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Outdoor recreation economy surpasses $1 trillion mark

Growth of the outdoor recreation is outpacing the economy as a whole, new data shows

by Hatch Magazine - Saturday, Nov 18th, 2023

Photo: Chad Shmukler.

For the first time in history, the size of the rapidly growing outdoor recreation industry has eclipsed the $1 trillion mark, according to recently released data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). This new data indicates that the $1.1 trillion outdoor recreation industry accounts for over 2 percent of the entire U.S. GDP and provides over 3 percent of the nation’s jobs. The analysis also shines a light on how significantly outdoor recreation is outpacing other sectors of the U.S. economy, more than tripling the economy as a whole in some metrics.

The old man, the kid, and the dumpling

It seemed only normal that the kid had followed me to Alaska to work summers at the lodge

by Bob White - Thursday, Nov 16th, 2023

Morning Light on Timmerman's Island (artwork: Bob White).

It was the kind of hangover I liked and often cultivated. Enough of one to remind me that I’d had a good time, but not enough to shy me away from the first evening drink. I sat in the shop among the ancient and broken-down outboards that needed repair, cradling a mug of coffee, and watched the morning fog lift from the lake and disappear. High clouds were beginning to take form; it would be a fine day.

Scientists 'refrigerated' a Nova Scotia salmon stream

Researchers explore whether active intervention is a feasible approach to saving coldwater fish species

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Nov 15th, 2023

Releasing an Atlantic salmon (photo: Camden Spear).

Scientists artificially refrigerated a salmon stream in Nova Scotia during last summer’s record heat wave. Hundreds of migratory and river-dwelling fish basked in the cold-water flows pumped into the river from a nearby groundwater well. The addition of cold water to the Wrights River was part of a Dalhousie University study conducted to determine if adding colder water to streams that become dangerously warm for trout and salmon during prolonged heat waves can help keep the fragile fish alive.

Brian's rock

Remembering Sergeant First Class, Army medic and angler Brian Mancini

by Beau Beasley - Friday, Nov 10th, 2023

Photo: Beau Beasley.

About an hour west of Washington, DC, among the bucolic rolling hills of Madison County, Virginia, there is a rock. Perhaps at one time this rock was wedged securely alongside other rocks; perhaps it was buried somewhere deep in the earth’s crust. Chances are better than fair that this rock is a chip off of the nearby mountains, which command a breathtaking view of the serene valley below. At first blush it looks like any other rock—but this rock is different.

Tell me sweet little lies

In praise of guides and gillies

by Richard Wilson - Thursday, Nov 9th, 2023

Photo: Chad Shmuker.

‘Hey Mr Dream-Seller, tell me how’s it gonna be. Are the Salmon running? Are there fish you can see? Have you, as the song says, dreams enough to spare?’

Comes the answer: ‘Fish are moving and the river’s looking great - and it should hold well for the whole of your week’. All of which sounds very promising. But buyer beware; we hear what we want to hear and nowhere do these words say there are more than a handful of salmon in the river.

New fly fishing gear: November 2023

What's new on the water this month

by Hatch Magazine - Wednesday, Nov 8th, 2023

Photo: Cheeky Reels.

Like it or not, the holidays are upon us, and fly fishing gear peddlers are all about seasonal sales. This month, equipment manufacturers are launching a host of new items, from a new rod-and-reel combo kit to a waterproof wading backpack from an unlikely source.

All the “bah, humbug!” aside, it really is a good time to find solid buys for the fly fisher in your life. Take a look at all the new stuff for November — there’s bound to be something the fly angler in your life might like to find under the tree in just seven short weeks.

A pike trip to brook trout lake

Not all fishing trips follow the script

by Chris Hunt - Tuesday, Nov 7th, 2023

Photo: Chris Hunt

My fascination with Labrador started sometime in the late 1990s. Having grown up in the mountains of Colorado, where seemingly every little creek and beaver pond was stacked with non-native brook trout that topped out at about eight inches long, I yearned to feel the tug of a real brookie — a five-pound behemoth that swam where it was supposed to swim. That place, of course, was Labrador. The far-flung Canadian province might have been on the same continent, but for a young angler with limited means and designs on a somewhat normal existence, Labrador might as well have been on the moon.

Here comes the sun

Do we want it or not?

by Mike Sepelak - Sunday, Nov 5th, 2023

Photo: Mike Sepelak

There’s a thin, icy glaze on the Ankona’s front casting platform and there’s no way I’m stepping up there, especially after the long skate I took down the boat ramp when we launched the damn thing. Landing on one’s ass at the bottom of a frozen dock is one thing. Landing on one’s ass at the bottom of a sixty-foot deep, forty-degree lake in the dark is quite another.

I’m perfectly comfortable casting from here in the pit, thank you very much, although “comfortable” is a relative term considering the fact that I can’t feel my toes.