Articles

Steelhead and Salmon May Soon Be Gone from California and Oregon, Study Suggests

by Ben Kryzinski - Monday, Dec 29th, 2014

A Klamath River salmon.

Efforts to restore salmon habitat and rebuild healthy, wild salmon populations in much of the Pacific Northwest have perhaps never been stronger. Dams are coming down, government agencies are reducing stocking efforts and their damaging effects on wild fish populations and researchers are learning more each day about what steps are required to bring back the once vibrant salmon populations of Pacific northwest states like California, Oregon and Washington. Unfortunately, the results of a recent study published in the journal Progress in Oceanography suggest that these efforts may be fighting a losing battle, thanks to the effects of climate change. The results of the study identify waters off the coasts of states like California and Oregon as likely hot spots for local extinctions, as populations of sensitive coldwater fish species -- including steelhead and all five Pacific salmon species -- flee northward to avoid warming ocean waters.

According to the study, anthropogenic climate change is causing changes in ocean conditions that are much more rapid than previously known natural changes. These include physical changes such as those to water temperatures and ocean currents, as well as chemical changes in acidity and oxygen content. These have led to changes in spatial distribution of many marine species and to a lesser degree biological changes such as effects on physiologies and phenologies.

Underwater Fishing Photography: Introduction

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, Dec 26th, 2014

Underwater photography may be in its heyday. Thanks largely to technological advancements, capturing underwater images is now easier and more accessible than ever before. We're seeing more and more images from under the surface, whether those images are ones of kids taken by parents at the pool, pictures of coral reefs taken by snorkeling vacationers or professional photographers capturing images in and far below the surf. The results have us captivated, allowing us all to explore our world from vantage points we've never -- or at least rarely -- seen before.

Why Go Under

For the photographer attempting to document the fishing world, being able to take a camera underwater is an immensely powerful asset. Images that reveal the scenes beneath the surface of the waters we fishermen ply marry our world and that of the prey we spend so much time chasing. It expands the photographer's storytelling from a one-sided yarn to one that allows the viewer to immerse him or herself in both sides of the story. This connection between two worlds formed by underwater photography makes the fishing photographer's tale more whole. In fact, I have talked with a number of photographers that, like me, have come to feel that returning from the field without underwater photography makes a collection feel incomplete.

NY Bans Fracking as Trout Unlimited Completes its 10 Special Places

by Ben Kryzinski - Tuesday, Dec 23rd, 2014

Catskill Park, one of Trout Unlimited's Ten Special Places.

Trout Unlimited announced recently announced the final of its 'Ten Special Places' report, its initiative to call attention to angling and hunting resources at risk from hydraulic fracturing operations in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions in the northeast US. The announcement New York's Allegany State Park as the tenth region identified by the report came in close proximity to New York governor Andrew Cuomo's announcement that the state -- which has had a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing while the state explored health and safety concerns surrounding the practice -- with formalize a ban prohibiting the practice in the state.

New York's decision is being hailed as a victory by citizens, conservation and sportsman's groups which have advocated for many years to put in place measures to protect water, land and wildlife resources in the state and elsewhere throughout the Marcellus and Utica shale regions.

Trout Unlimited has applauded the decision. Katy Dunlap, the group's eastern water project director, said the decision "provides necessary protections for trout streams throughout the state and ensures that world-class fishing opportunities will be available for future generations. As we have seen in other states where shale gas is being developed, without proper regulations and protections, water quality in streams can be affected and ultimately impact trout and their habitat. ”

Home Waters

by Todd Tanner - Monday, Dec 22nd, 2014

I've been thinking a lot, or a least a lot more than I used to, about one of the more personal elements of a fly fisherman's existence. Maybe it's all the traveling I do, from Yellowstone up to the Canadian border, then to the east side of Montana, then back to Yellowstone country, then to New York to see my family, or to Atlanta, or Denver, or San Francisco, or any of the dozens of places that my profession seems to send me to on a regular basis. I've become, in my middle age, the wandering fisherman. Still, all this movement has helped me focus in on something that most people take for granted - the idea of home water.

A few years ago it was all the rage, especially in some of the fly fishing publications, for writers to talk about the concept of fishing as religion. It sounded good, with the constant references to personal enlightenment, ecstasy, higher planes and all that sort of stuff, but to be honest I never bought into it. Fishing, no matter how good it is, is just fishing. It's not orgasmic or mystical or cosmic. And when you think about it, the idea of achieving enlightenment through fooling some poor creature into eating something it shouldn't is just plain silly. If that's all it took, the people who own McDonald's and Burger King would be Dali Lamas.

What is true, though, is that if we're lucky enough, we can fish in awe inspiring places. I believe it was John Muir who said, "If I'm going to worship God, let it be in a temple he built with his own hands." Some of the finest temples I've ever seen have been rivers or lakes or streams, and while they were occasionally so far back in the woods that nobody fished them regularly, in most cases they were somebody's home water.

A Pocketful of Electric Ants

Attacks may cause injury or death

by Chris Hunt - Friday, Dec 19th, 2014

Photo: Chris Hunt

Sometimes you only have to tell a guy once that behaving a certain way could have consequences. But when the warning signs outnumber logic, you can’t blame a fellow for being a bit skeptical. In the case of tropical northern Queensland, put your skepticism aside -- everything here wants to kill you. In fact, plane tickets to Cairns should come with a warning label, much like a pack of cigarettes, or rat poison, or hydrochloric acid or ... you get the idea.

For instance, the short walk from the hotel in Port Douglas in the tropical north of Queensland to the beach was a jaunt ripe with caution.

First, I was told by the concierge not to touch the tar tree along the trail through the jungle to the water. Nasty burns, he told me--enough to ruin a weekend.