Articles

Environmental stewardship and a good piece of pie

The life of conservationist Bill Kodrich

by Jack Donachy - Tuesday, Apr 30th, 2024

In the 1960s, the Clarion River in Pennsylvania didn't offer anglers much besides a few stunted panfish. Now, trout, bass, walleye and musky are part of the catch. Over 50 miles of the river have earned federal Wild and Scenic status, and it has been named Pennsylvania's River of the Year four times — thanks in no small part to Trout Unlimited, other conservation groups and dedicated stewards such as Bill Kodrich (photo: Jack Donachy).

It wasn't so long ago that I was at the stage in life where a number of iconic figures in the art and entertainment world I'd grown up with had begun to pass out of this world. I am far from being a celebrity hound, but as I scanned the headlines each morning, it was sad and mildly shocking to see that an actor, singer, writer or other celebrity I'd long admired had been admitted to a hospital for the kinds of illnesses that portend the end, or that indeed the end had come.

Don't let your fishing interfere with your fishing

A conversation with author Chris Dombrowski on his journey to becoming a writer

by Hatch Magazine - Sunday, Apr 28th, 2024

Photo: USFS.

Writing about Chris Dombrowski’s 2016 book Body of Water—which recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal’s list of the five best books on angling—John Gierach described Dombrowski’s voice as “concise language that reminded me of Gary Snyder one minute and John McPhee the next.” Dombrowski’s most recent book, The River You Touch, has been described by USA Today as “A poignant rumination on marriage, parenthood, friendship and what it means to connect with nature.”

Trout tactics: stocked vs. wild

Know your target and you'll know success

by George Daniel - Thursday, Apr 25th, 2024

Photo: George Daniel.

I teach basic fly-fishing skills at Penn State University. Most of my students have little experience fishing for wild or native trout but have spent plenty of time targeting stocked trout. Our class takes at least three field trips to fish for wild trout on Spring Creek, near Bellefonte, PA. This fishery is full of wild trout which are not easy for inexperienced anglers to catch. Every semester, I witness students with extensive experience targeting stocked trout fail to catch a single wild brown trout during the combined six hours of class time spent fishing the creek.

Pike and leeches: Star-crossed lovers

Pike and leeches' prey-prey relationship

by Chris Hunt - Tuesday, Apr 23rd, 2024

A Reindeer Lake pike that grabbed a black Slumpbuster (photo: Chris Hunt).

Some years back, I had the opportunity to fly fish for trophy northern pike on Reindeer Lake, a massive and unspoiled boreal lake that straddles the border of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We hit the lake right around the summer solstice — the ideal time for trophy pike in the northern reaches of Canada’s southern provinces. We arrived during a short cold snap that quickly retreated and spent a week watching the lake go from spring to summer in just a matter of days.

Fishing was good. Really good.

Biden administration rejects destructive Ambler Road project

BLM declares road project would 'significantly and irrevocably impact resources'

by Hatch Magazine - Saturday, Apr 20th, 2024

Photo: U.S. Department of Interior.

Yesterday, the Biden administration rejected the “speculative” Amber Road Project that would have constructed an industrial-grade road some 210 miles into the Alaskan interior in order to allow minerals to be transported to market from the Ambler Mining District.