Articles

Saving trout from climate change by giving them a new home

The National Park Service is seeking comments on a project to relocate threatened fish species

by Chris Hunt - Friday, Oct 14th, 2022

Releasing a wild, native westslope cutthroat trout (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Could introducing sensitive trout and char into a previously fishless lake in the Glacier National Park high country be key to preserving the fish as climate change continues to close its grip on cold-water fisheries in the northern Rockies?

The National Park Service thinks so, and it’s asking for public comment to do just that in Gunsight Lake, a small, high-mountain lake in the headwaters of the St. Mary River on the east side of the Continental Divide. The St. Mary is the only river in the United States east of the divide that is home to native bull trout.

The rebirth of Icelandic sea trout fishing

A conservation-minded approach to river management is putting European sea-run brown trout fishing back on the map

by Chad Shmukler - Tuesday, Oct 11th, 2022

Casting to sea trout on the Fossalar River in Iceland (photo: Earl Harper).

“So, where are you guys fishing?” the voice rang out from a few stools down.

Anglers have a way of outing themselves, even when in less-than-revelatory settings, like The Lebowski Bar — a touristy watering hole in downtown Reykjavik that pays homage to the iconic movie and character of the same name. A hat or some other piece of garb had given us away, and our pop-in for a Caucasian blossomed into fishing chatter.

Air guns for grownups

Not the BB guns of your youth, modern air guns are hunting weapons

by Chris Hunt - Monday, Oct 10th, 2022

Photo: Chris Hunt

As a kid, I lived for fall and winter pheasant hunting outings with my grandfather and my uncles.

I was too young at the time to man a shotgun, so I, my brothers and my cousins became de facto retrievers. My grandfather grew up along the Nebraska border with Colorado, and he knew every grain and cornfield, and he knew the farmers who owned them. On warmer days during hunting season, we’d ride in the back of Granddad’s old Chevy pickup and slowly cruise the back roads gazing hopefully into borrow pits in hopes of spotting a ringneck.

Gear we love right now: October 2022

What's working on and off the water

by Hatch Magazine - Thursday, Oct 6th, 2022

The Simms Dry Creek Z backpack (photo: Simms Fishing).

Fly anglers are overloaded with gear choices—rods, reels, boots, waders, lines, packs, bags, boxes, vests, apparel and more. It seems harder and harder to know what's worth coveting and what's worth ignoring. Gear reviews are a great way to explore in-depth what might be right for you, but not every piece of gear is suited to a full-length review and, even if it were, there's simply too much of it to get to. With that in mind, we periodically showcase what's working for us right now, to hopefully offer more helpful feedback on gear that's worth a second look.

Fly fishing's classic films free to view online

The American Museum of Fly Fishing and Scientific Anglers are joining forces to save some of fly fishing's most iconic films

by Chris Hunt - Monday, Oct 3rd, 2022

Some of fly fishing's most classic and iconic films are now available to view free online.

Fly fishing is a visual craft. From the dry-fly take to the ubiquitous trophy photo, it’s a pastime that, for many, is best shared in pixels.

But, for generations, fly fishing photography and film was hopelessly analog — the early fly-fishing practitioners, for whom the video arts were their chosen medium, filled boxes of 8-mm film and, later, cases of VHS tapes, each packed with footage that, the instant it was recorded, began to degrade.