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 A P R IL- M AY 202 3 V O L . 5 4 N O . 3
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6 Riffles & Runs

Stocked Versus Native
ROSS PURNELL

1 0 T h e M i g r at i o n
Pennsylvania Natives
JAMES SULESKI
40 DAmselflies
Flies and strategies for stillwater success 18 Horizons
L A NDON M AY E R 7 Ways to Haul
JOE MAHLER

26 Rising Tides
Flattening the Threats
BRIAN IRWIN

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ROSS PURNELL On the cover
Charlie Banks caught this Snake River cutthroat at Antero
Reservoir, Colorado, using a tan #14 Chubby Damsel. It was
the first trout she'd ever caught with a dry fly. She was using
a Winston Super 10 5-weight fly rod with a Bauer RX 3 reel.
For more details on her catch, read Landon Mayer's story
“Damselflies” on page 40. Landon Mayer photo.

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS FIELD EDITORS CONTRIBUTORS

OLIVER WHITE MIKE MERCER WEST COAST JOE MAHLER
PAUL WEAMER LANCE EGAN WESTERN CHRIS DOLNACK
HILARY HUTCHESON DERRICK KIRKPATRICK
MATT SUPINSKI MIDWEST JOEY TAKEMAN
JOHN SHERMAN PAT DORSEY SOUTHWEST DREW NISBET
JIM MCLENNAN BRE DRAKE
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GEORGE DANIEL JOHN J. LARISON NORTHWEST HENRY RAMSAY
CHARLIE CRAVEN BLANE CHOCKLETT SOUTHEAST TREY PIPER
LANDON MAYER BRIAN IRWIN NEW ENGLAND ROB BENIGNO
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 Eastern brook trout are Pennsylvania’s state fish. They
occupy only about 1% of their historic native range, but
the state still stocks brown and rainbow trout in some
waters where brook trout cling to existence. In Class A
waters where they compete with brown trout, they are
offered no special protections.

STOCKED VERSUS NATIVE TREY PIPER - PHOTO

here’s no doubt that the most controversial—and perhaps incriminating—story in

this issue is “Pennsylvania Natives” by James Suleski . Despite the title, this subject matter
is not peculiar to Pennsylvania. The practice of stocking hatchery trout on top of barely surviving
populations of native trout, and managing wild trout areas to the benefit of invasive species is something
every conservationist and fly fisher should be opposed to. “Conservation” means protecting and preserv-
ing natural resources, and in terms of wildlife it means protecting biological diversity.
Clearly, pouring brown or rainbow trout from a stocking truck Are we saying brown trout are a bad thing? Absolutely not.
into a stream with struggling populations of native brook trout is I have traveled the globe seeking out brown trout, and they are
a bad idea. It’s like putting nails in a coffin. As Suleski points out, among my favorite species. There always will be, and always
stocked trout push the natives out of prime habitat, compete for should be, many places where we can chase big browns. It’s at
finite available food, and stocked trout increase fishing pressure the very heart of this sport. This issue of the magazine even high-
and associated mortality. lights places like Colorado reservoirs (page 40) and the Farming-
Perhaps a more subtle point, and more sensitive to fly fishers, ton River (page 46) where holdover stocked trout are a valuable
is that managing brook trout in wild trout areas as though they part of our fishing experience.
are equals with brown and rainbow trout is also a losing propo- No one at Fly Fisherman wants to get rid of “invasive” spe-
sition. Suleski makes the case that if Pennsylvania’s state fish is to cies like browns and rainbows outside their native ranges, but
thrive, there needs to be at least one watershed that is protected as we do have to take reasonable precautions to protect some refuge
a special brook trout management area. It needs to be a watershed areas where natives can stand a chance of surviving—streams for
or subwatershed to connect multiple tributary brook trout streams Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the park, creeks for golden trout
and allow native fish to move from one tributary to another and in California, and watersheds for greenbacks in Colorado. Other
promote “gene flow.” states and federal agencies have been at this for decades. It’s time
Right now, fewer than 1% of historic native brook trout water- that Pennsylvania joined the effort to protect and preserve our
sheds are intact, but Pennsylvania still stocks more than 4 million native brook trout.
trout annually, allows harvest of brook trout as part of a combined
creel limit, and has no special management areas where brook
trout are exclusively catch-and-release. There need to be some ar-
eas where browns and rainbows can still be harvested using arti- Ross Purnell, editor
ficial flies and lures only, but brook trout are protected and given ross@flyfisherman.com
refuge. As Suleski points out, neighboring states have already done
it, with great success stories coming out of places like the Upper
rossflyfisher @rossflyfisher rossflyfisher
Savage River watershed in Maryland. Pennsylvania can do it too.

