Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

The Humpback Chub, one of the original species included for protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1967, has been identified for potential delisting to a “Threatened” status by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. According to a press release from the agency last week, a Species Status Assessment (SSA) has been completed that indicates the fish is no longer in imminent danger of extinction.

Native to the Lower Colorado River, the Humpback Chub is a warmwater species adapted to the periodic high water volumes in the Grand Canyon. With a characteristic, raised shoulder profile that is thought to help the fish remain close to the stream bottom when strong spring flood flows are raging overhead, the Humpback evolved in the millennia before hydroelectric dams were built on the river. A contentious issue between southwest environmentalists and water stake holders, management of the species has been at the center of controversy since federal mandates required “High Flow Experiments” (HFE’s), where large amounts of water were released downstream from Lake Powell to mimic the spring floodwaters of naturally flowing rivers.  Critics — and there are many spread across various sectors — have said the management practice is wasteful of the most precious commodity in the desert southwest and does nothing to permanently benefit down river stream bottom conditions favorable to the Humpback.

What’s the concern for anglers if the Humpback is not a sport fish? The immediate tailwater section of the Colorado below the Glen Canyon Dam at Lee’s Ferry is a world renowned venue for fly fishermen, with rainbow trout thriving in the cold, clear water that the outflow of the lake above provides.  Like many large reservoirs in the west, Lake Powell acts as a thermal sink for impounded river water, maintaining cold temperatures in its depths and allowing settling of suspended sediments.  Water that is released down river is perfectly suited for Rainbow Trout, (a species native to the cool pacific northwest), at least for the first few miles before the southwestern sun heats up the main river again. Recognizing this, trout were initially introduced downstream by the USFW after construction of the dam to benefit to the sporting public. This stocking effort included other unique environments such as Bright Angel Creek, a side stream 80 miles down river that naturally expresses cool water conditions as a consequence of the stream running below ground for much of its length before entering the main stem of the Colorado.  Humpback Chub and trout populations do not typically physically interact due to the fundamentally different environmental requirements of each species.  Politically, however, the two are closely intertwined.

An endangered Arctic Charr in Maine is under threat from invasive Smelt in its home water, and resource managers are now apparently discussing relocating the entire population. Bald Mountain Pond is home to one of only twelve of the last remaining wild Arctic Charr populations in the US, which are considered the oldest strains in North America.  The Bald Mountain lineage in particular represents unique adaptations owing to thousands of years of isolation.

According to Wikipedia,  “Arctic Charr are native to New England, Canada, Alaska and Europe. Once found in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, they are now extant in Maine only.  Maine’s Arctic charr are the southernmost populations in the world and reported to be the oldest strain in North America.”

“Maine’s Arctic Charr are the rarest freshwater salmonid east of the Rocky Mountains.  They are classified as a Tier-1 Species of Greatest Conservation Need by MDIFW, the same classification as federally endangered Atlantic salmon.  They are classified as Threatened by the Endangered Species Committee of the American Fisheries Society.”

Bald Mountain Pond, like many lakes in Maine, was carved out of solid granite during the last ice age. When the glaciers retreated, the landscape was covered with depressions that were interconnected by flooded melt waters.  As climate conditions continued to become relatively more dry, lakes like Bald Mountain Pond became isolated genetic reservoirs for ice age fishes such as Arctic Charr. Freshwater Smelt are seen as competing with larval Charr for plankton sized food sources, and were probably introduced to the lake as bait — in violation of Maine law protecting Bald Mountain as a designated conservation resource.

Fly fishing is discriminatory.

This statement can be taken at face value: “For the discriminating angler, etc…”, has been a long standing virtue within our ranks. It can also be more damning, however, and in this sense I mean openly preferential of one living creature over another, prejudicial at it’s most base.

I’m gonna walk that back and say that this has been restricted to species other than our own, where the pursuit of certain fishes has been based entirely on aesthetics, and to somewhat lesser extent, behaviors. Trout, in particular, have been exalted as the ultimate game fish to pursue with a fly rod, not only for their beautiful configurations but also for a habit of taking bugs off the surface. This allows the presentation of dry flies as the methodology of choice, endlessly expounded by poorly socialized, overly opinionated types like myself as THE superior experience. A historical argument has also been made for salmon, (Atlantic Salmon, mind you) but I think that the proponents here are now outnumbered.

