to the next. In streams where most of the 6PPD-quinone pollution comes from a small number of storm sewer outfalls, a few judiciously chosen bioinfiltration projects may significantly reduce 6PPD-quinone concentrations and increase survival rates for vulnerable trout and salmon. On the other hand, streams that flow through urban areas may have tens or even hundreds of storm sewer outfalls dumping 6PPD-laden runoff into them. For such streams, the amount of infrastructure required to make a dent in 6PPD-quinone concentrations could be enormous: “Even if we identify good treatment technologies, it will be a monumental task to capture and treat stormwater flowing off the vast network of roads, parking lots and sports fields into the many salmon spawning streams. Not only will the upfront work be daunting, but there will be a huge amount of ongoing maintenance to keep these treatment systems effective and operating as designed,” says Andrew Kenefick, Advocacy Committee Chair for Washington State TU.
Bill McMillan’s hunch that toxins in storm runoff were killing the coho salmon turned out to be correct. But Bill could not have guessed that coho were only the “canary in a coalmine,” the sensitive species that alerts us to a much bigger problem. He could not have known that the toxin, 6PPD-quinone, comes from our tires. And he could not have known that it affects salmonids around the world, and preferentially kills our native brook and rainbow trout along with coho salmon. But now, thanks to some amazing scientific detective work, we know.
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—LULU COLBY, GIFT ANNUITANT
Secure your financial future and the future of wild and native trout and salmon. A Charitable Gift Annuity provides peace of mind with regular fixed payments during your lifetime and ensure future generations can know the joy of a cold running stream. NEW – If you are 70½ or older, you can now transfer up to $50,000 from your IRA to acquire a charitable gift annuity. Contact Sue Thomas at (703) 284-9421 or Legacy@TU.org to learn more about these and other gifts that benefit both you AND Trout Unlimited.
Dry Run Creek is a beautiful stream surrounded by the Ozark Mountains. Tree-lined banks exhibit an array of colors each season, creating one of America’s most picturesque trout streams. However, scenic beauty was not important to Henry McKenzie, a 14-year-old angler from Birmingham, Alabama. He was focused on fooling trout.
Henry laid his fly into a fair current evidenced by oxygenated white-water bubbling over rocks. The black #14 Woolly Bugger
landed just above this disruption of water flow. His short drift brought on a strike— hook set—and a good fight ensued.
The fly-rod bend promised a large trout. The young angler fought the fish well, stripping line like an old timer. The fish turned sideways into the current and then made several straight runs. Wearied, the fourpound rainbow eventually slipped into a net held by Henry’s father, William McKenzie.
“I love Dry Run Creek because it’s easy to fish and a great place for kids to discover
how to use different types of flies,” Henry said. “I have good success on #12 and #16 Chubby Chernobyls, Blue Wing Olives, Rubber Legged Prince Nymphs, Olive Griffith’s Gnat and Psycho Prince Nymphs.”
Dry Run Creek, close to Mountain Home, Arkansas, is a special catch-andrelease stream for properly licensed disabled anglers and anglers under 16 years old. Several million gallons of cold water from Norfork Lake flows daily through the Norfork National Fish Hatchery and into the creek, creating oxygenated water necessary for trout survival.
The creek starts at the hatchery and runs roughly ¾ mile to the Norfork River with high populations of trout. The creek is not wide and rarely deeper than two or three feet. Those able to wade may fish the entire stretch. Only artificial lures with a single, barbless hook may be used.
“I started taking Henry there when he was nine years old after hearing it was the place to teach kids trout fishing,” McKenzie said. “The constant repetition of cast, mend and set allowed me to teach him in a fraction of time it would ordinarily take. I took my daughter, Abigail, to Dry Run Creek when she was 11 years old. By the second day she was casting and landing fish on fly tackle. We live six hours away, but it’s worth the drive. I was on a float trip in Colorado and my guide knew about Dry Run Creek. He, too, introduced his kids to fly fishing there.”
The catch and release rule gives youth the chance to fight a large rainbow or brown trout. Hooking into a big trout is always a possibility in this unique stretch and catches of 8- to-10-pound trout are common. A recent shocking survey found a 14-pound brown and an 11.4-pound rainbow trout. Henry has caught some lunkers from this creek, including a 24-inch brown trout.
Trout move to the moderate-sized stream for natural food like leaches, sow bugs, worms, midges and other insects. Hatchery food, too, slips into the creek, creating more trout forage.
“You can see trout jump out of a nearby small waterfall to get in Dry Run Creek, especially in the fall,” said Jon Casey, Project Leader of Norfolk Fish Hatchery. “They’re swimming out of the Norfork River. Larger fish stay in the stream.”
Trout Unlimited members and Friends of the River play a part in the maintenance
of this special area. For example, sidewalks accessible to kids and people with disabilities were built for easier access.
“Fly anglers, Trout Unlimited members and other volunteers do projects that include repainting boardwalks and other work,” Casey said. “Trout Unlimited volunteers weed-eat the bank several times a year. They have discussed putting in another set of steps down to the creek to control foot traffic and avoid wearing down the grass while trying to keep the area natural as possible.”
The creek is governed by the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission. Biologists periodically use hand-carried shockers to determine species weight and size for fish surveys.
“No records are kept of how many kids visit the stream annually,” Casey said. “But during spring break and other times kids are out of school, traffic is busy and even includes out of state anglers.”
The importance of this small trout stream is immense. A taste of success for young trout anglers could create lifelong enthusiasts that will keep our fishing heritage going in future years. Every state should adopt this type of program.
“Henry asks me to go back to Dry Run Creek every summer, and also in the fall, when big browns come in to spawn,” McKenzie said. “We have built many memories there and it’s truly an important part of our story.”
Exactly what fishing is meant to be.
— Kenneth L. Kieser
The Truchas Chapter College Scholarship Fund was created to recognize academic excellence in the studies of science, technology, engineering and math by college-bound public high school seniors in the greater Santa Fe, N.M., area.
Fabian has maintained a 3.90 grade point average throughout his high school career. He will use his $2,600 scholarship to pursue an electrical engineering degree at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology with a focus on solar energy generation. Fabian was awarded the scholarship today by Truchas Chapter Scholarship Chairman, Michael Jozwiakowski, at a school-wide student assembly. Monte Del Sol Charter School also participates in the Truchas Chapter’s Trout in the Classroom program.
For more information about the Trout Unlimited Truchas Chapter, our College Scholarship program, or Trout in the Classroom, please contact John Hanasack at 505-918-2275 or sportsman714@gmail.com.
TU Truchas Chapter’s Scholarship Chairman, Michael Jozwiakowski, awards Monte Del Sol Charter School senior, Fabian Larranaga, with the chapter’s Inaugural College Scholarship, March 11, 2024.
[ By Jeff Yates ] Director of Volunteer Operations
T“Do
Simple Ways You Can Make a Difference
rout Unlimited runs on the passion and energy of the thousands of members and supporters who volunteer each year to make a difference for their home waters, support national initiatives and help us grow our conservation community. Internally, we talk about this as “One TU,” the union of local, grassroots efforts pulling on the same rope as our national staff and programs to marry the expertise of a national organization with the deeply embedded community knowledge at the local level to scale up our work as no other conservation organization can.
Join us this year, and turn One TU on it’s head by committing to “Do 1 Thing for TU” this year. Whether big or small, local or national, the most important thing is to find ways to connect and give back that are meaningful to you!
To help you get started, here are some of the most common ways to make a difference beyond making a donation:
Attend a Local Event: Simply turn up at an event near you, whether a trash cleanup, fishing trip, social activity or more, you’re sure to have a good time, meet people who share your passion and feel more connected than ever to our mission. (tu.org/events)
Shout for Trout: Limited for time, but interested in making your voice for cold, clean rivers and streams heard? Look through our advocacy campaigns and find one (or more) that resonate with you, then submit a comment with our easy-to-use tools. (standup.tu.org)
Plant a Tree: Leave a multi-generational impact on a local river by helping plant a tree planting with your chapter and local partners like land trusts, garden clubs, parks departments and more. Find community sites along rivers in your community then marshal the partners to restore the riparian buffer. (tu.org/trees)
Join a Local Committee: Have a unique skill, or a passion for a specific area of our work, and the time to help bring it to life locally? Connect with your local chapter and offer to join a committee like conservation, youth education, science, advocacy etc… to lend your time and talent in your own back yard. (tu.org/chapters)
Take a Kid Fishing: Spark the joy of being outdoors and learning about the life and ecosystem along a local river by getting a kid, grandkid or neighbor out on the water. Or connect with your chapter and local youth-serving organizations and host a youth fishing day, or develop a youth angling mentor program. (tu.org/headwaters)
Recruit a New Member: Growing our community is one of the best ways to increase our impact to care for and recover the rivers and streams we all love. Get your friends and family on board by encouraging them to sign up (tu.org/join)
Be as Stream Scientist: Track water quality or temperature impacts on a stream you love. Use our smartphone tools to map and document habitat impairments or barriers to fish passage to help drive our conservation work. Explore the range of tools we offer volunteers to collect critical data and find one that fits your schedule and interest. (tu.org/communityscience)
Plan a Trash Cleanup: Have a stretch of local water you love that constantly has trash strewn about? There’s nothing easier or more meaningful than getting the gang together to clean up a local resource. Be sure to connect with your local chapter for support. (tu.org/trash)
Help us track the impact as you take action this year. Let us know your “Do 1 Thing for TU” pledge by tagging #TUVolunteer and mentioning @troutunlimited in your social posts. Be sure to post photos and stories that inspire more action in your community and across the country!
Whatever you choose to do—your time and investment in our mission makes a difference. Thank you!
For more than 60 years, the monthly chapter meeting model has served as the cornerstone of our in-person, local community events.
Times have changed, lives are busier than ever and technology has created alternatives to the community need your local meetings used to serve. Chapters that have adapted to and diversified their event offerings are seeing a resurgence of energy and excitement in their membership. Those that have yet to make the shift are, simply put, struggling to survive and remain relevant.
As your chapter heads into another year of events and activities, consider diversifying your calendar and adding more than a handful of changes to attract new people and liven up your events using some of the tactic below:
Move the Mountain: Don’t make people continue to come to you at one location, once a month, on a weeknight. Look for venues in other towns and move events around to be close to different members throughout the year. Schedule some of your events on weekends, which may be more accessible to families or those commuting for work.
Shake up the Schedule: Mix it up with event types and toss in some local fishing trips, hands-on volunteer activities or simply social opportunities to connect as a community. Think about who you are hoping to attract as an audience and plan events that are attractive to them and serve their interests.
Prepare to Promote: Don’t just rely on a once-a-month email to existing members to grow your reach. Plan your events at least three months out—if not longer—and get those events out in front of the people you are looking to connect with as far in advance as possible. Invest in more than just a digital touch and send out postcards to members, hang flyers on community bulletin boards around town and ask your partners to spread the word to their networks as well.
Find more engagement and event planning resources and ideas to spice up your chapter calendar in the Tacklebox (tu.org/tacklebox).
If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll never get there.
ctively investing in a thoughtful and strategic approach to your chapter’s growth is key to the success of your local chapter or state council. Setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound) and sticking to them over the course of the year is the best way for your board to move the needle. Each chapter or state council is unique, but some of the most common goals and ways to achieve them are universal:
Member rosters and member change reports are available to all TU volunteers in the Leaders Only Section. If your goal is to grow your membership, identify where your members will come from, how you will reach and recruit them, and set a quantifiable—but reasonable—goal for growth. Then track your progress monthly and make adjustments to your strategy throughout the year.
