"The loss of financial support from Orvis and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation would destroy the positive momentum of the recent habitat improvement projects. If the state wants to maintain the number one goal, habitat restoration, they are going to have to abandon this short-sighted attempt to provide easily catchable adult trout immediately." TU blogger Luca Adelphio offers a long and careful review of Vermont's Batten Kill and the recent uproar over state plans to stock the river with rainbow trout, which virtually everyone feels would endanger a dwindling wild brown trout population.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ohau Channel flowing from Lake Rotorua to Lake Rotoiti in New Zealand opens for the season tomorrow and an annual spectacle begins again as anglers go nuts trying to catch double-digit trout: "By 4am most if not all of the accessible spots will be taken. At 5am a siren will sound to mark the official opening. Before it fades the first flies will hit the water and within seconds the first fish will be hooked. At least 50 anglers will be there at 5am. They will cast between 50 and 150 flies, depending on whether they use one, two or three-fly rigs." Harvey Clark in the New Zealand Herald.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perhaps inspired by the recent attention to "aquatic hitchhikers," PacifiCorp, the west coast utility company that wants to renew its operating license for the Klamath River dam, believes that loading salmon into trucks and dropping them off on the other side of the dam is a good solution to the problem the dam creates for spawning fish. Though there is no official reaction to this latest idea, which could save the company hundreds of millions of dollars, NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service and the judge who handed down Wednesday's ruling feel the company should stick with science and build fish ladders.

"The proposed fish passages would return chinook and endangered coho salmon as well as steelhead and Pacific lamprey to 350 miles of river cut off for more than half a century by the towering hydropower dams." Eric Bailey in the L.A. Times.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the new films at the 2006 Vancouver International Film Festival, which started Wednesday, is a romantic comedy set in Scottish fly fishing country. In Shel Piercy’s latest film, "Almost Heaven," a Canadian television director is hired to salvage an international fly fishing show. But his ex-wife is the host of the show, and his love interest is a female Scottish ghillie.

All very believable, of course.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Australia's Sydney Herald did a very long piece on New Zealand lodges, entitled "The Lap of Luxury," in today's paper. If you're wondering what your spouse might do while you sight-cast to monster browns in the Kiwi backcountry, suggest that he take a helicopter flight over the Franz Josef Glacier and meet you back at the lodge for pre-dinner drinks with hors d'oeuvres.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beau Peavey, a 22-year-old junior college junior and self-described fishing lunatic, caught the first Atlantic salmon of Maine's newly reopened season on the Penobscot. "The salmon — a frisky 32-inch 12-pounder that fought back with 'four jumps and a couple of good long runs' — was caught after Mr. Peavey abandoned his own flies and used a pink fly created years ago by a now-deceased member of his salmon club." Pam Belluck in The New York Times.

Kevin Miller also writes in the Bangor Daily News about the event and the newly re-opened season.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Suggesting that British nobles chose spey techniques to keep their kilts from getting in a wad, a Mail Tribune writer notes that the classic method of covering large amounts of water continues to grow in popularity, especially among steelheaders in the U.S. northwest. "Single-handed rods that rely on conventional back-casting — the linear back-and-forth motion that generates line speed and casting length — can't match the centrifugal power generated by the aerial loops and snaps of a spey roll cast."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Tent up, pad inflated, sleeping bag unfurled. Fatigued by exertion at high elevation, I planned simply to heat soup on my alcohol stove and turn in. But when I spotted spreading ripple-rings from trout rising to feed on Chief Lake's shimmery surface, all tiredness abruptly vanished." Paul McHugh hikes into Callifornia's John Muir Wilderness and shares the fascinating and controversial history of stocking in its high mountain lakes. In the San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Notable in part because it includes a photo of the new $9,700 Hardy Zane Titanium saltwater fly reel, Ed Dentry's article on new stuff coming this spring highlights some more practical items -- Rio's Kahuna Twisty, for example: "Fly fishermen have tried everything that floats, from balloons to dough, to help them detect a trout's sometimes maddening, subtle take. So why not spaghetti, or something that looks like it. Rio Products, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, will launch its colorful strike indicator strands in 2007. You just wind them around your leader." In the Rocky Mountain News.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Voices raised in opposition to the stocking of rainbow trout in Vermont's Batten Kill River -- including Trout Unlimited and Orvis -- have won at least the first round of their fight. After the meeting, Vermont officials were all but admitting that they were abandoning plans to add 1,000 rainbow to the river. "'Right now, in terms of that meeting, the public spoke pretty clearly that they didn't want the rainbow stocked, so we heard 'em,' Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Wayne Laroche told Vermont Public Radio." (From the Burlington Free Press.) Now an Associated Press article picked up from WVPR-FM says the plan has been dropped.