Gear choices get even more judgmental, and we shouldn’t even start, because there comes the issue of Flies. The Artificial Fly is the fundamental object of obsession in this sport, and its design and construction has been the subject of more debate, consideration, conflict, insult, injury and generally wasted time than almost any other facet of our pursuit. The selection of materials, in particular, can be arcane. Mink, Muskrat, Polar Bear, Badger, Partridge, Peacock, Emu, Heron and Ostrich among dozens of other species are all pursued as essential ingredients for concocting the ultimate prize — that of the Killer Pattern.

We all need a “Lefty” . . . even if he spends his adult life doing things right-handed. We need a Lefty for myriad, personal reasons. He’s needed to set the bar, to show us the way, to point out what’s possible, to mentor us, and to make us laugh. He’s there to teach us how to make the tough decisions, to be humble, gracious, get rid of our coats and ties, to eat right (just kidding), and to form tight loops!

Dropping Jaws

In the fall of 1965, Bernard “Lefty” Kreh was the newly appointed director of the Metropolitan Miami Fishing Tournament, and he was scheduled to speak at a regular meeting of my fishing club. He was new to the job, unknown to the local fishing community, and anxious to get us all more interested in the tournament.

He began speaking to an obviously uninterested audience. He immediately sensed the need to win over and impress club members, all of whom presumed that their knowledge far exceeded that of the stout, little fella from the Mid-Atlantic. Lefty stopped mid-sentence. The room grew quiet. He stepped from the podium toward a member in the front row who had a fly rod and reel at his side. Lefty asked if he could borrow the rod for a moment. The audience remained silent and curious.

Just fifty years ago the sport of fly fishing was a somewhat reclusive society reserved, it seemed, for a few elderly gentlemen dressed in tweeds and up-downer hats, smoking pipes, and speaking tongues—Latin. Ray Bergman, and later Joe Brooks, both fishing editors at Outdoor Life, and A.J. McClane at Field & Stream helped to bring the sport out of that closet to a broader demographic slice of American sportsmen. Then, in the past five decades, Brooks’s protégé Lefty Kreh slowly became the new father figure of American fly fishing.

Lefty could not have become that mentoring figure had it not been for his irrepressible sense of humor, his sunny personality, his exceptional athletic abilities, and his skills as a natural performer and communicator. But at the top of the list of qualities that explain his rise to international recognition must be mentioned that rare and elevating virtue—character.

One cannot understand Lefty’s strength of character and his enduring values without knowing a little about his formative roots.

When six-year-old Lefty and his three siblings lost their father and his mother had no choice but to accept welfare, there were few rungs lower on the social ladder for the Kreh family. Lefty never forgot the social and psychological ghetto of his youth, nor did he relinquish the values that he acquired while helping his family through bush-bob fishing for catfish on the nearby Monocacy River.

As an artillery spotter in the World War II Battle of the Bulge, Lefty was one of only a few in his unit to survive that extremely hazardous front-line duty. His hair fell out after he wore a tight-knit cap under a steel helmet in below zero weather and his scalp froze. He witnessed firsthand the greatest slaughter on the Western Front, except Anzio. By his mid-twenties, he had learned the survivor’s value of life and how to savor it, living each day as a precious opportunity. His character, forged in trial, became reflected in the mirrors of his soul—his eyes, his smile, and his infectious chuckles and laughter.

A wrinkle in a legal document regarding state ownership of a legendary section of the Henry’s Fork on the Snake River has the potential to take the resource out of public hands. Harriman State Park contains the Railroad Ranch, which was a gift made in the early 1960’s to the state of Idaho from the E.H. Harriman family.  The Harriman’s were some of the most successful railroad magnates of the 19th century, and initially intended the ranch to serve as a preserve for waterfowl, but it has since become regarded as one of the nation’s premier and publicly accessible fly fishing destinations.