Recruit New Leaders
Bench strength is a big part of chapter and council success and the simple fact is that people volunteer for two main reasons: 1) They have a specific interest or passion; 2) Someone they know asks them to step up. To expand your talent pool, invest time in building relationships with your most active members, find out what they are most interested in, then ask them to serve in a volunteer position that meets your needs, aligns with your goals and matches their interests.
What waters matter the most to your chapter and members? What are the impairments facing your local waters? What knowledge do you need, tools can you access and resources can you muster to make a difference? When looking to grow your impact, it’s often important to first assess your current status and skills to identify gaps in capacity before investing in conservation.
Connect with your Volunteer Operations staff and tune into our in-person and online training opportunities (tu.org/training).
Send us a 300-500 word write up on your projects and events along with a photo or two and you could see your chapter in the pages of TROUT. Send your submission to Samantha. Carmichael@tu.org.
BY CHRISTINE PETERSON
There’s a river that slices through Wyoming that your dad and I have been fishing since well before you were born. It runs clean and clear, sometimes lazy and sometimes fast and boiling as it rushes over, around and between granite boulders the size of refrigerators, Volkswagens and even semi-trucks. For hundreds of millions of years its water has been slicing through the canyon, inching lower and lower into the ground and making those standing in its shallows feel tiny and insignificant.
A friend took us there for the first time on a frigid winter day, when the truck thermometer read 16 degrees, but 40 mph gusts dropped the wind temperature well below zero. It was one of those mornings when eyelets froze solid every two or three casts, and I wasn’t sure I would ever feel my fingers again after I pulled my hook out of the curved jaw of my first brown trout.
We’ve been coming back ever since, even though it’s about five hours from home. It’s the hardest river we fish, one with steep, rocky banks concealing patches of poison ivy that lead to finicky brown, rainbow and cutthroat trout. I’ve caught some of the biggest trout of my life in its waters and been skunked more times than any other river. Your dad loves it here. I love and hate it.
I love that it’s sacred water to the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, that we buy special licenses for the privilege to fish there, and that we’ll only ever be visitors. I love how I feel like I have to earn every glimpse of a red spot or pink stripe. I hate how I have to watch my back cast, and I hate the hours I’ve spent fishing flies out of junipers and sage brush. I love that we know fat, healthy trout swim in these waters including hungry
brown trout that biologists say could be 30 inches long ready to slurp frantic mice from the surface near the bank. And if I’m honest with myself, I hate that I know the river contains 30-inch brown trout.
I love how mallards and buffleheads sound like missiles as they follow the river upstream, racing along passing cars at 30 or even 40 mph. Your dad thrives on the possibility of a fish of a lifetime. I don’t always have the patience for it. But that’s ok, some rivers are meant to teach us patience. Some rivers are meant to keep us from getting complacent, to make us try another fly, and then another, and then another, to keep us moving up and down its banks, and to make us stand and stare into the water, hoping to catch a glimpse of what we know must be there.
You technically came here for the first time in my belly. I was barely pregnant, not willing to tell anyone about the clump of cells inside of me or how I told those cells about a river that had the ability to frustrate and amaze. You came back almost exactly a year later, when you were 5 months old. There’s a picture of me fishing in an oversize coat as snow flies around. No one would
know all 10 pounds of you were tucked under that coat nestled next to my chest. I told you more about the river that day, about the time a bald eagle slammed into a mallard behind your dad and I as we fished, and about the rattlesnake that struck at your dad’s wading boot as he fought a brown trout to the banks. I told
Some rivers are meant to keep us from getting complacent, to make us try another fly, and then another, and then another, to keep us moving up and down its banks, and to make us stand and stare into the water, hoping to catch a glimpse of what we know must be there.
you about that cicada hatch when I caught trout after trout with the casting finesse of a peewee quarterback, and about the fish I watched follow and then strike my fly after a day of no bites only to realize the hook had broken off.
You still haven’t fished here much, but you’ve spent plenty of time playing on ice
in the winter and splashing in shallow pools in summer. I’m not sure you’d have the patience right now to cast and strip a heavy streamer over and over for hours. But you’re also only 7 years old, the perfect age for catching panfish in a pond on a hot summer day or hungry brook trout in a fall mountain stream.
We’ll keep coming back, though, and keep telling you stories about wild trout we know must swim in the river. And maybe one day you’ll ask to cast a line and form your own relationship with that stretch of wild, finicky water.
Love, Mom
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Property For Sale By Owner - 17.1 acres along the banks of the Beaverkill River - one of the most iconic trout streams in the U.S. The property features 3 auxiliary buildings (including a 3-story barn), a pond for stocking trout, a brook with an outlet to the Beaverkill, an orchard and two meadows. The bluestone foundation from the original farmhouse serves as a perfect location to build a custom residence.
With the purchase of the property, the owner is entitled to an individual membership at the Beaverkill Stream Club which provides 4 miles of private river rights in perpetuity on the Beaverkill for fly fishing; as well as a membership option to the Beaverkill Mountain Club with access to about 65 miles of scenic trails. In addition, the property benefits from a local conservation easement that will preserve the pristine beauty of this unique area for generations to come.
Whether you are looking for a permanent residence, or a vacation home, this is a rare opportunity to own a tranquil, private country property in the Catskills, just two hours outside of New York City. Send inquiries to beaverkill.farm1@gmail.com
4-piece bamboo flyrods handmade with bamboo ferrules. cgbamboorods.com chuck-g@comcast.net”
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Sermons in Stones - Tales of family, friends, and flyfishing by David Ammons is a collection of eighteen beautifully crafted short stories on the author’s life experiences in a “mountain wilderness carved by a river”. Five-star rated on Amazon! Visit www.puremountainliving.com
WEST VIRGINIA: GO TROUT FISHING by TU Life Members. WV is home to some of the most wild and wonderful trout streams in the US! Find your next trout fishing destination at GoTroutFishing.com Fly or Spin Rods Veteran Owned www.stanleycanyon.com james.a.boyless@stanleycanyon.com
Tributaries: Fly-fishing Sojourns to the Less Traveled Streams: “We’re recommending it because we think it’s the coolest concentration of Pennsylvania(and a bit Catskill-) centric short essays we’ve read.” – Trout magazine. Visit www.coastforkpress.com
Full Circle by David Van Lear is a book of short stories about adventures had during a lifetime of fishing, mostly fly fishing, including being treed by a mother grizzly in Yellowstone and nearly falling to his death when he tried to climb down into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison---don’t try it! The author has dealt with a mild form of bipolar disorder called cyclothymia most of his life and used fishing as a positive addiction to help stabilize his mood swings and have a productive and happy life. Van Lear is a life member of Trout Unlimited and received their Distinguished Service Award in 2010 for leading his chapter’s efforts to restore stream habitat and helping to bring back the brook trout to South Carolina’s headwater streams. Available at Amazon for $11.99.
FLY FISHING THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES: Small Streams & Wild Places by TU Life Member Paul Downing. Covers Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Available at Amazon.com. Special Club Discount$20/ppd. Contact majesticpress@aol.com.
ART
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Reach more than 150,000 anglers for just $2.25/word ($2.05/word for members). Send text of ad and payment to:
TROUT Classifieds
1777 North Kent Street, Suite 100 Arlington, Virginia 22209
Ads may be faxed to (703)284-9400 or e-mailed to samantha.carmichael@tu.org
Classifieds must be prepaid. Count phone number, fax number, ZIP code, street number, abbreviations and email or website address as one word each.
Summer Deadline: June 29, 2024.
To request a media kit for display advertising, call (703)284-9422
Fish Em, LLC
3 Rivers Fly and Tackle Wasilla, AK 99654 (907) 373-5434 staff.3riversflyandtackle@gmail.com www.3riversflyandtackle.com
Alaskan Angling Adventures LLC.
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Alaska Drift Away Fishing
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Alaska Fly Fishing Goods
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Alaskan Remote Adventures Ryan Kocherhans St. George, UT 84770 (801) 725-1025 info@alaskanremoteadventures.com www.alaskanremoteadventures.com
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Brian Kraft Kvichak River – Lake Iliamna, AK (907) 227-8719
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Alaska Trout Guides
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Alaska Troutfitters
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Trout Unlimited Business members are TU ambassadors in protecting, restoring, reconnecting and sustaining North America’s coldwater fisheries. To become a TU Business member contact Zack Dingus at (571) 919-8083 or Zachary.Dingus@tu.org.
Outfitters Guides Lodges
Chosen River Outfitters
Alaska’s Bearclaw Lodge
Rob Fuentes
Dillingham, AK 99576 (907) 843-1605 info@bearclawlodge.com www.bearclawlodge.com
Alaska’s Fishing Unlimited, Inc. Dave Tyson Port Alsworth, AK 99653 (262) 515-3714 (WI – Dave) info@alaskalodge.com www.alaskalodge.com
Alaska’s Wild River Guides
John Jinishian Dillingham, AK 99576 (203) 247-9070
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Alaska Wild Caught
Seafood
Matthew Luck
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Aleutian Rivers Angling Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 pat@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
Angler's Alibi
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Lakeview Outfitters
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Lost Boys Fishing LLC
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Wilkinson Wealth Management
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Jordan Carter Anchorage, AK 99507 (907) 830-9545 jcarterflyfishing@gmail.com www.outgoingangling.com
GOLD LEVEL
Pride of Bristol Bay
Steve and Jenn Kurian Bloomsburg, PA 17815 (570) 387-0550 contact@prideofbristolbay.com www.prideofbristolbay.com
Rainbow King Lodge Iliamna, AK 99606 800-458-6539 info@rainbowking.com www.rainbowking.com
Rainbow River Lodge Chad Hewitt Iliamna, AK 99606 (503) 720-5063 chad@rainbowriverlodge.com www.rainbowriverlodge.com
Royal Coachman Lodge
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Tikchik Narrows Lodge Bud Hodson Anchorage, AK 99522 (907) 243-8450 info@tikchik.com www.tikchiklodge.com
Undisclosed Excursions, LLC
Ethan Welch Juneau, AK 99801 (907) 982-9674 undisclosedexcursions@gmail.com www.flyfishjuneau.com
Wilderness Place Lodge
Jason Rockvam/Cory Wendt Anchorage, AK 99519 (907) 733-2051 wildernessplacelodge@gmail.com www.wildernessplacelodge.com
Arizona Flycasters
Gene Hechler Phoenix, AZ 85016 (520) 203-4140 president@azflycasters.org www.azflycasters.org
AZ Fly Shop
Chris Rich Phoenix, AZ 85032 (602) 354-8881 info@azflyshop.com www.azflyshop.com
Lees Ferry Anglers Marble Canyon, AZ 86036 (800) 962-9755 anglers@leesferry.com www.leesferry.com
Dally’s Ozark Fly Fisher Steve Dally Cotter, AR 72626 (870) 435-6166 info@theozarkflyfisher.com www.theozarkflyfisher.com
Freedom Fire Pro Michael Cormier Rogers, AR 72756 (479) 631-6363 mcormier@freefirepro.com www.freefirepro.com
JFLY
Jake Flood Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 351-0555 gofish@jflyfish.com www.jflyfish.com
McLellan's Fly Shop Fayetteville, AR 72703 (479) 251-7037 info@mcflyshop.com www.mcflyshop.comvi
Natural State Fly Shop
Jane Hatchet Cotter, AR 72626 (870) 471-9111 (870) 321-2792 (Cell) flyfishcotter@gmail.com www.naturalstateflyshop.com
Peglar Real Estate Group
Matt Hershberger Mountain Home, AR 72653 (870) 405-4144 matt@peglarrealestate.com www.peglarrealestate.com
The White River Inn
Steven Sonnamaker Cotter, AR 72626 (870) 430-2233 info@thewhiteriverinn.com www.thewhiteriverinn.com
White River Trout Lodge
Jo Anna Smith Cotter, AR 72626 (870) 430-5229 info@whiteriverlodge.com www.whiteriverlodge.com
Bix Restaurant and Supper Club
Douglas Biederbeck San Francisco, CA 94133 info@bixrestaurant.com www.bixrestaurant.com
Buff, Inc.