6 FLY FISHER MAN

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 PENNSYLVANIA NATIVES
e nn s y lva ni a is n’ t doing e nough t o s av e i t s r e m a ining n at i v e b rook
t rou t . A 2 006 E a s t e r n B r ook T r o u t Join t V e n t ur e ( E B TJ V ) r e p or t s tat e d t h at P e nn -
s y lva ni a h a d f e w e r t h a n 1 % of hi s t or ic a l ly w il d n at i v e b r o ok t r o u t s ub wat e r s he d s
“ in ta c t ” (>90 % o c c up ie d) . If y ou gue s s e d t h at p o or l a nd u s e p r a c t ic e s a nd wa r ming wat e r
w e r e t o b l a me , y ou w oul d b e only pa r t ly r igh t. A c c or ding t o t he E B TJ V, t ho s e a r e t he
t op t w o i s s ue s . Ho w e v e r , t he y r at e nonn at i v e t r o u t in t r odu c t ion s a s t he t hir d b ig ge s t
i s s ue — a he a d of ur b a ni z at ion a nd s e dime n tat ion . P e r E B TJ V, “ R e gion a l e x p e r t s ci t e d c om -
p e t i t ion a nd p r e d at ion f r om b r o w n t r o u t a s t he t hir d highe s t r a nk e d impa c t [ t o n at i v e
b r o ok t r ou t ] a cr o s s t he s tat e .”
10 FLY FISHER MAN
 Fewer than 1% of Pennsylvania’s historically native brook trout
subwatersheds are intact. Brook trout are listed by U.S. Fish and
Wildlife as a species of greatest conservation need in Pennsylvania.
However, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission has no special
regulations or management areas to protect this native fish.

Addendum to James Suleski’s

Story “Pennsylvania Natives”

HENRY RAMSAY - PHOTO

Disjointed habitat improvements won’t save PA’s brook trout.

We need watershed-wide management, and we need to stop
stocking invasive species JAMES SULESKI

It’s time we face the threat that nonnative trout pose to wild
native brook trout in Pennsylvania. Brown and rainbow trout
are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Na-
ture on their top 100 world’s worst invasive species list due to
harming many native species around the world.
Wild native brook trout, on the other hand, are listed as a
species of greatest conservation need in the 2015-2025 Pennsyl-
vania Wildlife Action Plan. “Conservation” aims to maintain
biodiversity because ecosystems that have more different spe-
cies are less susceptible to instability. Invasive species decrease
biodiversity and destabilize ecosystems. This is why there is no
such thing as conservation of an invasive species.
While the impact of invasive trout species may surprise
some, fisheries scientists are well aware of the threat they pose.
They use a model called the five-component framework to look
at factors governing stream-dwelling trout populations. The
five components are: hydrology, connectivity, water quality,
habitat, and interactions with other species. Fisheries scientists
view harmful interactions with nonnative trout species as an
impairment, just like sediment, animal waste, or warm water.
It is well known that if one of the five components in this
model is fixed, for example habitat, and another dominant