The political boondoggle has arisen from a proposed bill (Idaho House #496) being introduced into the state legislature where the governor would be given the power to make direct appointments for the leadership of the Board of Directors of three state agencies — the Department of Transportation, Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Department of Corrections. As regards to Harriman State Park however, the issue is a provision in the language of the original donation of the resource, which stipulates that the Director of the Board would have to be chosen on a basis of merit. Historically, the Director of these various agencies would be elected by the Board to represent their overall values and concerns.  This was intended to provide assurance that the Board — whose members are all unpaid gubernatorial appointees, and assumed to comprise a balanced political body — would be acting without bias. With the potential for a direct appointee to the position of Director be made by the governor, the question arises of whether the candidate is of assured merit. If this could be argued to in a court of law, then the original agreement of the gift of the Railroad Ranch to the state could be invalidated, in which case the resource would revert to ownership by the Harriman family. This is something the Harrimans are reportedly adverse to not only from a management and funding perspective, but as a matter of family legacy.

As per recent coverage in the Idaho Statesman, the strategy to introduce the bill is of itself is being questioned as to it’s motivations, and unintended consequences. The bill was introduced by House Transportation Chairman Joe Palmer (R-Meridian), and there is an impression among other lawmakers that the intent is to provide political leverage for approval of a lucrative road building contract on the other side of the state from Harriman, Idaho Rt 16, in which Palmer is accused of having professional interests. Palmer could have structured the bill to only address the Dept. of Transportation leadership, but instead included two other agencies in an apparent effort to avoid the impression of having an agenda. This created a domino effect of consequences with the other two agencies, the first being the Harriman issue, and the second being that a political appointee for the Dept. of Corrections has been dismissed out of hand by analysts as being flatly unconstitutional.  Still, Palmer has persisted in including the three agencies in his proposal, despite being advised of the political downsides.

In the Statesman coverage, veteran reporter Rocky Barker — himself a lifelong fly fisherman and guidebook author — quoted Brian Kane, Idaho’s chief deputy attorney general.

Any tailwater trout fisherman worth this salt will tell you that midges are the go-to fly pattern — and the dominant insect species — in the outlet streams immediately below the dams that hold back larger reservoirs. Especially in the colder months, catching big fish on tiny flies is a seasonal discipline and an eye opening rite of passage for those new to the sport. Lake fishermen are also aware of the overall value of Chironomids (belonging to the enormous order of insects called Diptera), and when the hatch gets frustrating, dropping a tailless size #22 emerger in the film below a dry fly has saved many fishing days.

Recent scientific study is indicating that midges contribute more value to the health and vitality of lakes and tailwater streams than has been previously realized. Researchers from the Leibnitz-Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin, working in conjunction with biologists in the UK, have determined that the activity of burrowing midges and certain classes of annelid worms work to increase oxygenation of lake bottom sediments up to 300% more than had been previously assumed. The process, known as bioirrigation, increases infusion of oxygen and promotes aerobic breakdown by bacteria of the fine organic materials in sediment, providing available nutrients for species throughout associated ecological webs.

Using the bioactive tracer dye Resazurin, the researchers were able to measure the contribution of oxygen that the insects were making to the substrate they were burrowing into. Resazurin is light blue dye that turns a bright fluorescent pink after being converted via cellular metabolic processes in living organisms. Resazurin has been used in previous studies to assess the total insect biomass in stream bottoms — measuring direct respiration of the organisms — but in the case of the lake sediment research, the amount of converted resafurin in the treated sediment was used as an extrapolation of available oxygen for the midges to breathe in the first place.

In the April May 2018 issue of Fly Fisherman (on sale now) we reported that Thompson River steelhead are on the verge of extinction, with fewer than 200 fish expected in the final tally of fish returning to spawn in late 2017. The cause is legal but indiscriminate gill netting in the Fraser River by First Nations and commercial fishermen. We also reported that the only way to save Thompson River steelhead may be a a listing of the fish under Canada’s Species At Risk Act (SARA). A SARA listing could outlaw all activities endangering Thompson steelhead.