Kevin Walker Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (707) 583-8995 customerservice@buffusa.com www.buffusa.com
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Confluence Outfitters
Andrew Harris Red Bluff, CA 96080 (530) 632-3465 andrew@confluenceoutfitters.com www.confluenceoutfitters.com
FishMammoth
Jim Elias Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546 (760) 582-2195 jim@fishmammoth.com www.fishmammoth.com
Fly Fishers Club of Orange County
Brian Mayer Santa Ana, CA 92711-3005 (562) 619-9169 bdmayer@hotmail.com www.ffcoc.org
GOLD LEVEL
The Fly Shop
Terry Jepsen Redding, CA 96002 (530) 222-3555 terry@theflyshop.com www.theflyshop.com
Merriam Vineyards
Peter Merriam Healdsburg, CA 95448 peter@merriamvineyards.com www.merriamvineyards.com
Mongolia River Outfitters/Fish Mongolia
Michael Caranci Palo Cedro, CA 96073 (530) 604-2160 michael@mongoliarivers.com www.mongoliarivers.com www.fishmongolia.com
Mountain Hardware and Sports Bran Nylund Truckee, CA 96160 (530) 587-4844 Brian.nylund@yahoo.com www.mountainhardwareandsports. com
Rodney Strong Vineyards
Kim Sayre Healdsburg, CA 95448-9523 (800) 678-4763 www.rodneystrong.com
Trout Creek Outfitters
Miles Zimmerman & Scotty Koper Truckee, CA 96161 (530)563-5119 info@troutcreekoutfitters.com www.troutcreekoutfitters.com
Wild on the Fly Adventure Travel Kevin Bell Fullerton, CA 92833 (800) 543-0282 marriotts@wildonthefly.com www.wildonthefly.com
COLORADO
5280 Angler
Jay Baichi Arvada, CO 80004 (720) 450-7291 info@5280angler.com www.5280angler.com
8200 Mountain Sports
Joel Condren South Fork, CO 81154 (719) 873-1977 (800) 873-1977 info@8200sports.com www.8200mountainsports.com
Abel Reels
Jeff Patterson Montrose, CO 81401 (970) 249-0606 info@abelreels.com www.abelreels.com
AGORA Search Group
Rob Lauer
Colorado Springs, CO 80919 (719) 219-0360 info@agorasearchgroup.com www.agorasearchgroup.com
AirFlo USA
Jeff Patterson Montrose, CO 81401 (970) 249-0606 jeff@ablereels.com www.airflousa.com
Alpacka Raft Mancos, CO 81328 (970) 533-7119 workshop@alpackaraft.com www.alpackaraft.com
Alpine Bank Battlement Mesa
Anne Kellerby Parachute, CO 81635 annekellerby@alpinebank.com
An Angler’s Bookcase
Craig and Catherine Douglass South Fork, CO 81154 (719) 221-9027 books@ananglersbookcase.com www.aabks.com
GOLD LEVEL
Angler’s Covey
David Leinweber
Colorado Springs, CO 80904 (719) 471-2984 info@anglerscovey.com www.anglerscovey.com
Angling Trade Magazine
Tim Romano Boulder, CO 80304 (303) 495-3967 tim@anglingtrade.com www.anglingtrade.com
Aspen Outfitting Company
Jarrod Hollinger Aspen, CO 81611 (970) 925-3406 contact@aspenoutfitting.com www.aspenoutfitting.com
AvidMax
Cory Anderson Centennial, CO 80112 (866) 454-5523 customerservice@avidmax.com www.avidmax.com
Big Trout Brewing Company
Tom and Emily Caldwell Winter Park, CO 80482 (970) 363-7362 bigtroutbrewing@gmail.com www.bigtroutbrewing.com
Black Canyon Anglers
Matt Bruns Austin, CO 81410 (970) 835-5050 info@blackcanyonanglers.com www.blackcanyonanglers.com
Coldwell Banker Realty
Erin Hoover, Realtor Evergreen, CO, 80439 (303) 668-3625 erin@erinmhoover.com www.erinmhoover.com
GOLD LEVEL
Cutthroat Anglers
Ben McCormick Silverthorne, CO 80498 (970) 262-2878 anglers@fishcolorado.com www.fishcolorado.com
DiscountFlies
Chris Nielsen Castle Rock, CO 80108 (303) 741-4221 support@discountflies.com www.discountflies.com
Drifthook Fly Fishing
Matthew Bernhardt Westminster, CO 80021 (773) 359-3474 info@drifthook.com www.drifthook.com
Duranglers Flies & Supplies
John Flick and Tom Knopick Durango, CO 81301 (970) 385-4081 duranglers@duranglers.com www. duranglers.com
Fishpond, Inc.
Ben Kurtz Denver, CO 80223-1346 (303) 534-3474 benkurtz@fishpondusa www.fishpondusa.com
FlowMap
Keny Whitright Colorado Springs, CO 80919 (719) 310-9426 keny@wybron.com www.crossroadmotorsport.com
FlyWater, Inc.
Corey Engen Fort Collins, CO 80524 (970) 217-3182 corey@flywater.com www.flywater.com
GOLD LEVEL
Freestone Aquatics, Inc.
Clint Packo Littleton, CO 80127 (303) 807-7805 clint@freestoneaquatics.com www.freestoneaquatics.com
Front Range Anglers
Antonio Rodriguez Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 494-1375 antonio@frontrangeanglers.com www.frontrangeanglers.com
The Guide Network
Ethan Whitson Golden, CO 80401 ethan@theguidenetwork.com www.theguidenetwork.com
JP Fly Fishing Specialties
James Pushchak (719) 275-7637 Canon City, CO, 81212 jamespushchak@gmail.com www.jpflyfish.com
L4 Construction
Matt Lamar Greeley and Lyons, CO 80540 (970) 628-0047 mlamar@l4construction.com www.l4construction.com
LoKation Real Estate
Libby Earthman Longmont, CO 80501 (720) 487-3126 libby@libbyearthman.com www.libbyearthman.com
Maia Wealth
Mark Candler Denver, CO 80202 (720) 644-8803 info@maiawealth.com www.maiawealth.com
Map the Xperience
Dan Bryant Edwards, CO 81632 (888) 306-9580 dan@mtxp.net www.mapthexperience.com
Montrose Anglers
Nolan Egbert Montrose, CO 81401 (970) 249-0408 nolan@montroseanglers.com www.montroseanglers.com
North Fork Ranch
Hayley Horner Shawnee, CO 80475 (303) 838-9873 info@northforkranch.com www.northforkranch.com
North Fork Ranch Guide Service
Jeff Poole Shawnee, CO 80475 (303) 478-1349 info@nfrgs.com www.northforkranchguideservice.com onWater Fly Fishing
Patrick Straub Louisville, CO 80027 team@onwaterapp.com www.onwaterapp.com
QuietKat, Inc. Logan Holtz Eagle, CO 81631 logan@quietkat.com www.quietkat.com
RadoWear
Bret Ehret Littleton, CO 80128 (502) 409-3428 radowear@gmail.com www.radowear.com
Rainbow Falls Mountain Trout
Richard Johnson Woodland Park, CO 80866 (719) 687-8690 rainbowfallsmt@yahoo.com www.rainbowfallsmt.com
Ramble Outdoors, Inc. Matt Oesterle Golden, CO 80401-5608 Matt.Oesterle@gmail.com www.ramble.camp GOLD LEVEL
RepYourWater
Garrison and Corinne Doctor Erie, CO 80516 (303) 717-0267 customerservice@repyourwater.com www.repyourwater.com
RIGS Fly Shop & Guide Service Ridgway, CO 81432 (970) 626-4460 info@fishrigs.com www.fishrigs.com Riversmith John Koza Boulder, CO 80301 (888) 795-1483 info@riversmith.com www.riversmith.com
Ross Reels
Jeff Patterson Montrose, CO 81401 (970) 249-0606 customersupport@rossreels.com www.rossreels.com
The San Juan Angler Cole Glenn Durango, CO 81301 (970) 382-9978 sanjuanangler@gmail.com www.thesanjuanangler.com
Scheels All Sports Johnstown, CO 80534 (970) 663-7800 communitycolorado@scheels.com www.scheels.com/johnstown
She’s Fly Ft. Collins, CO 80524 (970) 682-4704 info@shesfly.com www.shesfly.com
St. Peter’s Fly Shop –South Ft. Collins, CO 80524 (970) 498-8968 shop@stpetes.com www.stpetes.com
Scott Fly Rods Montrose, CO 81401-6302 (970) 249-3180 info@scottflyrod.com www.scottflyrod.com
Seek Outside Dennis Poirier Grand Junction, CO 81504 (970) 208-8108 info@seekoutside.com www.seekoutside.com
SET Fly Fishing
Kevin Landon Denver, CO 80247 (720) 425-6270 kevin@setflyfishing.com www.setflyfishing.com
Steamboat Flyfisher
John Spillane Steamboat Springs, CO (970) 879-6552 johnnyspillane@gmail.com www.steamboatflyfisher.com
Telluride Angler
John Duncan Telluride, CO 81435 (970) 728-3895 fun@tellurideoutside.com www.tellurideoutside.com
The Broadmoor Fly Fishing
Camp Scott Tarrant Colorado Springs, CO 80906 (719) 476-6800 rbabas@broadmoor.com www.broadmoor.com
The Next Eddy Sarah Briam Salida, CO 81201 (719) 530-3024 info@thenexteddy.com www.thenexteddy.com
Umpqua Russ Miller Louisville, CO 80027 (303) 567-6696 Umpqua@umpqua.com www.umpqua.com
UpRiver Fly Fishing
Andrew Maddox Buena Vista, CO 81211 (719) 395-9227 shop@upriverflyfishing.com www.upriverflyfishing.com
Uncompahgre River RV Park
Mark Hillier Olathe, CO 81425 (970) 323-8706 info@urrvp.com www.urrvp.com
GOLD LEVEL
Upslope Brewing
Henry Wood Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 396-1898 henry@upslopebrewing.com www.upslopebrewing.com
Volpe Law LLC
Ben Volpe Parker, CO 80138 (720) 441-3328 ben@volpelawllc.com www.volpelawllc.com
Western Anglers
Ned Mayers Grand Junction, CO 81501 (970) 244-8658 info@westernanglers.com www.westernanglers.com
Willowfly Anglers
Three Rivers Resort Almont, CO 81210 (970) 641-1303 fish@3riversresort.com www.3riversresort.com
Wolf Creek Anglers, LLC
Brad Shallenberger South Fork, CO 81154 (719) 873-1414 info@wolfcreekanglers.com www.wolfcreekanglers.com Zen Tenkara/Zen Fly Fishing Gear Karin Miller Loveland, CO 80538 (970) 412-8392 (844) TENKARA zenflyfishingear@gmail.com www.zenflyfishinggear.com www.zentenkara.com
Interior Federal Credit Union Washington, DC 20240 Reston, VA 20192 (800) 914-8619 info@interiorfcu.org www.interiorfcu.org
Wampold Strategies Merv Wampold, Jr. Washington, DC 20002 (202) 258-6182 merv@wampoldstrategies.com www.wampoldstrategies.com
Acme Monaco Corporation Lucas Karabin New Britain, CT 06052 (860) 224-1349 acmecorp@acmemonaco.com www.acmemonaco.com
Cross Current Insurance Group Pete Sconzo Farmington, CT 06032 (833) 553-2244 pete@crosscurrentinsurance.com www.crosscurrentinsurance.com
J. Stockard Fly Fishing Kent, CT 06757 (877) 359-8946 service@jsflyfishing.com www.jsflyfishing.com
