Articles

Dear Diary

Starting your own little red book
Photo: George Costa

I've got a guy. You've probably got one too. He's the guy you call when you’re heading out someplace you only fish every so often and need some intel. He always seems to know when and where to go and where the fish will be. Is it a sixth sense? The knowledge gained through experience? Sure, it may be, but the odds are better that he's got a notebook, or in my guy’s case, a crusty old manila folder that looks like it's been around since the Reagan administration.

Utah public stream access restored

Judge's ruling deems Public Waters Act unconstitutional
Utah's Upper Provo River (photo: Owen Xu).

After years of efforts by groups such as the Utah Stream Access Coalition (USAC), the public's right to access and recreate on all of Utah's public waterways was restored yesterday in a decision by Judge Derek Pullan of Utah's 4th District Court. The ruling concludes a lawsuit filed in 2010 by the USAC which claimed that the inappropriately named Public Waters Act, which previously barred the public from accessing public waterways where they crossed private property, was unconstitutional. Pullan's ruling affirmed the coalition's claim, restoring access rights in the process.

Winter is coming

Five flies to get you through it
Winter on the Madison River (photo: Christopher Daniel).

Winter is coming. These are our words: five flies. That's all I'm giving you for the next 3 months. No dries. Sure, there might be some olives on January 26th when the mercury tips out at a balmy 46. But those trout are lethargic and don't want to spend the energy to rise. So, here you go. Tie some, buy some, steal them from your buddy's box when he's not looking. These are the flies that'll get you through the tough times when your guides are icy, your knuckles are bleeding and you’re really wondering if standing in 42 degree water when it's 23 outside is a wise life choice.

Little lives of the creek

A system in concert
Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain

My first memories of a creek trace back to Hacker Creek. As water runs its course, Hacker transforms it from the spirited rapids of the Ozark Mountains to the somber brown might of the Arkansas River. Topography is the deciding influence for any creek’s personality, and Hacker reflects the gentler rolling hills and long stretches of flatland through which it meanders with longer pools, subdued riffles and nary a waterfall of any size. Its water looks like weak tea — clear as air at it’s thinnest points, tannin stained by sycamore and oak leaves at it’s thickest.

Common sense for steelhead, right now

It's time for anglers to step up
A stout buck from the Olympic Peninsula (photo: Reid Curry).

Wild steelhead are more than our passion. They are our soul and our inspiration. Powered by persistence and resolve, steelhead undertake an unimaginably arduous migration to sustain life. Littered with roadblocks and seemingly impassable barriers, it is an upstream journey that demands unrelenting perseverance. It is also a pilgrimage that requires difficult changes as steelhead undergo a physiological metamorphosis as they transition between the salt and freshwater.

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