flyfisherman.com 11

Trout classifications
Native:
Nonnative:
Invasive:
Wild:
Stocked:
limiting component like interactions with
invasive species is ignored, the restoration
will likely fail.
Are some streams too warm or de-
graded to support brook trout? Absolute-
ly. However, the seven-day upper lethal
temperature difference between brown
and brook trout in one study was less
than 1 degree Celsius.
Many cold, forested streams in Penn-
sylvania are home to nonnative trout,
while streams polluted with acid mine
drainage, which have proved too acid-
ic for nonnative trout, do support wild
native brook trout. The reality that non-
native trout occupy cleaner, healthier
streams than native brook trout in some
cases forces us all to acknowledge that
tunnel vision on clean, cold water and
habitat ultimately fails for wild native
brook trout if invasive trout are ignored.
Research has shown that brown trout
prevent native brook trout from using
JAMES SULESKI - PHOTO
In Pennsylvania, native brook trout enjoy the same protections as wild brown trout where they exist in Class A trout streams. In streams
where the trout biomass does not meet Class A status, the state can and does stock hatchery trout on top of native brook trout.
12 FLY FISHER MAN
small, critically important areas of cold
water called “thermal refuges” needed
for surviving warm water. A study done
by Dr. Huntsman et al. in West Virginia
showed “habitat restoration could only
be beneficial for native brook trout when
nonnative trout were absent from the re-
stored sampling area.”
This is because nonnative trout have
been shown to exclude brook trout from
those thermal refuges and other prime
habitats, as demonstrated in multiple
studies. Further, these nonnative trout
can reduce or eradicate native brook
trout by excluding them from any new
prime habitat created by stream en-
hancement projects. Instead, nonnative
trout use improved stream habitat to ex-
pand their own populations.
An example of this would be the Kiap-
TU-Wish chapter’s 2.11-mile habitat en-
hancement project on Pine Creek, Wis-
consin, which resulted in a shift from
originally 94% wild native brook trout
and 6% wild nonnative brown trout, to a
70% decrease in the brook trout and more
than a 3,000% increase in the browns.
Despite the habitat improvement, this
shows a trajectory of a complete loss of
the brook trout population in the future.
There is even research that shows non-
native trout can function as a barrier to
movement for wild native brook trout—
much like a poorly designed culvert. A
study that removed nonnative brown
trout from Coolridge Creek in Minne-
sota demonstrated that after their re-
moval, brook trout moved downstream,
increased in number, and displayed in-
creased growth rates.
HABITAT ALONE
I eventually came to the realization
that focusing only on clean, cold water
and improved habitat while ignoring in-
vasive species often favors proliferation
of wild nonnative trout that can harm
the native fish and other aquatic organ-
isms we’re trying to protect or restore.
This is what led me to join the Pennsylva-
nia chapter of the Native Fish Coalition
(NFC). While water quality and habitat
are important for native brook trout, the