Old Riverton Inn
Adam Towers Riverton, CT 06065-1016 adamtowers2018@gmail.com www.rivertoninn.com
FLORIDA
Outpost On The Nush
Dave Pishko Bonita Springs, FL 34134 info@outpostonthenush.com www.outpostonthenush.com
GEORGIA
GOLD LEVEL
Alpharetta Outfitters
Jeff Wright Alpharetta, GA 30009 (678) 762-0027 shop@alpharettaoutfitters.com www.alpharettaoutfitters.com
GOLD LEVEL
Atlanta Fly Fishing
School
Mack Martin Cumming, GA 30040 (770) 889-5638
mack@mackmartin.com
www.atlantaflyfishingschool.com
Escape to Blue Ridge LLC, Blue Ridge, GA
Pamela Miracle Alpharetta, GA 30023 (866) 618-2521 (706) 413-5321 pamela@escapetoblueridge.com www.EscapetoBlueRidge.com
Hulsey Fly Fishing
David and Rebecca Hulsey Blue Ridge, Georgia 30513 (770) 639-4001 (706) 838-4252 info@hulseyflyfishing.com www.hulseyflyfishing.com
Noontootla Creek Farms
Emily Owenby Blue Ridge, GA 30513 (706) 838-0585 (voice) (706) 809-6055 (text) emily@ncfga.com www.ncfga.net
North Georgia Trout Fishing, LLC
Joe DiPietro Blue Ridge, GA 30513 (706) 851-4001
FanninTrout@gmail.com www.NorthGeorgiaTroutFishing.com
Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods
William Oyster Blue Ridge, GA 30513 (706) 897-1298
shannen@oysterbamboo.com www.oysterbamboo.com
Reel Em In Guide Service
James Bradley Ellijay, GA 30536 (706) 273-0764 jbradley@ellijay.com www.reeleminguideservice.com
River Through Atlanta Guide Service
Chris Scalley Roswell, GA 30075 (770) 650-8630 chrisscalley@bellsouth.net www.riverthroughatlanta.com
SweetWater Brewing Company
Brian Miesieski Atlanta, GA 30324 (404) 691-2537 info@sweetwaterbrew.com www.sweetwaterbrew.com
GOLD LEVEL
Unicoi Outfitters
Jake Darling Helen, GA 30545 (706) 878-3083 flyfish@unicoioutfitters.com www.unicoioutfitters.com
Unicoi Outfitters General Store
Jake Darling Clarkesville, GA 30523 (706) 754-0203 flyfish@unicoioutfitters.com www.unicoioutfitters.com
HAWAII
Alagnak Lodge Anthony Behm Honolulu, HI 96825 (808) 227-9301 tonybehm@alagnaklodge.com www.AlagnakLodge.com
GOLD LEVEL
Alaska Wild Caught Seafood
Matthew Luck Ketchum, ID 83340 (208) 720-4226
matt@alaskawildcaughtseafood.net www.alaskawildcaughtseafood.net
The Bent Rod Outdoors
Greg and Cheri Webster Challis, ID 83226 (208) 879-2500 thebentrod@custertel.net www.thebentrod.com
Elevate Fly Fishing
Trevor Sheehan Boise, ID 83703 (208) 514-7788 trevor@elevateflyfishing.com www.elevateflyfishing.com
Henry’s Fork Anglers
Mike Lawson Island Park, ID, 83429 (208) 558-7525 info@henrysforkanglers.com www.henrysforkanglers.com
Henry’s Fork Lodge
Jamie Short Island Park, ID 83429 (208) 558-7953 info@henrysforklodge.com www.henrysforklodge.com
The Lodge at Palisades Creek
Justin Hays Irwin, ID 83428 (866) 393-1613 palisades@tlapc.com www.tlapc.com
The McCall Angler
Reba Brinkman McCall, ID 83638 (208) 315-6445 info@themccallangler.com www.themccallangler.com
Northwest Outfitters
Mike Beard Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 (208) 667-2707 info@nwoutfitters.com www.nwoutfitters.com
Northwest River Supplies, Inc. (NRS) Mark Deming Moscow, ID 83843 (877) 677-4327 service@nrs.com www.nrs.com
Quadrant Consulting Steve Sweet Boise, ID 83705 (208) 342-0091 steve@quadrant.cc www.quadrant.cc
RIO Products Idaho Falls, ID 83402 (800) 553-0838 rio@rioproducts.com www.rioproducts.com
RIVHAB Engineering Design
Jeanne McFall Eagle, ID 83616 (208) 401-6129 jeanne@rivhab.net www.rivhab.net
Silver Creek Outfitters
Terry Ring Ketchum, ID 83340 (208) 726-5282 office@silver-creek.com www.silver-creek.com
South Fork Lodge & Outfitters
Zach Peyton / Guide Manager Swan Valley, ID 83449 (208) 483-2112 fish@southforklodge.com www.southforklodge.com
StreamTech Boats
Link Jackson Boise, ID 83703 (208) 869-7384 info@streamtechboats.com www.streamtechboats.com
Tight Line Media
Kris Millgate Idaho Falls, ID 83405-0242 (208) 709-0309 kris@tightlinemedia.com www.tightlinemedia.com
Trout Jousters, LLC
Travis Swartz Meridian, ID 83646 (208) 283-1780 travis@troutjousters.com www.hankpatterson.com
GOLD LEVEL
WorldCast Anglers
Mike Dawkins Victor, ID 83455 (800) 654-0676 gofish@worldcastanglers.com www.worldcastanglers.com
The Kelley Group Co.
Chris Kelley Hull, IA 51239 (712) 746-6500 chris@gotkg.com www.gotkg.com
Pescador on the Fly
Jeff Ditsworth West Des Moines, IA 50266 (515) 240-6774 info@pescadoronthefly.com www.pescadoronthefly.com
Trout Buddy Driftless Guides
Mike Warren
Cross Plains, WI 53528 (608) 792-2521 mjw54601@icloud.com www.TroutBuddy.com
Wilderness Lite LLC
Phillip Hayes Maurice, IA 51036 wildernesslite@gmail.com www.wildernesslitefloattubes.com
Great Blue Heron Outdoors
Robert Marsh Lawrence, KS 66044 (785) 856-5656 info@gbh-outdoors.com www.greatblueheronoutdoors.com
Appalachian Mountain Club
Maine Wilderness Lodges
Jenny Ward Greenville, ME 04441 (207) 695-3085 jward@outdoors.org www.outdoors.org
Chandler Lake Camps and Lodge
Jason and Sherry Bouchard North Maine Woods, ME 04732 (207) 731-8938
info@chandlerlakecamps.com www.chandlerlakecamps.com
Eldredge Bros Fly Shop & Guide Service
Jim Bernstein Cape Neddick , ME 03902 (877) 427-9345 info@eldredgeflyshop.com www.eldredgeflyshop.com
HMH Vises
Jon Larrabee Biddeford, ME 04005 T: (207) 729-5200 F: (207) 729-5292 jon@hmhvises.com www.hmhvises.com
Sam Lambert Keller Williams Realty Brunswick, ME 04011 (207) 522-7728 samlambertrealestate@gmail.com
L.L.Bean Inc. Mac McKeever Freeport, ME 04033-0002 (207) 865-4761 www.llbean.com
Rangeley Region Sports Shop
Brett Damm Rangeley, ME 04970 (207) 864-5615 rangeleyflyshop@gmail.com www.rangeleyflyshop.com
Rich Dennison Fly Fishing
Rich Dennison Parkville, MD 21234 (443) 668-3535 richdennisonflyfishing@gmail.com www.richdennisonflyfishing.com
Ecotone, Inc.
Scott McGill Forest Hill, MD 21050 (410) 420-2600 chall@ecotoneinc.com www.ecotoneinc.com
Flys in Disguise
Bryan Donoway Jarrettsville, MD 21084 (443) 567-0663 info@flysindisguise.com www.flysindisguise.com
Resource Restoration Group, LLC Tracys Landing, MD 20779 info@rrgroup.us www.rrgroup.us
Savage River Lodge
Mike Dreisbach Frostburg, MD 21532 (301) 689-3200 mike@savageriverlodge.com www.savageriverlodge.com
MASSACHUSETTS
BlueLines Fly Fishing
Andrew Morgens Sherborn, MA 01770 (508) 330-8080 andrew@bluelinesflyfishing.com www.bluelinesflyfishing.com
Cheeky Fishiing
Ted Upton (339) 707-3017 North Adams, MA 01247 getcheeky@cheekyfishing.com www.cheekyfishing.com
High Hook Oregon Wines
T. Mark Seymour Leverett, MA 01054 (413) 218-0638 mark@fishhookvineyards.com www.fishhookvineyards.com
Krag Silversmith
Wendy O’Neil Stockbridge, MA 01262 wendy@kragsilversmith.com www.kragsilversmith.com
Postfly
Brian Runnals Newbury, MA 01951 brian@postflybox.com www.postflybox.com
Recur Outdoors, Inc.
Brian Runnals Newbury, MA 01951 brunnals@recuroutdoors.com www.recuroutdoors.com
Swift River Fly Fishing
Rick Taupier
New Salem, MA 01355 (413) 230-1262 swiftriverflyfishing@earthlink.com www.swiftriverflyfishing.com
Vedavoo
Scott Hunter Lancaster, MA 01523 (307) 399-0780 campfire@vedavoo.com www.vedavoo.com
Wild Soul River, LLC
Justin Adkins Williamstown, MA 01267 (413) 597-1172 info@wildsoulriver.com www. wildsoulriver.com
Wingo Outdoors
Ted Upton (339) 707-3017 North Adams, MA 01247 info@wingooutdoors.com www.wingooutdoors.com
The Wooden Fly Bart Estes Easthampton, MA 01027 (413) 588-1125 bartestes42@yahoo.com www.etsy.com/shop/TheWoodenFly
MICHIGAN
Au Sable River Guide Service
Captain Tom Quail Lake Orion, MI 48360 (248) 495-2615 ausableriverguideservice@gmail.com www.ausableriverguideservice.com
Country Anglers Jac Ford Saginaw, MI 48609 (989) 280-3238 canglers@aol.com www.countryanglers.com
HFF Custom Rods
Steven Haywood Taylor, MI 48180 stevenh@hffcustomrods.com www.hffcustomrods.com
HomeWaters Real Estate
Chad Brown Traverse City, MI 49686 (231) 258-5309 chad@homewaters.net www.homewaters.net
Indigo Guide Service
Kevin Morlock Branch, MI 49402 (231) 613-5099 indigoguidekevin@gmail.com www.indigoguideservice.com
J. A. Henry Rod and Reel Company
Andrew Mitchell Rockford, MI 49341 j.a.henryusa@gmail.com www.jahenryusa.com
MothBear Outfitters
Tylor Witulski Alpena, MI 49707 (989) 884-3288 www.mothbear.com support@mothbear.com
North Rivers Lodge
Joe Neumann Luther, MI 49656 (231) 266-6014 northriverslodge@gmail.com www.northriverslodge.com
Northern Lights Guide Service
John and Trish Kluesing Baldwin, MI 49304 (231) 745-3792 jtkluesing@gmail.com
Oshki
Jackson Riegler Muskegon, MI 49441 (231) 955-1392 jackson@oshki.us www.oshki.us
PM Trailhead Lodge
Bonnie Price Baldwin, MI 49304 (810) 247-0972
pmtrailheadlodge@gmail.com www.pmtrailheadlodge.com
Red Moose Lodge Cast Away Guide Service
Clint and Debi Anderson Baldwin, MI 49304 (231) 745-6667 info@redmooselodge.com www.redmooselodge.com www.castawayguideservice.com
Salmo Java Roasters Fred Taber Kalamazoo, MI 49048 (269) 806-6829 salmojava@gmail.com https://salmojavaroasters.com/
Steve Lynch Wealth Management
Stephen Lynch Albuquerque, NM, 87110 (888) 881-7526 stephenclynch@aol.com www.stevelynchwealth.com
Upper Peninsula Concrete Pipe Co.