Update: Since that story went to press, The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) completed its emergency assessment of Thompson River and Chilcotin River steelhead and has determined both populations are at imminent risk of extinction. Both were assessed by COSEWIC as Endangered and recommended for an emergency listing order under SARA.

Only 177 adult steelhead returned to the Thompson in 2017 and only 58 fish returned to the Chilcotin. Both are tributaries of the Fraser river and are impacted by downstream gillnetting. In both cases, the numbers represent the lowest ever recorded.

They can be big, they can be bad, and if you don’t keep your wits about you, things can go sideways in a hurry — but they can be a ton of fun!  The results of the 2018 Cuda Bowl Tournament in Key West are in, and it appears that a good time was had by all.

The Florida-based salt water flats fishing challenge brought anglers from all over the country to compete in catching and releasing Atlantic Barracuda, with both Fly and Spin fishing divisions represented. This year’s overall winner was a Fly angler who traveled from the neighboring state of Georgia to participate.

Barracuda are one of the larger and most plentiful inshore game fish, inhabiting reefs and flats as an apex predator. While they eat almost anything they can get their mouths around, they subsist primarily on Needlefish, a similarly proportioned shallow water fish.  Known by anglers for their amazing speed and acrobatic leaps when hooked, Barracuda also wield a mouthful of razor sharp teeth that not only necessitate the use of steel leaders to keep them from biting off the fly, but also require extreme care in handling, with unhooking for release generally being done with long nosed pliers and Boga grips.

As reported by the Florida Keys News,  “Scott Christian of Alpharetta, Georgia, released 246.75 inches of barracuda to win the fly division of the 2018 Cuda Bowl Tournament that ended Feb. 3 in the Lower Florida Keys. Guided by Captain John Benvenuto of Key West, he earned the title of divisional grand champion.”

“Christian’s catches included the fly division’s largest individual barracuda, measuring 48.75 inches. Tournament organizers said the fish was the event’s largest ever caught on fly. Christian also took top honors for the most barracuda releases on fly.”

Public stream access in Colorado has once again become a contested issue, and this time it’s being argued in federal court.  Landowners in the centennial state claim that they own not only riverbanks, but river bottoms, and that fishermen wading midstream are committing criminal trespass.

As reported last week in the Denver Post, Colorado Springs angler and guidebook author Roger Hill has brought suit in US District Court, maintaining that the bottom of a river is actually public property. At issue is a federal doctrine called “Navigability for Title”,  where in cases that people or goods have been historically transported on the water, it establishes public utility of the resource — but only if the use was prior to the designation of statehood.

Hill is suing landowner Mark Warsewa, who holds title to property that spans both banks of the Arkansas River. Hill has had repeated confrontations with Warsewa after accessing the river from a public access point, and wading into the section of water that runs between Warsewa’s holdings.

Bonefish have now been observed attempting to repoduce in captivity, a new development in marine fisheries science.  As reported by our friends (and yours) at the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, schools of Albula Vulpes have been recorded exhibiting spawning behavior in the large aquariums at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas.

Bonefish, a favorite target species for salt water fly rod anglers, have global tropical distribution but are a major focus of an extremely developed and mature sport fishery in the Caribbean ocean.  Fisherman from around the world travel to area resorts and employ local guide services in pursuit of a fish that can sprint at over 50 mph when hooked. Along with Tarpon and Permit, Bonefish are part of the highly prized “Caribbean Grand Slam”, where anglers catch — and release — a specimen of all three species in a days fishing.

Despite the sporting and economic importance that Bonefish represent to the region, little is known about their reproductive and migratory habits.

Recent press from the BTT reports, “Over the past ten years Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, working alongside our many collaborators, has gained valuable insight into bonefish spawning behavior, but there is still a lot we don’t know. One way we’re trying to decipher the riddles of bonefish spawning is through the Bonefish Restoration Research Project, a collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, which aims to spawn and rear bonefish in captivity. Spawning and rearing bonefish in captivity will help us understand the ecological and physiological requirements for bonefish to spawn, as well as for the survival of their eggs and larvae.”