NFC has taken on the underserved task
of public awareness of this issue. Our
chapter does conservation work with
multiple species of native fish. However,
a current focus is public education and

Brook trout need more than isolated headwater streams to survive. They need the connectivity of larger watersheds to promote
“gene flow” and to take advantage of these food-rich areas to grow larger.
advocacy in efforts to bridge the gap be-
tween established fisheries science on the
harmful effects of nonnative trout spe-
cies and how native brook trout are cur-
rently managed in Pennsylvania.
Despite the EBTJV ranking invasive
brown trout as the third largest threat to
native brook trout in Pennsylvania, the
state still stocks brown and rainbow trout,
directly on or near wild native brook trout
in many watersheds statewide.
Further, there are currently no spe-
cific regulations or management areas
for native brook trout in the state. The
Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commis-
sion only has “wild trout” management
stream sections where the goal is to have
both native brook trout and the nonna-
tive brown trout that are actively dis-
placing them.
In the upper section of Big Spring
Creek—a potential native brook trout
management zone for Pennsylvania—
nonnative rainbows are still protected
with catch-and-release regulations.
And just downstream, hatchery brook
trout capable of causing harmful genet-
ic pollution are still stocked by the state.
Given the vast amount of research show-
ing nonnative trout can harm wild native
brook trout, managing for “wild trout”
means in many cases managing for dis-
placement of native brook trout.
These “wild trout” stream sections
are designated by electroshocking them
in the heat of summer. When these sur-
veys find a enough wild trout to meet the
state’s Class A status, it generally gets
protections against stocking. Stream sec-
tions with significant numbers of wild
native brook trout, but with not enough
to meet Class A status, do not have any
protection from stocking.
Even when Class A stream sections are
protected from direct stockings, harmful
hatchery trout are regularly stocked im-
mediately downstream of these sections,
and run up into them in large numbers.
A study of 78 streams in northwestern
Pennsylvania showed streams were 12
DENNIS PASTUCHA - PHOTO
times more likely to have brook trout
than brown trout when a barrier was
present between a given sample site and
the nearest downstream brown trout
stocking location. This in-state example
shows we cannot coherently manage a
stream section for conservation of wild
native brook trout when they are con-
nected to stocked invasive trout fisheries.
Stocked trout move.
GENE FLOW
Wild native brook trout move as well,
and research in Pennsylvania has shown
that reflecting it in how we manage them
is critical to their success.
Dr. Shannon White et al. discovered that
wild native brook trout in the Loyalsock
Creek watershed require the use of large
downstream waterways to leave their tribu-
tary and travel to other tributaries contain-
ing wild native brook trout so they can share
their genes with them through spawning.
This “gene flow,” makes populations more
flyfisherman.com 13