Craig Vanderstelt Escanaba, MI 49829 (906) 786-0934 cvanderstelt@upconcretepipe.net www.upconcretepipe.net
The Driftless Fly Fishing Company Melvin Hayner Preston, MN, 55965-1096 (507) 765-4915 melvin@minnesotaflyfishing.com www.minnesotaflyfishing.com
FlyFishFinder
Andrew Boeddeker Rochester, MN 55901 (507) 363-1715 andrew@flyfishfinder.com www.flyfishfinder.com
Namebini
Carl Haensel and Jade Thomason Duluth, MN 55804 (218) 525-2381 info@namebini.com www.namebini.com
Rose Creek Anglers
Rich Femling Roseville, MN 55113 (763) 807-5878 rich@rose-creek.com www.rose-creek.com
Solid Rock Masonry Eric Moshier Duluth, MN 55803 (218) 343-2978 info@solidrockmasonry.com www.solidrockmasonry.com
Trout Buddy Driftless Guides
Mike Warren La Crosse, WI 54601 (608) 792-2521 mjw54601@icloud.com www.TroutBuddy.com
TroutRoutes
Erik Johnsen Minneapolis, MN 55413 (612) 965-8039 ejohnsen@troutroutes.com www.troutroutes.com
Bob White Studio
Bob White Marine on Saint Croix, MN 55047 (651) 433-4168 bob@bobwhitestudio.com www.bobwhitestudio.com
MONTANA
Alphagraphics Missoula
Troy Peissig Missoula, MT 59801 tpeissig@alphagraphics.com www.alphagraphics.com
Alpine Foot and Ankle Clinic Dr. Gregg Neibauer Missoula, MT 59801 (406) 721-4007 www.alpinefoot.com
Dan Bailey’s Outdoor Company
Dale Sexton Livingston, MT 59047 (406) 222-1673 info@danbaileys.com www.danbaileys.com
Bauer Fly Reels
Jeff Evans
Twin Bridges, MT 59754 (406) 684-5674 jevans@winstonrods.com www.bauerflyreels.org
Beartooth Flyfishing
Dan and Nancy Delekta Cameron, MT 59720 (406) 682-7525 info@beartoothflyfishing.com www.beartoothflyfishing.com
Big Hole Lodge
Craig Fellin Wise River, MT 59762 (406) 832-3252 info@bigholelodge.com www.bigholelodge.com
Bighorn Fly and Tackle Shop
Duane Schreiner Fort Smith, MT 59035 (888) 665-1321 bighornfly@gmail.com www.bighornfly.com
Big Sky Anglers
Justin Spence West Yellowstone, MT 59758 (406) 646-7801 info@bigskyanglers.com www.bigskyanglers.com
GOLD LEVEL
Blackfoot River Outfitters, Inc.
John Herzer and Terri Raugland Missoula, MT 59808 (406) 542-7411 trout@blackfootriver.com www.blackfootriver.com
Casting for Recovery, Inc.
Faye Nelson Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 624-6583 www.castingforrecovery.org info@castingforrecovery.org
CrossCurrents Fly Shop
Chris Strainer Helena, MT 59601 (406) 449-2292 crosscurrentsflyshop@gmail.com www.crosscurrents.com
Eventgroove
Lance Trebesch
Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 600-6321 lance@eventgroove.com www.eventgroove.com
Fay Ranches
Greg Fay Bozeman, MT 59715 406-586-4001 info@fayranches.com www.fayranches.com
Flint Creek Outdoors
Matthew Churchman Philipsburg, MT 59858 (406) 859-9500 matthew@blackfootriver.com www.flintcreekcoutdoors.com
Gallatin River Guides
Mike Donaldson
Big Sky, MT 59716 (406) 995-2290 gallatinriverguides@gmail.com www.montanaflyfishing.com
Gallatin River Lodge
Steve Gamble Bozeman, MT 59718 (888) 387-0148 sgamble@grlodge.com www.grlodge.com
Glacier Anglers
Mike Cooney West Glacier, MT 59936 (406) 888-5454 info@glacierraftco.com www.glacieranglers.net
Grossenbacher Photo
Brian Grossenbacher Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 581-4159 photos@grossenbacherphoto.com www.grossenbacherphoto.com
GOLD LEVEL
Healing Waters Lodge
Mike and Laura Geary Twin Bridges, MT 59754 (406) 684-5960 hwlodge@gmail.com www.hwlodge.com
Hubbard’s Yellowstone Lodge
Nancy Hubbard Emigrant, MT 59027 (406) 848-7755 nancy@hubya.com www.hubbardslodge.com
GOLD LEVEL
Linehan Outfitting Company
Tim Linehan Troy, MT 59935 (800) 596-0034 info@fishmontana.com www.fishmontana.com
Long Outfitting
Matthew A. Long Livingston, MT 59047 (406) 220-6775 info@longoutfitting.com www.longoutfitting.com
Madison Valley Ranch, LLC
Manu Redmond Ennis, MT 59729 (800) 891-6158 mvr@3rivers.net www.madisonvalleyranch.com
LV Wood
James and Tara Caroll Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 624-7273 west@lvwood.com www.lvwood.com
Denny Menholt Honda
Matt Smith Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 587-0761 matts@dennymenholthonda.com www.dennymenholthonda.com
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Brian McGeehan Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 522-9854 business (406) 570-0453 cell brian@montanaangler.com www.montanaangler.com
Montana Angling Company
Max Yzaguirre Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 579-9553 info@montanaanglingco.com www.montanaanglingco.com
Montana Fishing Outfitters
Garrett Munson Helena, MT 59601 (406) 431-5089 heymfo@montanafishingoutfitters.com www.montanafishingoutfitters.com
Montana Fly Company
Jake Chutz Columbia Falls, MT 59912 (406) 892-9112 jake@montanafly.com www.montanafly.com
Montana Fly Fishing Lodge
Lincoln Powers Billings, MT 59106 (406) 780-0015 info@montanaflyfishinglodge.com www.montanaflyfishinglodge.com
Montana Troutfitters
Justin King Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 587-4707 mttrout@troutfitters.com www.troutfitters.com
Montana Trout Stalkers
Joe Dilschneider Ennis, MT 59729 (406) 581-5150 joe@montanatrout.com www.montanatrout.com
P3 Properties
Patrick Pozzi
Missoula, MT 59808 pozzi.patrick@gmail.com
PRO Outfitters
Brandon Boedecker Helena, MT 59624 (406) 442-5489 pro@prooutfitters.com www.prooutfitters.com
Realty ONE Group Peak
Bryan Atwell Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 579-7616
bryan@bryanatwell.com www.bozemanrealtyone.com
The River’s Edge
Dan Lohmiller Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 586-5373
info@theriversedge.com www.theriversedge.com
The River’s Edge West
Dan Lohmiller Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 284-2401 info@theriversedgewest.com www.theriversedge.com
Riverside Anglers, Inc.
Alice Owsley MT Outfitter #9435 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 (406) 640-1698 riversideanglers@gmail.com www.riversideanglers.com
Royal Bighorn Club
Dan Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 dan@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
Ruby Springs Lodge
Paul Moseley Sheridan, MT 59749 (406) 842-5250 info@rubyspringslodge.com www.rubyspringslodge.com
Dan Rust State Farm Insurance
Dan Rust Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 587-8287
dan.rust.b60w@statefarm.com
School of Trout
Todd Tanner Bigfork, MT 59911 (406) 792-5545 finn@schooloftrout.com www.schooloftrout.com
Simms Diane Bristol Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 585-3557 info@simms.com www.simmsfishing.com
Skwala Fishing Rich Hohne Bozeman, MT 59715 (833) 523-1500 rich@skwalafishing.com www.skwalafishing.com
Stillwater Anglers Outfitters
Chris Fleck Columbus, MT 59109 (406) 322-4977 info@stillwateranglers.com www.stillwateranglers.com
Stockman Bank – Bozeman
Paul Pahut Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 556-4100 paul.pahut@stockmanbank.com www.stockmanbank.com
Stockman Bank – Missoula
Bob Burns Missoula, MT 59801 (406) 258-1401 bburns@stockmanbank.com www.stockmanbank.com
Sweetwater Fly Shop
Dan Gigone Livingston, MT 59047 (406) 222-9393 dan@sweetwaterflyshop.com www.sweetwaterflyshop.com
Sweetwater Travel Company
Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 dan@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
TicketPrinting.com
Lance Trebesch Bozeman, MT 59715 (888) 771-0809 support@ticketprinting.com www.ticketprinting.com
Total Outfitters
Randy MacLean Lolo, MT 59847 (406) 493-1502 info@total-outfitters.com www.total-outfitters.com
Toyota of Bozeman
Jayden Schaap Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 551-6642 marketing@resslermotors.com www.toyotaofbozemancom
Trail Head & Trail Head River
Sports
Todd Frank Missoula, MT 59807 (406)543-6966 tfrank@trailheadmontana.net www.trailheadmontana.net
Triple-M-Outfitters
Mark Faroni Dixon, MT 59831 (406) 246-3249 mark@triplemoutfitters.com www.triplemoutfitters.com
TroutChasers Lodge and Fly Fishing Outfitters
Jason and Julie Fleury Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 763-9049 jason@montanatroutchasers.com www.montanatroutchasers.com
Trout On The Fly
Nate Stevane Outfitter #8533 Bozeman, MT 59718 (406) 580-7370 nate@montanatroutonthefly.com www.montanatroutonthefly.com TroutRoutes
Zachary Pope Columbia Heights, MN 55421 (612) 965-8039 zpope@troutinsights.com www.troutinsights.com
Trout Scapes River Restoration, LLC
Brian Cowden Bozeman, MT 59715 (201) 230-3383 bcowden@troutscapes.com www.troutscapes.com
Wild Montana Anglers
Mark Fuller Martin City, MT 59926 (406) 261-4343 mark@wildmontanaanglers.com www.wildmontanaanglers.com
Wild Trout Outfitters, Inc.