After hearing rumors that schools of captive specimens at the Atlantis Resort appeared to be engaging in reproductive activity, members of the BTT inquired with management at the private aquarium and were shown video footage that backed up the claim. The aquarium at Atlantis is big enough to accommodate large numbers specimens of a given species, which seems to drive spawning behavior in Bonefish when total school size reaches a certain point. This would be supported by anecdotal reports from guides observing pre-spawning schools of several hundred fish staging in the wild for spawning in deep water.

Ancient populations of Atlantic Salmon in Lake Ontario were completely landlocked, never venturing to the ocean, according to a recent study from Canadian researchers. Now-extinct strains of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) in the easternmost of the Great Lakes apparently had a life cycle that was based entirely in fresh water, contradicting decades of accepted scientific consensus in regards to the migratory behavior of the species, which have a native range from the Upper Atlantic Seaboard to northern Europe and Russia. The functional extinction of Atlantics within Lake Ontario was recorded by the year 1900, and is widely considered to be the initial motivation for modern fisheries conservation policy in the Americas.

Lead authors Eric Guiry and Suzanne Leeds-Howard from the University of British Columbia and the Perca Zooarchaeological Center analyzed the carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopes found in scale samples from taxidermy mounts dating back to the 1850’s, and in skeletal remains from native Iroquoian campsites both on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario and from the middle section of the St. Lawrence river, much closer to the sea. The St. Lawrence is the massive downstream outlet for the entire Great Lakes system, draining the largest freshwater impoundment on the planet. However, any upstream movements by salmon into the upper lakes system starting with Lake Erie would be prevented by an insurmountable migratory barrier, Niagara Falls.

The researchers found that the isotopic signatures in the samples from the western Lake Ontario data set showed clear differences from those from the St. Lawrence, indicating long term exposure to either fresh water or marine elements during the fish’s life cycle. This means that while the St. Lawrence populations were anadromous (running downstream to the ocean to mature), the western fish were entirely potadromous — living their entire lives in fresh water after being spawned in tributary streams, and using the giant lake itself as a maturing ground. Outside of the incidence of small numbers of relatively stunted “Landlocked Salmon” in New England lakes (probably of introduced origin) this is counter to most perceptions of Atlantic Salmon being uniformly anadromous and requiring access to salt water to support self-sustaining populations.

The cause for the initial demise of Salmo Salar in Lake Ontario is still subject to speculation, despite the application of modern science to the question. However, historical overfishing, overall pollution and degradation or blockage of spawning stream resources have all been implicated as a cause. Despite this, modern aquaculture and sporting introductions of species of Pacific salmon into the Great Lakes system — notably Chinook and Steelhead — have been wildly successful, despite those species exhibiting anadromous behaviors in their home range of the Pacific northwest and far eastern Russia. This would indicate that current environmental conditions for reintroduction of Atlantic salmon into their ancestral potadromous home range could be acceptable. The Great Lakes have been subject to decades of regulatory directives that have resulted in improved water quality since a low point in the late 1960’s, with the start of the modern environmental movement after the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland caught fire due to hydrocarbon pollution.

The original Evolution R has a braking system derived from 7 stacked stainless steel and carbon fluoropolymer disks. What’s better than a little cowbell in a great song? How about more cowbell? The new Evolution R Salt has a 16-disk drag system that produces nearly 30 pounds of drag. The large frame-integrated drag knob makes it easy to turn up the volume. Instead of one counterbalance, the Salt R has two smaller offset counterbalances to reduce vibrations when line is being ripped from the reel, and a reel handle machined from canvas phenolic rod. It comes in diameters of 4.08″, 4.43″, and 4.75″ to suit 7/8, 9/10, and 11/12 fly lines, $600. rossreels.com

To find out more about why the spine of a rod is important, and to learn how to find the spine of your rod black, see the 2018 Fly Fisherman Gear Guide (On Sale now nationwide).