Research has shown that brown trout
prevent native brook trout from using small,
critically important areas of cold water
called “thermal refuge” needed for surviving
warm water.
genetically diverse and helps prevent harm-
ful inbreeding.
Each different gene is potentially a tool
to be used to endure threats to survival
like climate change. This gene flow cre-
ates genetic diversity that gives wild na-
tive brook trout a better tool box to adapt
to threats. It is maximizing this adaptive
capacity that should be the goal of those
managing native brook trout.
These fish have the intrinsic ability to
solve many of their own problems over
time by genetic adaptation, but to maxi-
mize it, the entire watershed—made up of
different brook trout streams connected
by a larger waterway—must be managed
for their use and movement. Obviously,
stocking nonnative trout in these larger
streams is detrimental.
Another important function of these
large downstream waterways is provid-
ing food abundance for native brook
trout, which allows larger potential
growth than in headwater streams. How-
ever, if stocking nonnative trout displac-
es brook trout from this larger food-rich
habitat, it relegates them to infertile
headwater streams.
REGIONAL EXAMPLES
Unfortunately, the state of Pennsylva-
nia still stocks many of these important
connective waterways with extremely
dense populations of hatchery-raised
nonnative trout. Other states have acted
on scientific research and taken appropri-
ate action to manage entire watersheds for
native brook trout.
West Virginia, for example, has se-
lected multiple watersheds to manage
entirely for wild native brook trout
with catch-and-release regulations and
no stocking. Here is a quote from West
Virginia fisheries manager and biologist
David Thorne in a 2017 article from the
WV MetroNews about a watershed-scale
management program that provides al-
most 200 miles of stream dedicated to
wild native brook trout.
14 FLY FISHER MAN
“This is a watershed idea based on a
lot of the research I and other people
have conducted. Connectivity between
the tributaries and main stems is how we
see increased growth in fish. They have
larger habitat, more food available, and
can move to different habitats during
different parts of their life cycle.”
Maryland has also integrated this sci-
ence showing the importance of man-
aging entire watersheds into its fisheries
management by creating the Upper Sav-
age River Special Brook Trout Manage-
ment Area. This 100-mile+ Upper Savage
River watershed has catch-and-release
regulations for wild native brook trout
based on research showing this would
decrease mortality and still allow for a
year-round fishery. Also, there is almost
no stocking except for a small number of
nonnative rainbow trout. The results of
watershed-level management here have
been incredible. Wild, native brook trout
are living to seven years old and common-
ly reaching sizes the mid teens in inches—
truly, a trophy native brook trout fishery.
While fisheries management of wild
native brook trout in other states is far
from perfect, it has been frustrating to
see other states hit home runs with spe-
cial brook trout management zones, while
in Pennsylvania there are no specific reg-
ulations or management areas for native
brook trout.
A wild native brook trout management
zone encompassing an entire watershed
would be a great place to start for Penn-
sylvania. It should have multiple distinct
native brook trout populations, catch-and-
release regulations, and no stocking. Re-
search and successful projects from out of
state tell us these protections at watershed
scale are a recipe for success.
Currently no authorization is required
for the private stocking of trout in Penn-
sylvania waterways, leaving the Pennsyl-
vania Fish & Boat Commission to guess
where private hatchery trout are harm-
ing wild native brook trout populations.
The commission originally proposed a
stocking authorization to monitor pri-
vate stocking and control the spread of
invasive species and diseases—something
most other Northeastern states have done.
However, after proposing the authoriza-
tion, the commission encountered oppo-
sition from private hatcheries and still does
not have the power to approve or deny pri-
vate stockings. Instead, they now require
only a notification of private stocking to
track where it occurs. They reported need-
ing “years” potentially before implement-
ing a required stocking authorization.
The Native Fish Coalition, Trout Un-
limited, and many other groups and in-
dividuals are calling for significant and
badly needed stocking reform in Pennsyl-
vania. A big reason it has not succeeded
to date is that the general public is largely
ignorant to issues concerning fish in gen-
eral, let alone native ones.
Lenny Lichvar, the current Pennsylva-
nia Trout Unlimited president says, “The
challenge is to use resource science to cre-
ate and justify a generational culture shift
away from long accepted tradition, and the
political science that empowers it, toward
a more native-resource-friendly approach.
The current test of meeting a portion of that
challenge is to gain more public support to
achieve acceptance of a much-needed stock-
ing authorization and the total elimination
of hatchery-raised brook trout. So far, the
failure to garner enough pubic effort to ful-
ly achieve both of those goals at the agency
level points to the need to find more innova-
tive methods to translate new science, that is
currently understood by a few, into a format
that can be more easily comprehended and
then actively supported by the many that
may lead to a new and better tradition of na-
tive resource management.”
Ultimately the abovementioned re-
search demonstrates that Pennsylvania
needs large-scale reform to its public and
private stocking policies. But until there is
more widespread education, meaningful
stocking reform initiatives, and a change in
messaging surrounding native fish coming
from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Com-
mission, the majority of the general pub-
lic will continue to be okay with stocking
hatchery trout and management of wild in-
vasive species where we could and should
be conserving wild native brook trout.
Dr. James Suleski is a board-certified inter-
nist and lives in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He
is a board member of the Doc Fritchey Trout
Unlimited chapter in Pennsylvania, and he’s
also a board member of the Pennsylvania
chapter of the Native Fish Coalition.
 0. 1 pan