Last week we posted a link to a Vermont Public Radio podcast on the story, which generated some interesting commentary.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Nick Mills leans into a tough subject in his blog this week: killing fish. It's likely that we've all done it, knowingly or unknowingly. How is it that for many of us, the longer we fish, the more we sense the loss? "Why did I feel so bad about the death of a trout? I, who has killed and eaten hundreds of trout and has on his own wall a twenty-inch brook trout mounted by the master, Dave Footer?" On MaineToday.com.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"This is the season when the river's largest fish nose into the shallows in search of grasshoppers and other opportunistic meals. It's also when the autumn cycle of baetis mayflies, popularly known as the blue-winged olive, brings brown trout to the surface for the final major insect hatch of the season." Charlie Meyers writes about the fantastic BWO hatches and wind-driven terrestrials frenzy that marks the fall "shoulder season" on the Arkansas River in the Denver Post.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Wednesday California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into effect a law which makes it easer to catch Californians who avoid the hefty luxury vehicle tax by purchasing plates in Montana. Turns out there is a cottage industry in Montana in setting up shell corporations which license the vehicles there.

Wait a minute. You mean all of those land barges are not just the newest thing among sheep herders?

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many folks were sorry to see Redington's durable Brakewater series of reels go by the wayside this year. But we were heartened to see manufacturers focusing on value when it comes to large-arbor designs this year, and Redington's new CDL Titanium ($179-239) and Crosswater series ($55) reels are examples of products that have an excellent chance to stick in fly fishers' memories for their price/value ratio. The CDL Titaniums are designed for 5- to 12-weight rods, the Crosswater for 4- to 9-weights. A couple of things we like about these reels: large, "paddle" handles and quick-release spools, which in our mind make more sense when extra spools are inexpensive. Though only the Crosswaters are up on the Redington site, expect more info shortly on the CDL Titanium.

Also worth watching: Redington is also doing some interesting stuff with fabrics, including a very affordable ($27) Wild Fly Polo made with high-wicking, UPF 30+ Dri-Block™ knit.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Referred to by the local Irish press as "a stocky, ebullient American," Steve Rajeff placed first overall in the 2006 World Casting Championships held September 2-8 in Maynooth, County Kildare.

The numbers on Steve's performance:

Event 2- Fly Distance Single Handed- Men 5th Place Final (av.) 65.77 M (216 ft).
Event 6- Fly Distance Double Handed- Men 1st. Place Final (av.) (269 ft)
Event 8- Multiplier Acc. Men- 3rd. Place
All Around- Men 1st Place with a score of 1081.205

Here are the final results of the tournament in PDF format. You can also see results on the 2006 World Casting Championships site.

(Thanks to reader David Dalu for this story.)

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the third time in the past four years, the U.S. national team landed in the top ten at the World Championships, held this year in Portugal. "Czechoslovakia won the team title, followed by France, Spain and host Portugal. Pennsylvanian George Daniel paced the team with a fifth-place finish. Most members of the U.S. contingent fished split sessions, a strategy that provided added experience but disqualified them from the individual standings." From the Denver Post.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oftentimes it is the smaller dams that create the biggest problems for trout streams, because they are either exempt from federal regulations that enforce conservation rules or below the radar of state officials. In this case, a favorite brown trout river near the Canadian border was choked with 4,000 cubic yards of sediment. "The muck, which had accumulated for several years behind a hydroelectric dam, was released on Sept. 5. Flouting state environmental regulations, the dam owner opened a 4-foot drain gate at the bottom of the Chasm Hydro Dam." Paul Grondahl in the Albany Times-Union.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seven private miles of the McCloud River upstream of Shasta Lake and the 3,500 acres that surround it are for sale for $30 million, according to Jack Trout, a guide who has worked extensively on upper McCloud waters. Possible reason? The California Bureau of Reclamation plans to raise the dam, which would likely flood the property. "As private property since 1904, it is regarded as a secret place of mystery [see second story on page], and the owners have included the mega-rich, such as Dean Witter, Albert Schilling and Austin and Reuben Hills. They created 'The Bollibokka Fishing Club,' which features a lodge and historic cabins, including a house created from river rock." Tom Stienstra in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chris Santella, author of Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, has a new book coming out on October 1. Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales: Expert Fly Anglers Share Stories from the Sea and Stream (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, October 2006, 224 pages) contains 50 stories from celebrated anglers. According to the editorial review, the book "tells of Ralph Cutter casting in complete darkness for blind catfish in the caves of Borneo, J. W. Smith boxing grizzlies to protect his tent camp in Alaska, and George Anderson fly fishing for saltwater crocodiles in Cuba."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What have Steve and Gina Abel been up to since selling Abel Quality Products to Sharpe's? Applying their inventiveness to a new broader market: survivalism. "Abel, together with his wife Gina and family members, tested the ease of 'usability' of the Urban Survivor Pack and its contents on weekend camping trips to determine if the average person – with little or no outdoor experience – could set-up and use the equipment. After numerous additions, changes and modifications, the finished survivor product emerged. According to all surveys and FEMA statistics, Hurricane Katrina killed at least 1,836 people. 'We think that between half and two-thirds of those deaths would have been prevented if the victims had (1) a survival plan and (2) a minimal amount of food, water and shelter. And that’s exactily what the Survivor Urban Pack provides,' said Abel."