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Blending the best two natural materials in the world—Bamboo and Merino wool—results in a garment that benefits from the best of both worlds in warmth and comfort. Hook & Fly’s Bamboo and Merino blend base layer features a soft, form-fitting cut that sits next to your skin to help minimize any of that pesky bunching under your waders. Seams are designed for 360 degree movement and stretch in all the right places provide for maximum performance when casting or moving to the next spot. Both Bamboo and Merino wool contain fantastic moisture wicking properties to keep you dry and comfortable all day. Bamboo is also anti-microbial and prevents the growth of odor-producing bacteria, resulting in a hygienic base layer that can handle the abuse and stay smelling fresh. hookflyapparel.com

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In 1976, San Fransisco was ground zero in the world of graphite fly rod design. Golden Gate Casting Club member Jimmy Green with Fenwick hand just recently introduced graphite fly rods to the consumer public, Tom Morgan was the new owner of the R.L. Winston Rod Co., and Harry Wilson–who had started the Scott Fly Rod Company in a basement on Cook Street just a few years earlier–introduced the world’s first 9-foot 4-weight graphite rod.

Wilson called it the G rod, and with its groundbreaking internal ferrule it quickly became the foundation product that built the entire Scott Fly Rod brand. In 1993 Scott moved its factory to Colorado, and in 2006 the G was re-engineered to become the G2. By today’s standards, the G2 was a slow, deep-flexing rod. It developed a cult-like following in the Rockies because it was easy to load at trout-fishing distances, and amplified your enjoyment of even small and medium-size fish.

With the recent introduction of the G-Series, Scott can lay claim to having the longest-running continuous graphite fly rod series–even if it’s the name only, because the G-Series is a completely different animal. Like the G2, the finish on the G-Series is brown with gold trim, and the rod is miraculously easy to bend. With the G-Series it’s easier to be accurate because you’re never trying to muscle your way through it. Your hand talks, and the rod listens.

The new G-Series is much lighter than its predecessor. More important, with modern material, technology, and design elements borrowed from the Radian and Meridian series, the rod recovers (comes back to the straight position) much quicker than you’d expect from such an easy-loading rod, even when your reach out to distances beyond its intended range like 60 and 70 feet. It also tracks straighter and comes to a stop with less wobble than the old G2, which means you’ll hit the target more often with less frustration and fatigue.

It’s hard to redesign an American classic, because like a Ford Mustang or a favorite pair of Levis, so many people have fond memories that it leaves little room for improvement. But Scott has hit a home run with this one. It’s retro in  all the right ways, but gives you a bigger window to work in terms of distances, wind, fly size, and the species you can tackle. It’s a rod that will be winning fans and catching fish for another decade. $845| scottflyrod.com

Fly Fishing attracts more than it’s share of celebrities who appreciate our sport. Movie and rock stars, politicians and captains of industry are all represented on the water and are prestigious clients for guides worldwide. The latest high profile angler to be given popular recognition is Lindsay Arnold, who recently won the hugely rated “Dancing with the Stars” television competition.

Arnold, who has fished for rainbow trout in Alaska, won the contest along with her partner, Jordan Fisher, took home the Mirrorball trophy for season 25 of the series on November 21. Props were immediately offered from her past hosts at the Royal Wulff Lodge who were quoted on their Facebook page as saying,

“Big Congratulations to Lindsay Arnold for winning “Dancing With the Stars 2017″! She can dance, she can fish… what can’t she do?!? It was a pleasure having you and your family at Royal Wolf this summer Lindsay, congratulations on your well deserved win!!

Us magazine interviewed the dancer after her win, and her perspective was gracious. ““I can’t, honestly, put it into words,” she said. “This feels beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. I’ve come close [to winning] and to finally take it with Jordan means more than I can ever say. … The Mirrorball is amazing. This is so freaking cool. The coolest part is having what we got to establish: a bond, a trust and a love for each other that exceeds so much in life. That’s the thing I’m taking away from this.”

Now, the partners are looking forward to continuing their journey on DWTS’ Light Up the Night tour. “The best part about this ending of our season is that it’s not over. We still get to dance together for 11 weeks,” Arnold said. “We’re on the road and now we’re dancing for fun. We’re not getting judged, we’re not getting scored. We’re just dancing, and it feels so good to do that.”