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 Elliptical Haul

7 WAYS TO HAUL
he most common requests I get as a fly-casting coach are to learn or im-
prove the double haul . When I ask why, the responses almost always are “To add line
speed” or “Get more distance.”
While those are both reasonable answers, they reveal that stu- breathing out and breathing in. The hand and line artfully and
dents may not fully understand how this peculiar and versatile rhythmically glide back and forth like a violin bow.
technique can affect the cast. Why would you want to learn and master the double haul? My
The double haul is perhaps the most written about, argued about, answer is that it makes casting easier on the casting arm and it
and misunderstood aspect of fly casting. Yet, in reality, double haul- helps you to sculpt your loop.
ing is simply pulling the fly line, at the appropriate time, to increase The range of uses for this technique is impressive. You can use
the load on the rod. When well executed, it appears as natural as it to open the loop, tighten the loop, apply it to your roll cast,

18 FLY FISHER MAN

 Pickup Haul
U n d e r s ta ndin g a n d m a x imi z in g
your Double Haul
achieve greater distance, help throw bulky flies, and even to
shorten your line in midair. You apply variations in these sculpt-
ing movements mostly on the forward, or delivery haul. The back
haul and pickup haul remain, for the most part, constant, regard-
less of the desired effect.
SCULPTING THE LOOP
The straighter the rod tip moves, the tighter the loop will be.
For example, if you are making a 40-foot cast and casting with
one hand, it will take about 9 feet of rod-tip movement to deliver
JOE MAHLER
ILLUS TR ATIONS & TE X T
the fly. Any less, and the line will not unroll. If you do half of that
work with your line hand, you will be able to deliver the fly with 4
or 5 feet of rod-tip movement. Moving the rod half as much allows
you to more accurately control the tip and achieve a straighter
path, resulting in a tighter and more efficient loop.
USE HAULING TO SHORTEN LINE
As strange as it may seem, the best way to shorten the line
while in the air is by hauling. This is a high-level technique
that will improve your hauling skills and give you a few
flyfisherman.com 19
extra shots at close-cruising quarry.
Start with the line under your stripping
finger. At the end of your backcast haul,
pinch the line against the cork and drop
the line with your line hand and repeat
this “gathering haul” on each false cast.
The Standard Haul
Essentially, you are stripping in two feet
of line on each false cast. Notice that
both your stroke and haul get shorter
as the line length decreases. Want to
double it? Try gathering line on both the
back and forward stroke.
STUMBLING BLOCKS
Although adding the double haul to
your repertoire can take your cast to new
heights, a poorly executed haul will be
ineffective, even detrimental. First and
foremost, the haul hand must start the
stroke at, or near, the reel and return to
the reel at the end of each stroke. It is a
common mistake to haul on the backcast
and return the haul hand to the reel on
the forward cast. This does nothing more
Early Haul
than feed slack at the worst possible time.
The result is a collapsed forward presen-
tation. After you make your backcast and
haul, allow your haul hand to drift back
to the reel while the rod is still angled be-
hind you.
Late Haul
The next most common mistake is us-
ing the haul to rip the line off of the sur-
face on the pickup. Remember to lift the
line smoothly for the initial load and only
“supercharge” it with the haul after lift-
off. If your line resembles a zipper going
across the surface, your pickup haul is
probably too hard and too early.
Last, make your haul efficient. Hauling
to the side of the rod (forming a right an-
gle) creates unnecessary friction and tends
to make you pull harder than necessary.
Be sure to keep your haul hand moving
generally in line with the rod blank and
make a haul that glides back and forth
without resistance.
MATCH THE CAST
In general, the haul should match the
Distance Haul
Backhand Haul
stroke in length, tempo, and intensity—but
not always. The double haul is a tool that can
be used in small or great measure. For ex-
ample, tight quarters may require a short
back and forward stroke with a long haul
on the delivery stroke to “zing” the fly into
a narrow pocket.
Or, maybe make a long, leisurely haul
early in the stroke for a soft dry-fly pre-
sentation. There are myriad combina-
tions. This is where you experiment.
Make a series of false casts, applying the
hauls early and late, soft and hard, long
and short, fast and slow, and so forth.
Observe the effect each variation has on
your loop, and you’ll develop the skills
that allow you to customize each cast to
obtain your desired result.
Joe Mahler (joemahler.com) is an author,
illustrator, and casting instructor based out
of Fort Myers, Florida. He is the author and
illustrator of Essential Knots & Rigs for Trout
and Essential Knots & Rigs for Salt Water
(Stackpole Books). Even though he lives in
an area known for saltwater fishing, he loves
freshwater fishing for bass, bluegills, pea-
cocks, and other exotics.
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 Capt. Ben Whalley reluctantly boarding
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 One of Turneffe Atoll’s largest backreef flats—a place called Big Flat near
Deadman Caye—is the site of a proposed over-the-water resort. A network of
floating docks and cabanas here would harm a critical part of the atoll’s reef
structure and turn this fragile ecosystem into a tourist attraction.

