Beaver Island Shipwrecks, Snorkeling with Salmon, Big Dries for Big Trout, Dangers of Bucket Biology

August 3, 2012 By: Erin Block

  • As well as being home to some very large carp, what is fast becoming a mecca for anglers, Beaver Island, is also home to some fascinating shipwrecks.
  • Snorkeling with salmon reveals the darker side of a river, humans and their trash: from water bottles to sunglasses, barbed wire to car parts. “Much of this refuse dates back to times when rivers were widely viewed as convenient and logical receptacles for trash.” writes Russ Ricketts, “Sadly, many people still view rivers this way.”
  • For the rest of the summer, your strategy should be big dry flies for big trout, says Will Ryan. So take a look at his picks for the best hopper and cricket patterns, as well as the best tactical usage for each.
  • Illegal stocking of smallmouth bass by “bucket biologists” is wreaking havoc on native fish populations in Colorado’s Miramonte Reservoir, necessitating removal of all the fish in the reservoir and the population built back up from there. “Killing all the fish in the reservoir lake is something we wish we didn’t have to do,” says  Renzo DelPiccolo, area wildlife manager in Montrose,  “but we know we must,”