It’s fall, fellow fly fishers, no matter where you are in the northern hemisphere. You might still be slathering on sunscreen on the Gulf Coast of Florida this week, but just a few days ago, anglers in several parts of the country saw their first official snowflakes of the season. That means that fly fishing gear manufacturers are ramping up for holiday sales, and there are quite a few new items debuting across the angling spectrum this month.

As Pacific salmon stocks continue to decline in their native ranges thanks to a toxic environmental cocktail that includes everything from poor fish management practices, fish migration barriers and climate change, it appears some salmon are finding and colonizing new habitat.

Fresh research from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks shows that chum salmon were discovered spawning in the Anaktuvuk and Itkillik rivers on Alaska’s North Slope this year. Both rivers are tributaries of the Colville River, which flows into the Arctic Ocean some 60 miles southwest of Prudhoe Bay.