J.D. Bingman Big Sky, MT 59716 (406) 995-2975 fish@wildtroutoutfitters.com www.wildtroutoutfitters.com
R.L. Winston Rod Company
Adam Hutchison Twin Bridges, MT 59754 (406) 684-5674 ahutchison@winstonrods.com www.winstonrods.com
Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures, LLC Bozeman, MT 59715-4630 (406) 585-8667 info@yellowdogflyfishing.com www.yellowdogflyfishing.com
Yellowstone Fly Fishing Co.
James Pappas Livingston, MT 59047 yellowstonefishingco@gmail.com www.yellowstoneflyfishingco.com
Yellowstone River Outfitters
Brogan Ballard Livingston, MT 59047 (406) 531-1838 yellowstoneriveroutfitters@gmail.com www.yellowstoneriveroutfitters.com
Yellowstone Traditions, Inc. Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 587-0968 info@yellowstonetraditions.com www.yellowstonetraditions.com
NEVADA
Outlaw Rod Company
Anthony Saling Sparks, NV 89431 (775) 636-2945 anthony_saling@yahoo.com www.outlawrodco.com
NEW HAMPSHIRE
American Fly Outfitters
Dan Tilton Winham, NH 03087 info@americanflyoutiffters.com www.americanflyoutfitters.com
Hobbs Brewing Company Ossipee, NH 03814 (603) 539-3795 info@hobbsbeer.com www.hobbsbeer.com
Lopstick Roderick DeGreef Pittsburg, NH 03592 rod@lopstick.com www.lopstick.com
Schilling Beer Company
Jeff Cozzens Littleton, NH 03561 (603) 444-4800 jeff@schillingbeer.com www.schillingbeer.com
Stone River Outfitters 1 State Route 101A, Unit 1 Amherst, NH 03031 (603) 472-3191 (800) 331-8558
sales@stoneriveroutfitters.com www.stoneriveroutfitters.com
Keystone Reclamation Fuel Management LLC Morristown, NJ 07960
Ramsey Outdoor
Marty Brennan Succasunna, NJ 07876 (973) 584-7798
mbrennan@ramseyoutdoor.com www.ramseyoutdoor.com
RoxStar Fishing
Mike James Howell, New Jersey 07731 (973) 704-1323 mike@roxstarfishing.com www.roxstarfishing.com
South Branch Outfitters
Abraham and Lindsey Beates Califon, NJ 07830 (908) 867-8067 info@sboutfitters.com www.sboutfitters.com
Suburban Fly Fishers
Tim Glynn Maplewood, NJ 07040 (973) 220-3031 timothyglynn@verizon.net www.suburbanflyfishers.com
Tightline Productions
Tim and Joan Flagler Califon, NJ 07830 (908) 832-6677 tightlineproductions@comcast.net www.tightlinevideo.com
Chama Trails Motel
Austin and Karlee Phippen Chama, NM 87520 (575) 756-2156 chamatrails@windstream.net www.chamatrailsmotel.com
FishSki Provisions
Rob and Tania McCormack Alcalde, NM 87566 (720) 442-0814 fishski@fishskiprovisions.com www.fishskiprovisions.com
Fly Fishing Outpost Santa Fe, NM 87506 (505) 629-5688 trout@loeflyfishing.com www.flyfishingoutpost.com
Land of Enchantment Guides
Noah Parker Velarde, NM 87582 (505) 629-5688 trout@loeflyfishing.com www.loeflyfishing.com
Questa Economic Development Fund
Lindsay Mapes (575) 586-2149 lindsay@questaedf.com
Rezo Systems
Marc Harell Taos, NM 87571 (505) 603-1342 info@rezosystems.com www.rezosystems.com
Rocky MTN Tenkara
Casey Canfield Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87124 (505) 252-1667 contact@rockymtntenkara.com www.rockymtntenkara.com
A. Rubey Rod Company
Andy Rubey Corrales, NM 87048 (614) 546-7828 andy@rubeyrods.com www.rubeyrods.com
Sitzmark Sports & Lodge
Payton Martinez Red River, NM 87558 payton@sitzmarknm.com www.sitzmarknm.com
Steve Lynch Wealth Management
Stephen Lynch Albuquerque, NM 87110 (505) 881-7526 stephenclynch@aol.com www.stevelynchwealth.com
The Reel Life
Ivan Valdez Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 995-8114 info@thereellife.com www.thereellife.com
Rio Grande del Norte Outfitters, LLC
Chris Michael Questa, NM 87556 (575) 776-6216 hcadventurescm@gmail.com
Facebook: Rio Grande del Norte Outfitters, LLC
Instagram: Rio Grande del Norte Outfitters, LLC
GOLD LEVEL
Taos Fly Shop
Nick Streit Taos, NM 87571 (575) 751-1312 info@taosflyshop.com www.taosflyshop.com
Watershed Artisans
Craig Sponholtz Santa Fe, NM 87505 (505) 577-9625 watershedartisans@gmail.com www.watershedartisans.com
NEW YORK
Black Dog Outdoor Sports
Target Sports
Steve Borst Glenville, New York 12302 (518) 355-8923 www.blackdogsports.com
Douglas Outdoors
David Barclay Phoenix, NY 13135 (315) 695-2000 info@douglasoutdoors.com www.douglasoutdoors.com
Fly on the Water Allen Rupp New York, NY 10023 (872) 205-9211 allen@flyonthewater.com www.flyonthewater.com
Fly Shack, Inc. Michael Bokan Gloversville, NY 12078 (800) 801-2318 info@flyshack.com www.flyshack.com
High Peaks Adirondack Outfitters
Brian and Karen Delaney Lake Placid, NY 12946 (518) 532-3764 info@highpeakscyclery.com www.highpeakscyclery.com
North Flats Guiding
Captain David Blinken East Hampton, NY 10028 (917) 975-0912 northflatsguiding@gmail.com www.northflats.com
Old Souls
James and Tara Caroll Cold Spring, NY 10516 (845) 809-5886 hello@oldsouls.com www.oldsouls.com
Orvis Retail Store–Buffalo Adam Cook Williamsville, NY 14221 (480) 905-1400 cooka@orvis.com www.orvis.com/buffalo
Orvis Retail Store–Rochester Jim Wallace Rochester, NY 14618 (585) 586-3956 Retail-rochestermgr697@orvis.com www.orvis.com/rochester
Remote Control Media
Jordan Harvey New York, NY 10001 (646) 761-6664 info@remotecontrol.media www.remotecontrol.media
Tailwater Lodge Brian Benner Altmar, NY 13302 (315) 298-3435 bbenner@tailwaterlodge.com www.tailwaterlodge.com
Merrill L. Thomas, Inc. Jonathan Gorgas Bloomingdale, NY, 12913 (518) 637-2873 jonnygorgo@gmail.com www.adirondackestates.com
West Kill Brewing
Michael Barcone West Kill, NY 12492 info@westkillbrewing.com www.westkillbrewing.com
Anchor Fly
Eric Carter-Spurio Asheville, NC 28806 (828) 490-9077 eric@anchorfly.com www.anchorfly.com
Brookings Anglers
Matt Canter Cashiers, NC 28717 (828) 743-3768 info@brookingsonline.com www.brookingsonline.com
Chosen River Outfitters
David Stelling Banner Elk, NC 28604 highcountryguides@gmail.com www.flyfishthehighcountry.com
Coastal Cottages
Mark Milby Kitty Hawk, NC 27949 obxcottageplans@gmail.com
Creel Lodge at Middle Creek Keith Foster Otto, NC 28763 keith@creellodge.com www.creellodge.com
Davidson River Outfitters
Kevin Howell Pisgah Forest, NC 28768 (828) 877-4181 (888) 861-0111 davidsonrivr@infoave.net www.davidsonflyfishing.com
Fiddlin’ Fish Brewing Company Winston-Salem, NC 27101 (336) 999-8945 info@fiddlinfish.com www.fiddlinfish.com
Headwaters Outfitters
Jessica Whitmire Rosman, NC 28772 (828) 877-3106 jessica@headwatersoutfitters.com www.headwatersoutfitters.com
High Country Guide Service
David Stelling Banner Elk, NC 28604 highcountryguides@gmail.com www.flyfishthehighcountry.com
Hunter Banks Company
Frank Smith Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 252-3005 staff@hunterbanks.com www.hunterbanks.com
Nantahala River Lodge Mickey and Annette Youmans Topton, NC 28781 (912) 596-4360 (800) 470-4718 mickey@nantahalariverlodge.net www.nantahalariverlodge.net
Pesca Muerta
Winston Salem, NC 27104 (336) 355-4561
info@pescamuerta.com www.pescamuerta.com
Pisgah Outdoors
Heath Cartee Pisgah Forest, NC 28768 (828) 577-3277
heath@pisgahoutdoors.com www.pisgahoutdoors.com
Primavera Leathers
Evenlight Eagles
Blowing Rock, NC 28605 (828) 773-6256 evenlighteagles@gmail.com www.primaveraleathers.com
SWCA
Kyle Halchin Charlotte, NC 28205 kylehalchin@gmail.com www.swca.com
Whitetail Fly Tieing Supplies
Nancy Richardson Chapel Hill, NC 27516 (630) 294-2947 nancy.richardson55@gmail.com www.whitetailflytieing.com
OHIO
Time Timer, LLC
David Rogers Cincinnati, OH 45243 (877) 771-8463 dave@timetimer.com www.timetimer.com
Wildwood Anglers
Bradley Dunkle Sylvania, OH 43560 (419) 540-8585 brad@wildwoodanglers.com www.wildwoodanglers.com
OKLAHOMA
K R Parker Holdings, LLC
Ken Parker Tulsa, OK 74137 krprkr@gmail.com
OREGON
Alpine Archery and Fly
John Appleton La Grande, OR 97850 (541) 963-4671 alpinearcheryllc@gmail.com www.alpinearcheryandfly.com
GOLD LEVEL
The Caddis Fly Angling Shop
Chris Daughters Eugene, OR 97401 (541) 505-8061 caddiseug@yahoo.com www.caddisflyshop.com
Creative Resource Strategies, LLC
Lisa DeBruyckere Salem, OR 97317 (503) 371-5939 lisad@createstrat.com www.createstrat.com
The Fly Fishing Shop
Mark Bachmann Welches, OR 97067 (503) 781-6468 flyfish@flyfishusa.com www.flyfishusa.com
The Fly Fishing Place
Nick Nickens Summerville, OR 97876 editors@theflyfishingplace.com www.theflyfishingplace.com
Fly Water Travel Ashland, OR 97520 (800) 552-2729 info@flywatertravel.com www.flywatertravel.com Loon Outdoors
Brett Zundel
Alan Peterson Ashland, OR 97520 (800) 580-3811 service@loonoutdoors.com www.loonoutdoors.us
Minam Store Outfitters
Grant Richie Wallowa, OR 97885 (541) 431-1111 grant.minam@gmail.com www.minamstore.com
Paul’s Pipes
Paul Menard Bend, OR 97703 info@paulspipes.com www.paulspipes.com
The Rogue Angler Mark Koenig Eugene, OR 97402 (800) 949-5163 customerservice@therogueangler.com www.therogueangler.com
Royal Treatment Fly Fishing Joel La Follette West Linn, OR 97068 (503) 850-4397 joel@royaltreatmentflyfishing.com www.royaltreatmentflyfishing.com
Sawyer Paddles and Oars
Zac Kauffman Gold Hill, OR 97525 (541) 535-3606 zac@paddlesandoars.com www.paddlesandoars.com
Soul River Runs Deep Chad Brown Portland, OR 97217 (503) 954-7625 chad@soulriverrunsdeep.com www.soulriverrunsdeep.com
ARIPPA
Jaret Gibbons & Cristy Sweeney Camp Hill, PA 17011 (717) 763-7635 jgibbons@arippa.org csweeney@arippa.org www.arippa.org
Arnot Sportsmen’s Assoc., Inc Ron Signor Arnot, PA 16911 (570) 638-2985 sms2333@PTD.NET
Cross Current Guide Service and Outfitters
Joe Demalderis Starlight, PA 18461 (914) 475-6779 crosscurrent@optonline.net www.crosscurrentguideservice.com
Drop Tine Taxidermy LLC
Mason Farnell Albrightsville, PA 18210 (570) 983-4054 droptinepa@outlook.com
The Fly Fishing Show
Ben Furimsky Somerset, PA 15501 (814) 443-3638 ben@flyfishingshow.com www.flyfishingshow.com
The Forest Lake Club
Colleen Van Horn Hawley, PA 18428 (570) 685-7171 gm@forestlakeclub.net www. forestlakeclub.net
Gleim Environmental Group
Stephanie Rider Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 258-4630 srider@jwgleim.com www.jwgleim.com
Gorski Engineering
Jerry Gorski Collegeville, PA 19426 (610 489-9131 jgorski@gorskiengineering.com www.gorskiengineering.com
The Lodge at Glendorn
Shane Appleby Bradford, PA 16701 (814) 362-6511 sappleby@glendorn.com www.glendorn.com
The Lodge at Woodloch
Josh Heath Hawley, PA 18428 (800) 966-3562 jheath@thelodgeatwoodloch.com www.thelodgeatwoodloch.com
Milestone Financial Associates
David S. Coult, CFP® Macungie, PA 18062 (610) 421-8777 dcoult@milestonefa.com www.milestonefa.com
PA Fly Company
Doug Yocabet Mount Pleasant, PA 15666 (724) 322-0037 doug@paflyco.net www.paflyco.net
PA Troutfitters
Bill Nolan Slatedale, PA 18079 (717) 875-7426 patroutfitters@gmail.com www.patroutfitters.fish
Perfect Hatch Fly Fishing
Tony Grubb Lansdale, PA 19446 (800) 523-6644 tony@rayrumpf.com www.perfecthatch.com
GOLD LEVEL
Pride of Bristol Bay
Steve and Jenn Kurian Bloomsburg, PA 17815 (570) 317-2200 contact@prideofbristolbay.com www.prideofbristolbay.com
Robindale Energy Services, Inc.
