Well, I’ll Be Dammed

Well, I’ll Be Dammed

“Dam removal is a hot topic within fly-fishing and conservation circles these days, with very good reason.

Dams block fish passage. That’s bad for spawning and recruitment. In some places, dams that slow current flows cause water temperatures to rise. That’s bad for cold-water-loving trout and the insects they eat, especially in an era of climate change.

When you take out certain dams, the fish rebound can be dramatic and sometimes even immediate. The storyline is pretty simple: River historically supports a native fishery. Dam built in river, the fish go away. Dam taken out, the fish come back. No dam equals happy fish. Happy fish equals happy anglers.”

Read the entire dam write-up.

Flylab Interview: Ryan Busse

“A couple things. The last I checked the supply of clean, cold trout rivers was not increasing. And it’s pretty difficult to reproduce these natural resources on any continuum other than a geological time scale. So, for those of us who live in human time scales, perhaps we should vote as if these things exist in human time scales. In Montana when we speak of places like the Bitterroot or the Blackfoot or the Flathead or the Clark Fork–these are names of rivers–but actually, to your point, what they really are are the names of entire social economic systems, small towns, cafes, hotels, fly shops, fishing guides, shuttle drivers, someone making sandwiches, someone else fixing boats. As my friend, former Montana governor Steve Bullock, used to say, ‘They ain’t coming here for our Walmarts, right?’ They’re coming because we have these incredible rivers, valleys and resources.”

Read the entire interview.

New Books: A Fishable Feast Has Arrived

Deeter publishes a new travel, food and fly-fishing book: A Fishable Feast–Fly Fishing & Eating Your Way Around the World, co-authored with Matthew Supinski.

“A Fishable Feast came about because, when I’d come home from a great fishing (story) trip, the first thing I wanted to do was share the experience with my family and closest friends–partly through storytelling and sharing photos, yet also by recreating some authentic tastes that I had discovered.

Plain and simple, that’s the motivation for this book. Whether you’re dreaming of places you want to go, or want to revisit spots where you’ve already been, we want to put you right there with stories, photos and recipes.”

Read the entire write-up and some recent reviews.

Whither the Double Taper?

“While scanning the internet recently, I happened across an article titled “Why Fish Double-taper Fly Lines?” A website reader wondered what these lines were for, noting that he didn’t know anyone that fished one. The article’s author then opined that he himself had never fished a double-taper either. Seeking an answer, the question was passed on to some other folks.

To my mind, however, why fish a double-taper? isn’t the telling question. Rather, what we should be asking is, why fish a weight-forward? Indeed, considering the relative merits of each taper, it’s long struck me as odd that the weight-forward has so convincingly supplanted the double-taper as the de facto line choice for today’s anglers (I’m referring here to floating lines).”

Read the entire article.

Fly-tying Knowhow: Tungsten Beads

“Most fly anglers default to tungsten when tying flies–these beads are heavier, sound more serious and the packaging generally implies that anything less is a compromise.

So, the brass beads sit in the assortment tray, compartmentalized and largely ignored, while the tungstens get threaded onto everything from size 22 midges to size 6 streamers, without much thought about whether that’s actually an intelligent (or the right) fly-tying call.

It usually isn’t. At least not always.”

Read the entire fly-tying tip.

Understanding Aquatic Insect Emergences

“Maggie Heumann, an entomologist and Trout Unlimited’s Director of Engagement Partnerships, talks about voltinism: the number of broods or generations of an organism a year.

With regard to insects, or even other aquatic organisms, understanding voltinism–the frequency of a species’ life cycle–is essentially like having the master schedule for a river’s “buffet line.”

And for the fly angler, this understanding can move you away from guessing about the activity (or emergences) of insects and toward a more calculated strategy based on biological rhythms.”

Read the entire article.

Patagonia Part One: Christiaan Pretorius travels to southern Patagonia (Argentina) with Tres Amigos Outfitters, searching for king salmon at the Río Guanaco, then Estancia Río Pelke for spring creek trout.