Stoneflies, (Order: Plecoptera), are among the largest insects in any river community, and are of significant importance to fresh water fly fisherman wanting to target the big trout that prefer to eat them. However, some species of stoneflies present a biological contradiction, in that the larval forms of these typically abundant insects mature under the stony beds of river systems that offer little in the way of food sources. This paucity of resource is an environmental condition known as Oligotrophy, and is seen in many lakes, especially at high latitudes. The $64,000 question of groundwater ecologists for decades has been, “How are these insects thriving in this kind of environment?”.

Researchers from the University of Montana, working in cooperation with the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, CO have recently published stunning new data that sheds light on fundamental organic processes in rivers, with potential implications for broader ecological policy. The summary finding – conducted by UM Ph.D. researchers Amanda DelVecchia and Jack Stanford, along with Xiaomei Xu from the University of California at Irvine – was hosted by the open access online journal Nature Communications. In it, the scientists have come to the conclusion that the majority of the organic carbon in the bodies of these stoneflies comes from an unusual and almost alien source: Methane.

Suspecting that an alternative basis for organic processes was in play with stonefly biology, the scientists used carbon dating techniques to identify the source of the carbon — a fundamental building block for life as we know it — that was being utilized and incorporated at a molecular level in the tissues of the insects. What they found was surprising, to say the least. Methane (with a molecular designation of CH4), present in the margins of the river bottoms, was being broken down by bacteria and the stoneflies were likely consuming this bacteria, thus ingesting the carbon that came from the methane. This was determined by radiocarbon dating of the carbon isotopes bound in the methane present in the ambient environment of the river bottom and comparing it to overall carbon in the bodies of the stoneflies. They matched.

As reported in followup coverage by UMT.edu, “The millennial-aged methane carbon could have come from organic matter deposited during the retreat of the last glaciation 7,000-10,000 years ago, or the ancient carbon could have come from a shale methane source, as the Kishenehn shale formation underlies the floodplain. Either methane source was likely consumed by bacteria first before being directly or indirectly consumed by the stoneflies themselves.”

In my work reporting for Fly Fisherman, I am frequently challenged in understanding and interpreting scientific advances that are germane to our sport. The concept that the UM research presents is no exception, and is sufficiently big enough that I needed assistance to get my head wrapped around it. I caught up with DelVeccia by email after first making contact with her doing field sampling on the East River near Crested Butte, CO, not far from RMBL’s base of operations. I asked if she could help clarify my thinking.

A massive reward is being offered for information related to illegal stocking of walleye in Swan Lake, located near Kalispell, MT. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Trout Unlimited are offering a reward of up to $35,250 for information on the illegally introduced fish.

As reported by KTVQ.com, “According to FWP’s Region 6 Office, two walleye were found in Swan Lake in October 2015. The two walleye were caught in a gill net. FWP says it was the first time walleye were discovered in Swan Lake.”

“FWP biologists used chemical analysis from the fishes’ inner ear bones to trace their origin. They compared their findings to walleye from more than a dozen other popular Montana fisheries. Through their analysis, the biologists learned the two fish came from Lake Helena and had been illegally introduced into Swan Lake sometime in the Spring of 2015.”

The FWP posted photos of the walleye captured in 2015 on their Facebook page.

Swan Lake is has a long history of management by the state of Montana to favor native fish, in particular, the threatened Bull Trout. According to the state Fish and Wildlife department,

The successful Thomas & Thomas Exocett saltwater series turned heads when it hit the market two years ago, and showed it has more that just technology and slick components. The series hits an appetizing balance between weight and power, where the casting is so tactile and rewarding, it’s almost surprising to feel the power in the rod when it’s time to do the dirty work of lifting and pulling—perhaps part of the reason the Exocett has become a common fixture at some of Earth’s most challenging saltwater locations. But an interesting thing happened with this “saltwater” series. I started to also see it in the hands of fishermen in Africa with tigerfish, cradled under the bellies of golden dorado in the freshwater streams of Bolivia, and in my own hands fishing for taimen in Mongolia. The Exocett, it seems, isn’t just for salt water. With that in mind, rod designers at T&T came up with the newest iterations called Exocett SS ($825, thomasandthomas.com), two 8’8″ rods with steep taper at the tip end, so they have extra lifting power for sinking-tip lines, and for casting heavier short-head floating lines. I used the 350-grain Exocett SS at the annual Cheeky Schoolie Tournament, and throughout the day used increasingly larger flies (to keep small stripers off my fly) and heavier sinking tips (to sink below small stripers) and while I never did find bigger stripers, I did find there was almost nothing this rod couldn’t handle. For heavy lifting, carrying short lengths of heavy heads, and for drilling large flies into a headwind, the Exocett SS (also available in a 250-grain version) is also perfect for muskie and pike fishing; largemouth bass in heavy cover; for snook under the lights, docks, and other structure; and for baby tarpon snacking within the mangroves.