James Panaro Ebensburg, PA 15931 (814) 322-2294 jim.panaro@resfuel.com www.robindale.energy
GOLD LEVEL
Sky Blue Outfitters
Rick Nyles Fleetwood, PA 19522 (610) 987-0073 rick@skyblueoutfitters.com www.skyblueoutfitters.com
Spring Creek Trout Camp
Mark Lauer Bellefonte, PA 17356 (800) 519-8467 info@springcreektroutcamp.com www.springcreektroutcamp.com
That Fish Place-That Pet Place
Stephanie Welsh Lancaster, PA 17603 (717) 345-4671 swelsh@thatpetplace.com www.thatpetplace.com
Thomas Spinning Lures, Inc.
Peter Ridd Hawley, PA 18428 (800) 724-6768 info@thomaslures.com www.thomaslures.com
Troutman Wealth Management, LLC
Steve Troutman Malvern, PA 19355 (877) 393-9660 steve@troutmanwealth.com www.troutmanwealth.com
Wild East Outfitters
Nick Raftas Coatesville, PA 19320 (610) 500-3147 wildeastoutfitters@outlook.com www.wildeastoutfitters.com
Wild for Salmon
Steve Kurian Bloomsburg, PA 17815 (570) 387-0550 info@wildforsalmon.com www.wildforsalmon.com
Zach Johnson Medland Designs Zach Johnson Medland Lancaster, PA (570) 460-1169 zachjohnsonmedland@gmail.com www.zachjm.com
RHODE ISLAND
EA Engineering, Science, and Technology PBC
Sal DeCarli Warwick, RI 02886 (401) 244-5485 sdecarli@eaest.com www.eaest.com
SOUTH CAROLINA
Dodson Fishing Company
Drew Malone Travelers Rest, SC 29651 (864) 704-4658 info@dodsonfishing.com www.dodsonfishing.com
Fenwick
Jim Murphy Columbia, SC 29203 (800) 334-9105 info@purefishing.com www.purefishing.com
Hardy Fly Fishing
Jim Murphy Columbia, SC 29203 (800) 334-9105 info@purefishing.com www.purefishing.com
Hellbender Nets
Bailly & JD Wagner Easley, SC 29640 hellbendernets@gmail.com www.hellbendernets.com
Jocassee Outfitters Fly Shop Kevin Clinton Salem, SC 29676 kevin@Jocasseeoutfitters.com www.jocasseeoutfitters.com
TENNESSEE
3 Rivers Angler
Allen Gillespie Knoxville, TN 37919 (865) 200-5271 allen@3riversangler.com www.3riversangler.com
Dun Magazine/Fly Squared
Media
Jen Ripple Dover, TN 37058 (734) 846-3708 jen@dunmagazine.com www.dunmagazine.com
The Lodge at Green Cove
Green Angler Store
Jason McConkey Tellico Plains, TN 37385 (423) 252-4014 greencoveangler@gmail.com www.greencoveangler.com
Outfitter Marketing Pros
Paul Wingfield Kingsport, TN 37663 (423) 250-9405 paul@outfittermarketingpros.com www.outfittermarketingpros.com
Ranger Outdoors, LLC
Dave Luzader Charleston, TN 37310 (865) 690-1814 (877) 462-4682 marketing@anglersportgroup.com www.rangeroutdoorsllc.com
River Run Angling
Taylor Klarman Johnson City, TN 37601 (423) 408-9438 taylor@riverrunangling.com www.riverrunangling.com
Smoky Mountain Angler
Harold Thompson Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-8746 info@smokymountainangler.com www.smokymountainangler.com
Smoky Mountain Spinnery
Frederick Thompson Gatlinburg, TN 37738 nancy@smokymountainspinnery.com www.smokymountainspinnery.com
The Strike Indicator Company LLC
Barry Dombro Joelton, TN 37080 (615) 945-0104 info@strikeindicator.com www.strikeindicator.com
Toccoa River Outfitters
Andrew Bruce Copperhill, TN 37317 (423) 548-0066 toccoariveroutfitters@gmail.com www.graylightoutfitters.com
TEXAS
Action Angler
Chris Jackson New Braunfels, TX 78132 (830) 708-3474 info@actionangler.net www.actionangler.net
Castell Guide Service
Dan Cone Round Rock, TX 78130 (325) 423-0045 info@castellguideservice.com www.castellguideservice.com
Fly Fisher Pro
Ben Kepka Dripping Springs, TX 78620 (512) 333-1896 ben@flyfisherpro.com www.flyfisherpro.com
GOLD LEVEL Gruene Outfitters
Tiffany Yeates New Braunfels, TX 78130 (830) 660-4400
tiffany@grueneoutfitters.com www.gueneoutfitters.com
HB Systems Inc.
Corey Allen Plano, TX 75023 www.hbsystemsinc.com
GOLD LEVEL
Living Waters Fly Fishing Round Rock, TX 78664 (512) 828-3474
chris@livingwatersflyfishing.com www.livingwatersflyfishing.com
Soggy Dollar Camp
Christy Jagodik Austin, TX, 78738 (830) 294-0203 soggydollarcamp@gmail.com www.soggydollarcamp.com
Wild Rivers Coffee Company Marshall and Sammie Seedorff Dripping Springs, TX 78620 Marshall@wildriverscoffeeco.com www.wildriverscoffeeco.com @WildRiversCoffee
Yeti Coolers Jake Drees Austin, TX 78735 (512) 394-9384 info@yeti.com www.yeti.com
UTAH
The Coleman Collection Tyler Coleman Logan, UT 84321 (480) 202-6872 mrtylercoleman@gmail.com www.thecolemancollection.org
Headwaters Bamboo David Rogers Washington, UT 84780 (208)789-4391 david@headwatersbamboo.com www.headwatersbamboo.com
Park City Outfitters
Brandon Bertagnole Park City, UT 84098 (866) 649-3337 bbertagnole@hotmail.com www.parkcityoutfitters.com
R.A. Smith Custom Fly Rods Ross Smith Fountain Green, UT 84632 (435) 445-3497 smary@cut.net www.bamboosmith.com
Tactical Fly Fisher, LLC Devin Olsen Springville, UT 84663 (801) 870-7091 info@tacticalflyfisher.com www.tacticalflyfisher.com
Twin Territory
A.J., Jace and Cameron Garcia South Weber, UT 84405 (801) 663-4162 calynogarcia@gmail.com www.twinterritory.com
VERMONT
Early Riser Coffee Roasters
Kim Bryant Dorset, VT 05251 (802) 579-4799 hello@earlyriser.co www.earlyriser.co
Seiyu Institute for Health and Training, L3C
Anthony Parmenter Dummerston, VT 05301 (802) 490-3848
seiyuiht@outlook.com
www.seiyuinstitute.com
Three Rivers Equine Veterinary Service
Tyler McGill Barnet, VT 05821 tmcgillvt@gmail.com www.threeriversequinevet.com
VIRGINIA
Atlantic Bulk Carrier Corporation
Mark Short Providence Forge, VA 23140 mshort@atlanticbulk.com www.atlanticbulk.com
beag+haus | creative + modern small home design
Marc O'Grady Ashburn, VA 20147 (888) 984-1853 contact@beaghaus.com www.beaghaus.com
Beaverdam Falls, LLC
Beau Bryan Covington, VA 24426 info@beaverdamfalls.com www.beaverdamfalls.com
Dunburn Farms Bed and Breakfast
John Lentz
Glade Spring, VA 24340 (276) 475-5667 dunburn@naxs.com
www.dunburnfarms.com
Ecosystem Services, LLC
Kip Mumaw Charlottesville, VA 22903 (540) 239-1428 kip@ecosystemservices.us www.ecosystemservices.us
Flies by Two Brothers Mason and Palmer Kasprowicz Reston, VA fb2bemail@gmail.com fliesbytwobrothers.com
Hutton Fly Expeditionary
Fly Fishing Travel
Derek Hutton Lexington, VA 24450 (208) 399-1888 info@huttonfly.com www.huttonfly.com
Interior Federal Credit Union Washington, DC 20240 Reston, VA 20192 (800) 914-8619 www.interiorfcu.org
Matt Miles Fly Fishing
Matt Miles Lynchburg, VA 24504 (434) 238-2720 matt@mattmilesflyfishing.com www.mattmilesflyfishing.com
GOLD LEVEL
Mossy Creek Fly Fishing
Colby Trow Harrisonburg, VA 22801 (540) 434-2444
store@mossycreekflyfishing.com www.mossycreekflyfishing.com/
Ms. Guided
Kiki Galvin Falls Church, VA 22043 (703) 899-6793 angla56@msn.com www.msguidedflyfishing.net
New River Fly Fishing
Mike Smith Willis, VA 24380 (540) 250-1340 msmith@swva.net www.newriverflyfish.com
Potts Creek Outfitters
Daniel Walsh Paint Bank, VA 24131 (540) 897-5555 pco@pottscreekoutfitters.com www.pottscreekoutfitters.com
South River Fly Shop
Tommy Lawhorne Kevin Little Waynesboro, VA 22980 (540) 942-5566 shop@southriverflyshop.com southriverflyshop.com
Stonegate–An Elegant Guest House
Margaret Hutton Lexington, VA 24450 (208) 399-1887 hutton@stonegatevirginia.com www. stonegatevirginia.com
Virginia River Guides
Derek Hutton Lexington, VA 24450 (208) 399-1888 trips@VirginiaRiverGuides.com www.VirginiaRiverGuides.com
WASHINGTON
Bighorn Bamboo Fly Rods and Guide Service
Kevin Sugden Selah, WA 98942 (509) 961-9557 kevinsugden1971@gmail.com
DRYFT
Sam Thompson and Nick Satushek Bellingham, WA 98229 (360) 818- 4047 contact@dryftfishing.com www.dryftfishing.com
Emerald Waters Anglers
Dave McCoy Seattle, WA 98116 (206) 708-7250 dave@emeraldwatersanglers.com www.emeraldwatersanglers.com
Grundens Poulsbo, WA 98370 (800) 323-7327 support@grundens.com www.grundens.com
Methow Fishing Adventures Leaf Seaburg Twisp, WA 98856 (509) 429-7298 methowfishingadventures@gmail.com www.flyfishersproshop.com
Redington Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 (800) 253-2538 info@redington.com www.redington.com
Red’s Fly Shop
Joe Rotter Ellensburg, WA 98926 (509) 933-2300 staff@redsflyshop.com www.redsflyshop.com
Sage Fly Fishing
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 (206) 842-6608 (800) 553-3004 sage@sageflyfish.com www.sageflyfish.com
Silver Bow Fly Fishing
Sean Visintainer Spokane Valley, WA 99216 (509) 924-9998 flyfish@silverbowflyshop.com www.silverbowflyshop.com
Angler’s Xstream Parkersburg, WV 26101 (877) 909-6911 fishing@anglersxstream.com www.anglersxstream.com
Fife Street Brewing
Josh Dodd Charleston, WV 25302 (304) 941-8269 josh@fifestreetbrewing.com www.fifestreetbrewing.com
WISCONSIN
Driftless Angler
Mat Wagner Viroqua, WI 54665 (608) 637-8779 info@driftlessangler.com www.driftlessangler.com
The Green Earth Company
Andrew Busse New Holstein, WI 53061 (800) 528-1922 info@thegreenearthco.com www.greenicemelt.com
Lund's Fly Shop
