When it finally happens, you’ll know. First, you’ll feel an unmistakable sensation of weight, building and causing an ever-deepening bend in your rod. Then you’ll feel your brain, now infused with adrenalin, on fire with the realization that a steelhead has indeed grabbed your swung fly.
The Perfect Honeymoon Suite for Wild Steelhead
When it comes to the Lower 48, it’s undeniable. The Snake River basin is the last best place to restore salmon and steelhead. And that isn’t just bias coming from an Idaho guy who loves and cherishes the wild landscapes and waters of the Gem State. The Snake River basin was once the preeminent producer of summer steelhead to the …
Lee Geist: Strobe Probing For Steelhead
Wild Steelheaders United ambassador Lee Geist with some well-worn advice on how to catch steelhead using a spinner- in this case his favorite #5 Blue Fox. Catch Lee on Instagram @lee_geist and check back for his semi-weekly Wild Steelheaders United blog updates. If you told me I could only fish one steelhead lure for the rest of my life I …
Summer Steelhead, Spring Chinook and the Delicious Thing They Have in Common
By Lee Geist Summer Steelhead, Spring Chinook and the Delicious Thing They Have in Common. Thick lines of fat segmented by beautiful bright flesh all bundled together and sweating on the BBQ. These days I can’t even look at a picture of a Springer without my mouth watering and the same goes for a brand new hatchery summer. It is …
ODFW Approves Thermal Angling Sanctuaries on the Columbia
Earlier today, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted temporary rules for the 2020 fishing season that limit angling for steelhead in thermal sanctuaries at the mouths of Herman Creek, Eagle Creek, and the Deschutes River. This rule change is a win for endangered Columbia basin steelhead stocks, including the legendary B-Run steelhead that return to the Clearwater each year. …
Science Friday: McMillan’s Barbless Podcast with ODFW biologist Ian Tattam
Science Friday this week comes from our own John McMillan’s Barbless Co. Olympic Peninsula Podcast, with guest Ian Tattam, Supervisory Fish and Wildlife Biologist and one of the researchers being funded by our John Day Steelhead Project. Click on over to John’s podcast and give those quarantine-wary eyes a relief from screen time. John and Ian cover a lot of …
Support the John Day Steelhead Project
The John Day Steelhead Project is raising funds for a collaborative research project between the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, graduate students at Oregon State University, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and other partners seeking to better understand John Day steelhead migration patterns and how Columbia River dams may be impacting the health and abundance of these fish.
Rising from the Ashes
WATCH THE FULL FILM NOW: This is a special week for steelhead anglers, and others who care about the magnificent sea-run form of rainbow trout in its native range of the Pacific Northwest. On Friday, Wild Steelheaders United will launch a new film on the resurgence of summer steelhead in Washington’s Elwha River. The film’s release is supported by a …
Cold water refuges in the Columbia River- what are they and why are they important?
After months of winter steelheading, and with spring a few days away, wet-wading and sunshine are starting to sound pretty appealing. But warmer temperatures also bring some complications for summer steelhead in the Columbia basin. Tributaries like Herman Creek, Eagle Creek, Little White Salmon, and the Deschutes River deliver cold water to the Columbia even when air temps climb. Summer …
A Genetic Basis for Summer and Winter Steelhead – a follow up
By Charlie Schneider We’re going to bring things full circle this week, with a look at how emerging science can meld with policy and restoration efforts to help reach our ultimate goal of improving steelhead runs. A previous SF post (http://www.wildsteelheaders.org/much-at-stake-in-listing-decision-on-northern-california-summer-steelhead/ ) highlighted the petition to list summer steelhead on the Eel River in Northern California, and discussed …