Articles

Walleye are the latest threat to Snake River salmon and steelhead

Another non-native predator is imperiling endangered salmon

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, Oct 31st, 2024

A non-native Columbia River walleye with a partially digested fish in its mouth (photo: David Ayers / USGS).

Righting wrongs is a tough proposition in the world of fisheries conservation. Too often, the challenges outweigh expectations. Just as frequently, reality sets in, and desperation takes over. Take the Lower Snake River basin in Idaho. These are rivers that flow from the last, best (and largely intact) spawning habitat for salmon and steelhead that somehow manage to climb eight dams from the mouth of the Columbia through eastern Washington and into the Gem State.

Everyone has to love something that they just love to death

New film 'Destination Skeena' offers a glimpse into the world of BC steelheading

by Chad Shmukler - Sunday, Oct 27th, 2024

Photo: Darcy Bacha.

Steelheaders have been depicted as crazy so frequently and using so many different labels that, at this point, it’s become a bit of a trope. Still, most steelheaders are happy to accept the portrayal. After all, who doesn’t want to be known for having saintlike patience, dogged persistence, and an abundance of grit and mettle? But are steelheaders, in fact, nuts?

Stages

When that fish is the only one you want to catch

by Tim Schulz - Friday, Oct 25th, 2024

Photo: Jordan Kapperly.

One fish, ten fish, big fish, Zen fish. That’s how Theodor Geisel—Dr. Seuss from our child- and parenthoods—might have described the fly-fisher’s journey. In his excellent essay, “The Five Stages of Fly Fishing,” Todd Tanner includes another phase between big and Zen, something Seuss might have called finicky fish. This stage is when that fish—the one that sips unrecognizable flies from an inaccessible lie—is the only fish we want to catch.

Hurricane storm surge can benefit tarpon and snook, research shows

A silver lining amongst the devastation of other hurricane impacts

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Oct 23rd, 2024

Storm surge near Tampa General Hospital in Florida (photo: Andrew Heneen / cc4.0 / modified).

As the west coast of Florida continues to deal with the impacts of two major hurricanes making landfall within a two-week span, the human costs remain immeasurable. With Helene, which busted ashore on Sept. 26 along Florida’s Big Bend and raked its way north into Appalachia, and then Milton, which made landfall Oct. 9 just south of Sarasota, Florida is, indeed, disaster-weary.

USFWS seeks to expand Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Under a new proposal, new refuge lands would be acquired from willing sellers

by Chris Hunt - Saturday, Oct 19th, 2024

An alligator in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (photo: Tim Parkinson / cc2.0).

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposal to add approximately 22,000 acres to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia, opening the door for land buyout negotiations with willing sellers.