Brian Smolinski River Falls, WI 54022 (715) 425-2415 brian@lundsflyshop.com www.lundsflyshop.com
Trout Buddy Driftless Guides
Mike Warren La Crosse, WI 54601 (608) 792-2521 Mike@TroutBuddy.com www.TroutBuddy.com
WYOMING
Angling Destinations
Clark Smyth Sheridan, WY 82801 (307) 672-6894 clark@anglingdestinations.com www.anglingdestinations.com
Arrow Land and Water, LLC
Chad Espenscheid Big Piney, WY 83113 (307) 231-2389 chadespen@gmail.com
Dunoir Fishing Adventures, LLC
Jeramie Prine Lander, WY 82520 (307) 349-3331 jlprine@gmail.com www.dunoirfishing.com
Fish the Fly Guide Service & Travel
Jason Balogh Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 690-1139 jb@fishthefly.com www.fishthefly.com
Frog Creek Partners
Brian Deurloo Casper, WY 82601 (307) 797-7720 brian@frogcreek.partners www.frogcreek.partners
Frontier Brewing Company and Tap Room
Shawn Houck Casper, WY 82601 (307) 337-1000 www.frontierbrewingcompany.com
Grand Teton Fly Fishing
Scott Smith and Mark Fuller Jackson, WY 83002 307-690-4347 ssflyfish@rocketmail.com markwfuller@gmail.com www.grandtetonflyfishing.com
Graylight Outfitters
David Collom Elsinore, UT 84724 (435) 720-7440 graylightoutfitters@gmail.com www.graylightoutfitters.com
Guild Outdoors
Adam Guild Afton, WY 83110 (307) 799-6409 guildadam@yahoo.com www.guildranchwyoming.com
JD High Country Outfitters Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 733-7210 scott@jdhcoutfitters.com www.highcountryflies.com
Koyoty Sports Warden Patzer Saratoga, WY 82331 Trophyroomtaxi@yahoo.com www.koyotysports.com
Live Water Properties
Macye Maher Jackson, WY 83002 (866) 734-6100 macye@livewaterproperties.com www.livewaterproperties.com
North Fork Anglers
Blair Van Antwerp Cody, WY 82414 (307) 527-7274 flyfish@wavecom.net www.northforkanglers.com
North Platte Lodge
Erik Aune Alcova, WY 82601 (307) 237-1182 info@northplattelodge.com www.northplattelodge.com
Park County Glass Cody, WY 82414 (307) 587-9303 pcg@bresnan.net www.parkcountyglass.com
Rock Creek Anglers
Clark Smyth Sheridan, WY 82801 (307) 672-6894 rockcreekanglers@wyoming.com www.anglingdestinations.com/rockcreek-anglers
Sweetwater Fishing Expeditions, LLC
George H. Hunker III Lander, WY 82520 (307) 332-3986 phunker@wyoming.com www.sweetwaterfishing.com Thermopolis Fly Shop
Dan Pass Thermopolis, WY 82443 thermopolisflyshop@gmail.com www.thermopolisflyshop.com
Turpin Meadow Ranch
Ron Stiffler Moran, WY 83013 (307) 543-2000 gm@turpinmeadowranch.com www.turpinmeadowranch.com
TyOutdoors
Ty Hallock Casper, WY 82609 (307) 315-8287 ty@tyoutdoors.com www.tyoutdoors.com
Westbank Anglers
Michael Dawes Wilson, WY 83014 (307) 733-6483 info@westbankanglers.com www.westbankanglers.com
GOLD LEVEL
Wind River Outdoor
Company
Ron Hansen Lander, WY 82520 (307) 332-7864 ron@windriveroutdoor company.com www.windriveroutdoorcompany.com
INTERNATIONAL
ARGENTINA
Nervous Waters Fly Fishing
Santiago Seeber Buenos Aires, Argentina 1425 (800) 530-6928 santiago@nervouswaters.com www.nervouswaters.com
SET Fly Fishing
Kevin Landon Denver, CO 80247 (720) 425-6270 kevin@setflyfishing.com www.setflyfishing.com
BAHAMAS
Mangrove Cay Club
Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 dan@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
BRAZIL
Agua Boa Lodge
Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 dan@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
3 Rivers Steelhead Expeditions
Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 jeff@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
Frontier Farwest Lodge
Derek Botchford Telkwa, BC V0J 2X0 (877) 846-9153 info@bulkleysteelhead.com www.bulkleysteelhead.com
Lower Dean River Lodge
Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 jeff@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
Steelhead Valhalla Lodge
Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 jeff@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
Fly Fisher Pro Ben Kepka Napier, HKB 4110 ben@flyfisherpro.com www.flyfisherpro.com
MONGOLIA
Mongolia River Outfitters/ Fish Mongolia Michael Caranci Palo Cedro, CA 96073 (530) 604-2160 michael@mongoliarivers.com www.mongoliarivers.com www.fishmongolia.com
Mongolia Taimen Camps Dan, Jeff & Pat Vermillion Livingston, MT 59047 (888) 347-4286 dan@sweetwatertravel.com www.sweetwatertravel.com
SPAIN
Salvelinus Lodges
Ivan Tarin C/ Pablo Remacha 17 3o 9 Zaragoza 50008 +34 696 16 48 10 info@salvelinus.com www.salvelinus.com
UK
SCOTLAND
Alba Game Fishing Scotland Ltd.
Stewart Collingswood Port Seton, EH32 OSX (near Edinburgh) +44 (0) 7734 810706 800 972 0408 (USA Toll Free) stewart@albagamefishing.com www.albagamefishing.com
WALES
Llyn Guides
J. Noel Hulmston Nefyn, PWLLHELI LL53 6LF T Int + (0)1758 721654 C Int + (0)7774 610600 llynguides@dnetw.co.uk www.llynguides.co.uk
WADE
-
October 6th - 12th
"The School of Trout brings together some of America’s finest and most talented instructors, and offers its students a chance to learn from the very best of the best.”
∼ Marshall Cutchin in MidCurrent ∼
"When I look back at my evolution as an angler, School of Trout will stand out as a defining experience. The opportunity to pepper some of the greatest anglers in the world with questions is the kind of chance that doesn’t come to many, and certainly doesn’t come often.”
∼ Andrew Reichardt in Hatch Magazine ∼
“I can't think of a better way to either learn the sport or enhance existing skills than getting a Masters degree with the folks at the School of Trout.”
∼ Monte Burke in Forbes ∼
BY PAUL BRUUN
Ithought there was an easy answer to a friend’s question of how Tight Lines originated.
People either seem to love or hate this idiomatic expression that repeatedly opens as a fly-fishing greeting or as a gentle closing remark.
Angling book signers religiously decorate flowing signatures with a drawing and a requisite penning of Tight Lines.
Northeastern author, William G. Tapply, did one better by titling his 11th mystery novel, Tight Lines, which features his Boston investigator, Brady Coyne. Just as his internationally famous Field & Stream associate editor father, H.G. Tapply, proved during the beloved monthly Tap’s Tips features, his son’s venerable crime solving character also reeked of intimate trout fishing knowledge.
The British angling press and popular TV presenters have also long made use of this widely exploited remark. Among those is pleasantly entertaining angling expert, Keith Arthur, whose 20-year Sky Sports program, Tight Lines, continues and has added a podcast.
The late Captain T.B. Terry Thomas began “Angling Today” on ATV in the 1970s, well before Keith Arthur. Thomas’ suc cessful series was credited with elevating the sport of fishing and denigrated UK network sports experts for previously shunning fishing as “too boring.” Thomas concluded his entertaining program by famously uttering his now immortal “Tight Lines” to viewers.
Research indicates this wellexercised expression welcoming a tightness in tackle harkens back to ancient times when it was considered bad form (luck) to
wish a fisherman good luck. Theatre actors notoriously followed the same superstition. Instead of issuing a good luck performance wish, the opposite developed in the guise of that cringeworthy but still popular, break a leg, encouragement uttered before a play or presentation.
Back to exclusively good luck fishing remarks, Germans utilize their familiar term, Petri Heil, referring to the Bible’s famous fisherman, Simon Peter, as “Petrus/Petri” and “Heil” as a positive term for good health, fortune and success.
The old Finnish expression, Kireitä Siimoja, also avoids direct good luck hope to a fisherman with a similar Tight Lines definition. This idiom celebrates any line tension from a snagged lure to a pulling fish, possibly to confuse the fishing gods that no overtly good wishes have been made.
Five different messages containing Tight Lines endings arrived during this writing. Cheerfully, one similar sign off arrived from my favorite teller of witty fish tales, Bennett Mintz. This veteran publicist and man of humor and letters concludes his joyous notes with Tight Loops
Counting on Ben for a thunderous finish, after quizzing his graduation to Tight Loops, I was bummed to hear, “I haven’t the vaguest idea!” The former Sierra Pacific Fly Fishers club president admitted that once he was shown how to establish a signature format on his first Kaypro computer in 1979, he included Tight Lines. “In correspondence, maybe with Ernie Schwiebert or Jack Hemingway about club speaking engagements, I musta switched to Tight Loops but I dunno why!”
Not the stunning ending from Ben that I’d hoped.
Perhaps Bent Rods and Cheers might fit some readers better.
With R8 technology, we enhance that two-way connection from hand to fly and back for greater feel, flow and control.
