News

Two years after the last of the four lower Klamath dams came down, USGS is checking whether its own predictions held up. In an August 4 status update, the agency's Western Fisheries Research Center described a five-year study of how juvenile chinook, coho, and steelhead are moving through the reopened river. The point is to compare the actual migration data...

Tying Tuesday this week features all-around patterns to keep handy no matter the water. New England Fly Company kicks things off with a variation of Jack Gartside's famous fly for stripers, tying a smaller version with extra material added to the underbody. The idea is to show pressured fish something new by changing up the size and profile. You'll have to...

Oregon closes the Deschutes River to steelhead and salmon fishing Aug. 15, ODFW announced last week, after just 7,388 wild steelhead passed Bonneville Dam in July, short of the 9,900 the agency's Deschutes River Steelhead Management Framework requires to keep the fishery open. The lower Deschutes at Macks Canyon. Photo courtesy of Greg Shine/BLM Jason...

On the mid-Klamath, about seven miles northwest of Yreka, California, the Yurok Tribe and Karuk Tribe have started work on a large-scale habitat restoration project spanning 1.25 river miles and up to 45 acres downstream of the four lower dams removed in 2024. Aerial shot of the project site. All photos courtesy of the Yurok Tribe The McConnell Bar project...

Spokane fly tier and Umpqua signature tyer Josh Mills has launched an Instagram-based auction called #fliesforspokane to raise money for people displaced by the Spokane Complex fires, which have destroyed more than 600 structures and forced roughly 60,000 evacuations across the northwest side of the city since Saturday. Photo: John Ruff/Flickr Announcing...

Idaho anglers heading to the Snake, Salmon, and Clearwater drainages for the upcoming fall chinook season, opening August 18, will be working under tighter rules on wild fish. Photo: Wlodzimierz/Adobe Stock The Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted July 16 in Jerome to keep the daily bag at three adult fall chinook but limit anglers to one unclipped fish per...

Henry’s Fork Anglers celebrates their 50th anniversary this month, with events spanning August 10-15. All are open to the public, and include panels, fly tying demonstrations, and special events to honor the community behind the iconic outfitter and shop. Henry's Fork Anglers, 1977 | All photos courtesy of Mike Lawson Founded in 1976 by Mike and Sheralee...

A couple of time-tested classics share the week with a flats fly and a hard-to-find wet pattern. First up is a Muddler Minnow from The Fly Smith (tiesflies), the deer-hair-headed classic that reads as a sculpin or small baitfish. Next is the Jigged Low Tide Pheasant Tail from Caddis Fly Angling Shop, built for the dog days of summer, when trout turn picky...

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) voted to approve a new minimum size limit (MSL) for all species of trout. Effective January 1st, 2027, all trout must be at least 9 inches long to be harvested, an increase from the previous MSL of 7 inches. The move is intended to protect the state's wild trout population. Adobe Stock/Gaylon The decision...

Wyoming Game and Fish issued a voluntary catch-and-release closure on the Snake River and Flat Creek on Wednesday, July 29, asking anglers to pause catch-and-release fishing between noon and sunrise on the Snake from the Yellowstone National Park boundary to Palisades Reservoir, and on all of Flat Creek. Photo: TroutFodder/Adobe Stock Harvest fishing within...