Probably not a bad item to carry in a skiff when traveling more than 30 miles from civilization.

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

In an Emergency

URBAN SURVIVOR PACK CAN KEEP YOU ALIVE

SOMIS, Calif. – A machinist/manufacturer, best known for his production of fly-fishing tackle, has turned his attention to a more serious matter: surviving a natural or man-made disaster.

Steve Abel, founder of Abel Reels, has developed a compact, waterproof urban survival pack filled with enough food and equipment to keep an individual alive for up to two weeks in a hostile environment.

Abel developed the 15-pound life-support pack following the devastation and trail of death caused by last year’s hurricanes and ensuing floods throughout Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf States.

“What’s next? Forest fire, floods, earthquake, volcanic eruption, terrorist bomb, a collapsed bridge or civil insurrection?” asks Abel.

Whatever the cause, families will be split and without a survival plan. “It doesn’t have to be a major event, it can be as simple as a local river overflowing while the husband is off on a business trip and his wife and kids are trapped in a car for two or three days, unable to get home.”

“Just like a spare tire and a working jack, every car in the family should have an Urban Survivor Park in the trunk,” said Abel.

The custom-made waterproof pack itself can be used as a flotation device; while the contents include some 35 items from a stainless steel multi-tool, water purifier, stove, flashlight, rain gear, blankets and a radio to oatmeal, soup, and dehydrated dinners. Contents of the Abel Survivor Pack would cost between $400 and $500 if purchased individually.

Abel, together with his wife Gina and family members, tested the ease of “usability” of the Urban Survivor Pack and its contents on weekend camping trips to determine if the average person – with little or no outdoor experience – could set-up and use the equipment. After numerous additions, changes and modifications, the finished survivor product emerged.

According to all surveys and FEMA statistics, Hurricane Katrina killed at least 1,836 people. “We think that between half and two-thirds of those deaths would have been prevented if the victims had (1) a survival plan and (2) a minimal amount of food, water and shelter. And that’s exactily what the Survivor Urban Pack provides,” said Abel.

Abel Urban Survivor Packs are priced at $300 and are available at www.abelsurvivor.com; phone 805.386.3410; e-mail info@abelsurvivor.com

For additional information or interviews, contact

Steve Abel
The Abel Urban Survivor Pack
Phone 805.386.3410
Fax 805.386.3360
e-mail info@abelsurvivor.com

ABEL SURVIVOR PACK INVENTORY

Waterproof pack with backpack straps
American-made Stainless Steel Multi Tool
First Aid Kit
Pocket Rocket Stove
Fuel (8 oz)
Sony radio AM/FM
Poncho, Nylon
Wilderness Space Blanket / Tarp
Mess Kit
Water Filter Bottle
Water Bottle (1 liter)
Water Storage Bag, Platypus (2 liter, collapsible)
Spring Water (24 ounce bottle)
Bic butane lighter
Waterproof matches (2 boxes)
5-in-1 Survival Tool (compass, whistle, waterproof match holder, mirror and flint striker)
Mini Mag flashlight and sheath (with 2 AA batteries)
AA batteries (6 spare)
Nylon cord (100 feet)
Metal mirror
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Tooth picks and floss picks
Tissues (2 pocket packs)
Toilet tissue (2 rolls)
Knife, fork and spoon (Lexan)
Soup, Lipton (2 packs)
Oatmeal, instant (6 packs)
Tea bags (7)
Hot chocolate (2)
Fruit and Nut Bars (6)
Dehydrated eggs with bacon (2 packs)
Dehydrated dinners (seven 2 person packs)
Candle (9 hour)

