Opinion: Steelhead Fishing in 2021

I have to tip my hat to Jeff Hickman and the staff at Hatch Magazine. They put together a story that won’t be popular with corporate conservation groups or wildlife management agencies alike, but it’s the story that needs to be told right now.

Steelhead returns in the Columbia River Basin are the worst we’ve ever documented. Jeff Hickman – owner of Fish the Swing, one of the premier guide services on the Deschutes River in Oregon – cancelled his entire steelhead season due to the poor numbers.

But in this story, Hickman dives into the meat of what forced his hand, and whether we should even be fishing for steelhead right now at all.

Read his story in full, here.