Washington proposed rule changes need your input

In Live Action Alerts, Washington by Jenny Weis

  We are approaching the end of an important comment period that will impact our fisheries in Washington for many years to come.   The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is accepting public input on proposed rule changes for Washington State through THIS Thursday Nov. 30th and need to hear that overly-simplifying fishing regulations could harm fish and …

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Stand up for the Methow

In Washington by Shauna Sherard

    Dear fellow anglers, I am writing to urge you to use the attached link to access a petition letter from our coalition partners “Methow Headwaters”.  This letter with signatures will be printed and submitted to the USFS as a part of the comment period for the 20 year mineral withdrawal in the Methow Valley.   A proposed copper …

Olympic Peninsula Guide Legislation

In Washington by Nick Chambers

Trout Unlimited has been working with guides and anglers to discuss and facilitate limited entry guide legislation for the Olympic Peninsula (OP). As part of this process we collaborated with the Olympic Peninsula Guides Association (OPGA) to draft and pass a budget proviso during the last legislative session. The proviso directs the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (the Department) …

Ya Gotta Believe!!

In Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington by Nick Chambers

By Bill Herzog   Back in 1969, the New York Mets made baseball history. The “Amazin’ Mets,” as they came to be known, a team that had been dropped in the toilet like a three day old dead goldfish by most baseball experts, came from nowhere to shock the country and win the World Series that year.   The Mets …

Science Friday: Why are half pounders declining in the Trinity River?

In Science Friday by Nick Chambers

When anglers dream of steelhead, they mostly fantasize about fish that have spent 2-4 years in the ocean and return to freshwater to spawn as full adults, packing four or more pounds and brutish power into their physique. However, one of the most common forms of returning steelhead in some rivers is not the adult, but the so-called half-pounder.   …

Science Friday: Behavioral Thermoregulation

In Science Friday by Nick Chambers

Most steelhead anglers know that the family of fishes called salmonidae (trout, char, salmon and whitefish) are highly sensitive to water temperature and quality. These fishes require cold, clean water to thrive. But what happens to them when water temps become unfavorable? As you might expect, they seek out places in the river that regain cool water — now often …

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A stream with two stories — but only because it goes dry in summer

In Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington by Nick Chambers

Most people think of the Pacific Northwest as a region of dense coniferous rainforest and myriad gushing rivers that drain mountain ranges influenced by a damp, cool coastal climate. And it is. But like every other part of the American West, this region also features one of the most important components of any watershed: intermittent streams.   Intermittent streams are …

2017 – a Bad Year or Part of a Trend?

In Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, Science Friday, Washington by Nick Chambers

Ocean conditions are vitally important for wild steelhead runs — probably every steelhead angler knows this. But what does that phrase really mean? The ocean is a massive and incredibly complex system, and there are many factors out in the big blue that can influence steelhead in any given year. That is why it is so difficult to parse out …

Science Friday: More on summer and winter steelhead genetics

In Oregon, Science Friday by Nick Chambers

By John McMillan Two weeks ago we reviewed a study by Prince et al. that discovered a single gene differentiated steelhead which return immature (referred to as pre-mature in the study) to freshwater (i.e., summer steelhead) and those that return in a mature or relatively mature state (i.e., winter steelhead). Anglers have long known there is something inherently different about …

Rise of the Phoenix: wild summer steelhead in the Elwha River

In Science Friday by Nick Chambers

By John McMillan, science director, Trout Unlimited Wild Steelhead Initiative   A few years back, while working on the Elwha dam removal project, I donned a wetsuit for one of many snorkel surveys I conducted that summer. I had been snorkeling the main-stem Elwha, but that day – a crisp cool day in mid-October – I found myself drawn to …