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Orvis, which has been active in Battenkill restoration for many years, announced on Monday that if Vermont's Fish and Wildlife Department goes ahead with its plan to stock the river with rainbows, it will cease raising funds for Batten Kill conservation work. "The 1,000 or so rainbow trout the state is considering releasing into the Battenkill would also provide more competition for the native brown trout for feeding, undermining efforts to rebuild their population through habitat restoration, said said Bill Bullock, the Director of the American Fly Fishing Museum and a member of Trout Unlimited and the Battenkill Watershed alliance." Andrew McKeever in the Bennington Banner.

Vermont public radio also did a podcast on the story, which you can listen to here. Perk Perkins: "There are rivers that can't reproduce they don't have the spawning habitat. They just can't sustain a wild trout population. But here we have one of five rivers left in the entire state that have wild trout. And we need to protect that."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

"Jeff deBrown, owner of Orvis-certified The Reel Baja, which regularly guides guests staying at Hotel Buena Vista, suggested, "The flies that we use to catch smaller fish from 3 to 20 lbs. mimic our local 'sardinas' (actually a variety of herring) and are usually around 3 to 4 inches long with an olive/green top and a pearlescent underbody" Tom Gatch describes the abundant waters found around the Baja peninsula's Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort, located between San Jose del Cabo and La Paz near the tip of the Baja peninsula. In southern California's The Log.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Robson Valley Times talks with Brendan Mason, who recently landed a 600-pound mako shark on fly off of San Diego, California. Mason talks about his involvement with the Angling Exploration Group (producers of "The Trout Bum Diaries") and why he didn't kill the enormous shark. "There were multiple reasons for not killing the shark. Most importantly, I don’t believe in killing fish just to hang them up on a scale and look like a hero, especially in the case of a large, mature female fish. Secondly, the tackle I used to land the fish wouldn’t have qualified under International Game Fish Association (IGFA) rules for fly-fishing."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gus Lucassen finds salmon fishing on the Garden and St. Marys rivers to be almost too good to be true when he and his wife cross the ocean for a visit with the in-laws. "'I never dreamed of a place with so many salmon that you couldn't get a fly through them,' Lucassen said as he and Giuliani headed back to the St. Marys, where the pinks were fewer. 'I never thought I'd leave a river because the fishing was too good.'" Eric Sharp in the Detroit Free Press.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday we floated the Snake River from Wilson to South Park, a distance of around 13 miles from north to south. The weather forecast called for snow, but the morning ended up being gray with only light spinkles and there were a fair amount of bugs -- BWOs, mahogany duns, assorted and sundry other small bugs. We had excellent fishing -- though mostly small fish with a couple of sixteen-inchers in the mix -- before lunch, when the weather cleared just before changing. The afternoon was cold and blustery and the fishing slowed considerably. That gave me an excuse to switch to a big hairy streamer, and I can now report that yes, you can cast large amounts of rabbit fur and lead with the new Sage Z-Axis 4-weight (even if your arm will not thank you for it).

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This week we are out fishing at the Crescent H Ranch in Jackson, Wyoming. Yesterday we woke to frost and perfect sunshine and after a big breakfast in the main lodge headed off to fish the Ranch's private sping creek waters for native cutthroat. The fish, as could be predicted given the bluebird skies and absence of wind, were hunkered down in the small waters of the creeks. We watched and waited, mostly for a fish to open his mouth and take in a nymph or two and let us know that he was feeding. Fishing only dries, the catch rate would not excite many fish counters, but man, were those native cuts that did eat our little BWOs gorgeous. The challenges seemed fitting. I didn't want to quit.