FLATTENING THE THREATS

urneffe Atoll is a strikingly beautiful ring of coral reef, situated 28
miles east of Belize City. The atoll is 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. Its fringe reef
encloses three large lagoons, countless coves, and hundreds of mangrove islands. It
might be the finest habitat for bonefish, tarpon, and permit in the hemisphere. And it’s in the
crosshairs of many threats that could irreversibly change the atoll forever.
From climate change to commercial development and more, this and primary stakeholder of Turneffe Flats resort on the eastern side
vulnerable haven would likely already be decimated if it weren’t for the of Turneffe Atoll, which has stood for almost 40 years as arguably the
efforts of a relentless advocate. Fortunately, Turneffe has one. And his best grand slam flats-fishing lodge in the world. And Hayes treats his
name is Craig Hayes. He founded the Turneffe Atoll Trust, and led the island delicately and carefully, making expensive, responsible opera-
effort to form the Turneffe Atoll Marine Preserve. He is the founder tional decisions to protect the environment in which he operates.

26 FLY FISHER MAN

A proposed over-the-water resort would overrun
one of the best flats on Turneffe Atoll BRIAN IRWIN
Turneffe Flats is about as green as is possible. A solar farm
provides almost all the power for the resort. Rainwater is collect-
ed in cisterns, providing 250,000 gallons of fresh water annually.
Sewage is double-processed to make it suitable and odorless for
irrigation. Broken glass is ground down and repurposed for ce-
ment aggregate. Even the condensation from the air condition-
ers is collected and reused. Quite simply, Hayes’s model of oper-
ation is just one more shining example of how much he cares for
the atoll and its resources.
Hayes and some friends started the lodge at Turneffe in 1985.
Over the last 38 years he’s seen environmental challenges pop up
at a frightening pace. So, when it became apparent that the atoll
PHOTOGRAPHY & TEXT
could become a free-for-all in terms of development, he acted.
In 2002 he founded the Turneffe Atoll Trust (TAT), a nonprofit
which would protect Turneffe’s special and unique habitats and
significantly mitigate improper development. Since he’s only one
voice, however, some development occurred despite his valiant
efforts. Perhaps the most appalling was Belize Dive Haven, which
began before TAT was fully functional.
Belize Dive Haven is a dive resort on Ropewalk Caye. Con-
struction began in 2004, but the resort didn’t open until after
the Covid-19 pandemic. Hayes softly explained why: “They just
don’t seem to know what they’re doing. And they don’t appear to
care if they damage this place.”
flyfisherman.com 27
 formed to co-manage the reserve along
According to the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust: “The Deadman with the Belize Fisheries Department.
A new study “2022 Economic Impact
Caye Group Resort is seeking to build over-water of Flats Fishing in Belize” by Anthony
structures that would damage Big Flat—Turneffe’s J. Fedler, Ph.D.—completely funded by
TAT—shows flats fishing now generates
largest backreef flat—and impact the country’s more than $246 million (BZD), which is
economically and culturally important flats fishery, nearly 7% of Belize’s GDP. Hayes recent-
ly presented this new information to the
which generates more than $246 million Belize dollars minister of tourism, and he offered his
annually in tourism and fishing industry jobs. unilateral support for protecting all of
Belize’s key flats areas.
A previous economic study by TAT
and Fedler provided the foundation for
The developer, Sir Karim Hakimi, a reserve. Following a two-year effort a lobby to outlaw the killing of bonefish,
knighted entrepreneur who runs an eye- and several hundred thousand dollars, permit, and tarpon. So, in 2009, under
glass company in Canada, constructed Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve became Hayes’s watchful eye, and other resort
a concrete five-story structure adjacent the largest marine reserve in the country owners in Belize, catch-and-release was
to one of the most productive fishing at 325,000 acres. A new NGO, Turneffe mandated in Belize for these three spe-
flats on Turneffe. Before the build, he Atoll Sustainability Association, was cies, making it the first country in the
dredged up a half mile of pristine f lats
to generate an artificial beach, and used
the sludge to fill in mangrove swamp
and make the terrain suitable for build-
ing. He eradicated a large swath of man-
groves all the way to the lagoon to make
space for his landfill.
Obviously, this was environmental-
ly destructive, but the striking point is
that, in staunch violation of Belize’s En-
vironmental Protection Act, he failed
to obtain an Environmental Impact As-
sessment (EIA), which is required for a
development of this size in such critical
habitat. Granted, EIA assessments are
carried out by a contractor hired by the
developer and can be biased, but not re-
quiring an EIA eliminated any review or
challenge to a myriad of environmental
concerns with this development. This
scenario would likely not occur today
due to Turneffe Atoll Trust’s oversight
and the development of the Turneffe
Atoll Marine Reserve.
In 2022, Dive Haven applied for an
EIA for an expansion of the resort. Hayes
and TAT organized a broad response to
this proposal, which went to the Dept. of
the Environment, Ministry of Tourism,
and the prime minister. Additionally,
TAT is producing a proactive response
to this project defining its potential envi-
ronmental and economic consequences.
Hayes recognized other mounting
threats to Turneffe as well, like the 2006
clearing of mangroves on Turneffe’s
Northern Bogue area, done without Be-
lize’s mandatory mangrove clearing per-
mit or an EIA. The clearing was halted by
TAT following a legal battle.
In 2010, Hayes began pushing for all Craig Hayes founded the nonprofit Turneffe Atoll Trust (TAT) and was influential in the
of Turneffe Atoll to become a marine formation of the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve.