On a recent trip to the Rio Marié in Brazil, I also found the slightly shorter 8’8” Exocett SS to be the best rod in my arsenal for peacock bass. It was a powerful tool for fighting fish near the boat, slinging line low under overhanging branches, and for lifting sinking-tip lines near the boat for the next cast. For long days of casting with heavy lines and big flies, it was less fatiguing than other rods because it loaded with less effort.

To find out more about the best new rods, reels, lines, and other tackle for 2018, pick up the FLY FISHERMAN Gear Guide on sale at newsstand nationwide or at osgnewsstand.com.

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Salmon in Patagonia have become big business, both for aquaculture and sportsmen. Deliberate and accidental introductions of pacific salmon in the binational region that encompasses areas of both Chile and Argentina have established self-sustaining populations of anadromous fish that run from the ocean to headwater streams to spawn. New genomics research published in the online scientific journal Nature.com is showing a wide diversity in the genetic lineage of non-native Chilean salmon that can be traced to various sources.

Initial commercial attempts to stock Chinook salmon (Oncorynchus Tshawytscha) worldwide date back to the 1870’s, but outside of their native range in the pacific northwest, only populations in New Zealand and Patagonia have become embedded in local ecologies. Prior to their introduction, neither region had native salmonids, owing to their positions in the southern hemisphere and the thermal isolation tropical seas present to migration for cold water species. And while the strains of fish that have adapted well to the South Island of New Zealand have origins that can be traced to specific gene pools of the Sacramento river in California, the fish of Patagonia show more genetic diversity spread over a much larger geographic area, with wider climate and aquatic variables. The success of various bloodlines in diverse stream and river environments may give an indication of how certain races of fish may have become better adapted to specific conditions in North America that are paralleled in Patagonia.

Researchers Cristian Correa of the Universidad Austral de Chile and Paul Moran from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle sampled tissue from fin clips taken from Chinook captured in coastal Chile across a wide area ranging from 39 to 48 degrees south latitude. This represents a distance of nearly 800 miles. With the advent of salmon aquaculture in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, many new strains of fish were introduced to the region via both open-ocean and net-pen operations. Open-ocean farming techniques release juvenile fish from hatchery operations into waters that flow to the ocean, where the fish mature and return to the streams to spawn, homing in on them via a poorly understood mechanism that probably includes both olfactory and magnetic geolocation. Net-pen operations, on the other hand, raise fish in enclosed pens in salt water pens offshore for the entire life of the fish, when they are harvested. However, net-pen operations have proven to not have acheived 100% containment of their product, with large numbers of both reported and unreported fish escaping into the environment.

In contrast to the New Zealand fish and the incidence of a very small number of Chinook sampled in the Chilean far South that show Sacramento genetics (below 51 degrees south, where limited farming is conducted), the fish in the northern reaches all appear to have come from Lower Columbia River and Puget Sound stock, with certain rivers seeming to have favored specific races of fish. An example of this would be where three strains of Chinook were introduced into a small stream on Quinchao Island, Chiloe at 42 degrees south. The fish had origins from the Cowlitz river spring run originating from the west slope of the Cascades in Washington, a strain from the Bonneville Hatchery on the Columbia, and a strain from the University of Washington at Seattle of unnamed origin. Of the three, only the Cowlitz spring run became established, raising questions of whether conditions in the Chilean stream were favorable to fish that had attributes for spring run spawning, such as lower temperatures or other chemistry such as elevated tannins from snowmelt.