The Crescent H's main buildings were constructed in the late 20s as a ranch lodge, A Chicago family bought the ranch -- at that time 1200 acres-- in the 40s and ran it through the 60s, after which it changed hands a couple more times and subdvision reduced the the total size of the ranch proper to 350 acres. (Through some recent purchases the ranch is back to about 450 acres.) Leigh Perkins and Vern Bressler were wowed by the property, and the Ranch earned fame in the earily 80s as the inspiration for Orvis's concept of an "endorsed lodge," a location that met Orvis's standards for quaility of service and fishing. But in the the 1990s the owners began shifting the lodge away from angling as its raison d'etre. The current owner bought the ranch at the end of 2002 and hired Reynolds Pomeroy, who had for 18 years operated the well-known Westbank Anglers in Jackson Hole and had removed himself to New Zealand for a long-term vacation with his wife. Wise move. Now the ranch's extraordinary fishing opportunities are back in focus. The lodge prides itself on stewardship of its native fish populations -- the fine-spotted cutthroat, and if you want to fish for cutthroats in classic, but uncrowded spring creek conditions and spend your evenings in a top-of-line lodge atmosphere (frankly, we've never been at a nicer lodge), this is the place. You can get more info on the lodge at their Web site at www.crescenthranch.com.

Today we're off to float the Snake. The forecast is for inclement weather. We'll let you know how it goes.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Casting A Spell is a very readable and interesting example of the singular-subject nonfiction genre. Black has the tenacity of an investigative reporter, coupled with a narrative that follows a few distinct paths: fly-fishing in America, the rod builders and their legacy, and his own autobiographical account." Leigh Montgomery reviews George Black's recent book on bamboo fly rods in The Christian Science Monitor. Casting a Spell on Amazon.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Show me a fly fisher who doesn't occasionally peek at a flat surface with lines or depth numbers on it and I'll show you someone who doesn't fish much. The fact is, there are plenty of outdoors folks interesting in maps and charts and talking about them on the Internet, as evidenced by Jonathan Crowe's interesting The Map Room blog.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"They don’t have guest speakers at their meetings, they don’t host fishing trips, and they won’t teach you how to tie flies. They are all about getting stuff done on the ground. This field season alone they are completing 8 miles of major channel work on 3 streams, installing 4 fish screens at irrigation draws, implementing 5 grazing management plans, replacing 3 culverts with bridges, and planting thousands of willows… not to mention a handful of smaller projects and routine maintenance at projects from previous summers." Luca Adelphio talks about the challenges of conserving Montana's Big Blackfoot and how they are met by the folks working behind the scenes.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Try stripping wooly buggers and streamers across pools and runs, or, if you can find a larger pool or run that's open, swing a soft hackle fly or a spey fly down and across the current flow. In late fall and early winter, when fish are less active, you can turn to dead drift presentations exclusively." Guide John Nagy gives advice for those tapping into the unusually early steelhead runs out of Lake Erie. Article by Deborah Weisberg in the Pttsburgh Post-Gazette.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eric Sharp suggests that one look at the real economics of Great Lakes fisheries will make a solution to invasive species problems obvious: plug up both entrances to the lake on the east and west. "Yet we can now count some 180 exotic species in the lakes, many arriving in the ballast water from ocean-going ships and most costing us money." Lots of good detail here on the various problems caused by aquatic hitchhikers. In the Detroit Free Press.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Forget about drag-free drifts. The current rage among Pere Marquette trout anglers -- especially those looking for big trout after dark -- are big hairy flies that leave wakes. "Mice, once the weapon of choice of a few hard-core, tight-lipped, after-dark fly fishermen, are mainstream now. More and more anglers are becoming acquainted with the big bushy bugs that are known to draw the attention of a class of trout that many anglers never even see." Bob Gwidz on MLive.com.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Friday morning, Cashman had yet to decide whether he would fish -- but the rituals -- the pre-dawn drive north, glimpsing the river at sunrise from the bridge in Brewer, the old friends, swapping stories (some of them true) -- were too much to resist." Dave Sherwood writes about renewed hope among Atlantic salmon addicts that the opening of the Penobscot for a limited season will excite more interest in the health of the river. He cites the removal or bypassing of three dams as creating the potential for annual runs of 10,000-12,000 fish. On MaineToday.com.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 5:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ever wonder how fish shocking works and why scientists believe it the best tool available for helping them measure the health of trout populations? Steve Benson gives the details in the Idaho Mountain Express. "The seemingly paralyzed fish are scooped up by net and transported to an oxygenated barrel of water in the canoe. Those fish that are not netted regain muscle use as soon as they are beyond the reach of the electrode current, which is about the length of a fly fishing cast."

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Often overlooked, Dry Creek is home to one of the largest populations of native brook trout in Virginia, thanks in part to an accident of geology. "The geology -- lots of carbonate rocks -- helps combat acid rain, which has scarred streams such as the St. Mary's River. It also explains the Dry's name. The karst topography creates drainage areas where the river sinks from view." Lee Graves in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why is Maine willing to invest $1000 for every potential Atlantic salmon returning to its waterways? One reason is that almost all Atlantic salmon in the U.S. now get their start in Maine. "More than 90 percent of the adult salmon returning to U.S. waters annually can be traced to Maine’s hatchery programs. So without Maine’s restoration effort - and the millions of public dollars it takes to run it - where would the salmon be, they ask rhetorically." Kevin Miller in the Bangor Daily News.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"They are delightful jewels, those miniature char. Who doesn't love a brook trout for its harlequin color, its wildness and enthusiasm for a well-cast fly?" Ed Dentry writes about the call of the brook trout in the Rocky Mountain News.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a small test on the Penobscot River, Maine is trying a new technique to raise awareness and support for Atlantic salmon conservation. "The 'experimental' season, running from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, will offer the first opportunity to fish for sea-run salmon in Maine rivers since 1999." In the Boston Globe.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The trout fell back with the heavy splash that is the unmistakable sound of an Alaskan 'slab' -- a thick fish measuring at least 24 or 25 inches in length, the caliber of wild rainbow that most fly fishermen seldom, if ever, experience." Joe Doggett describes his annual pilgrimage to Alaska and Newhalen Lodge near Lake Iliamna in southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay regio. Besides pointing out the almost mythic quality of the rainbow trout fishing in that area, Doggett notes the increased threat of "subsistence fishing" -- new rules that are being exploited because of the lack of enforcement -- in this remarkable area. In the Houston Chronicle.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"He has designed fly rods for 28 years and specialized in spey rods for 23 of those years. But he was only recently 'discovered,' the story goes, by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, who decreed Nodera's influence to be The Spey Underground." Ed Dentry talks about the new rods Nobuo Nodera of CND (Custom Nobuo Design) demonstrated at the recent FlyFishing Retailer Show in Denver. In the Rocky Mountain News.

You can read more on CND rods on SpeyPages.com.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“'Fly? I can’t tell you, other than it’s a streamer, or maybe a nymph or a dry fly, perhaps,' intoned Tom McDermott of Denver, who winked and grinned yet nevertheless still refused to divulge the fly patterns he and partner Gary Christlieb were to use in during Saturday’s eight hours of competition." Tom McDermott and Gary Christlieb took high team honors at the annual Superfly in Colorado last weekend; turns out they used a black woolly bugger. The top individual performance came from Mike Beatty, who used -- believe it or not -- a pale morning dun and a blue-winged olive. Dave Buchanan in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

Meanwhile in Wyoming, Peter Moyer showed that tradition has little place in a heated battle, choosing a San Juan Worm (which he trimmed into a midge on day two) to take the Jackson Hole One Fly. "In spite of his difficulties on Sunday, Moyer’s two-day total of 932 points lifted him over Dave Perkins of the NFWF Drifters for top amateur angler honors. Moyer’s bonanza also helped carry his team, The Boys, to the overall team title." Michael Pearlman in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Bear Creek, just north of Brethren, is where Hemingway fished by accessing the Creek from a bridge on Kerry Road. The Creek itself is more like a river; its width is about 30 to 45 feet wide at this section of the stream. The bottom is a gravel sand mixture with high banks, twisting curves and deep cold dark holes running through a mature forest." An article on LiteraryTraveler.com lists the places where Ernest Hemingway fished while in Michigan. First noted on Moldy Chum.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nick Mills uncovers the macabre humor behind the naming of the Sweeney Todd and goes on to explore the personalities behind many famous fly names, among them the Hendrickson, Adams and Hornberg. "Sweeney Todd, the man, was apparently fictional, and first appeared in English literature in the 19th century as a throat-cutting killer who met his end dangling from the Old Bailey's gibbet." On MaineToday.com.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Though the Yellowtail dam was built on the promise of more tourism for Wyoming, instead it produced a world-class fishery in a neighboring state, and with water at an increasing premium, that has Wyoming residents wondering whether the loss of 73 ranches was worth the price. Ruffin Prevost writes about the history of the Yellowtail Dam -- which controls flows into the Bighorn River in Montana -- and its impact on Wyoming communities in today's Billings Gazette.

Posted by Marshall Cutchin at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Far-flung correspondent Misty Dhillon reports on early season Mahseer fishing in India's Himalayan outback:

Yammuna Trip September 2006

Peter and self had been planning our annual