28 FLY FISHER MAN

 Wild fish activist and guide Matt Mendes roams his Deschutes home waters on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. “I’m a passionate person
when it comes to these fish,” he says. “I want to take care of this fishery for the future. It’s tribal tradition. It’s my family.” Arian Stevens

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 The 40-year-old Turneffe Flats lodge is a model of conservation. It is powered by a solar farm, collects 250,000 gallons of rainwater
annually, and it has its own sewage treatment plant to double-process sewage before using it to grow vegetables on the island.
world to declare that protection. In 2019,
TAT and others successfully lobbied into
law an irreversible ban on coastal gill-
netting. This was yet another crowning
achievement.
More recently in 2020, TAT reached a
successful agreement with the govern-
ment of Belize to protect all remaining na-
tionally owned land on Turneffe through
formation of the Turneffe Land Trust.
This agreement affirmed that the remain-
ing 17,000 acres “is mandated to remain
in [its] natural state in perpetuity.”
One of the most recent develop-
ment threats to Turneffe is a proposed
over-the-water resort. A Romanian busi-
nessman applied for an EIA to place a
number of over-the-water cabanas on
the shallows south of Dive Haven known
as Big Flat. Based on his EIA, this devel-
opment would destroy one of Turneffe’s
prime backreef flats and three adjacent
mangrove islands. It would no longer be
a fishing area, it would be a network of
floating docks and cabins catering to hon-
eymooners and Instagram influencers. In
addition to populating the flat itself with
tourists, the plans to generate power, deal
with sewage, provide fresh water, and
transport guests are questionable.
According to the Bonefish & Tarpon
Trust: “The Deadman Caye Group Resort is
30 FLY FISHER MAN
seeking to build over-water structures that
would damage Big Flat—Turneffe’s largest
backreef flat—and impact the country’s
economically and culturally important flats
fishery, which generates more than $246
million Belize annually in tourism and fish-
ing industry jobs. The backreef is a critical
part of the atoll’s reef structure and supports
numerous species, including the bonefish,
permit, and tarpon for which Turneffe Atoll
is famous.
“This project, like others proposed re-
cently, poses threats that include the de-
struction and degradation of critically im-
portant habitats by dredging, clear-cutting
of mangroves, and unwise development.
Over-the-water structures are particularly
harmful because they disrupt habitat con-
tinuity, causing habitat fragmentation and
decreasing habitat quality for flats species
like bonefish and permit.
“This proposed development at Turnef-
fe is merely another assault on the flats
fishery of Belize, and follows similar over-
the-water structure development propos-
als on the flats at Cayo Rosario and Black-
adore Caye. BTT, along with the local and
international flats fishing community, has
called on the Government of Belize to re-
ject the proposed development.”
One of the last nights on Turneffe I
stood on our cabana’s porch. The rod
holders on the banister were empty, my
bags were packed, and it was late. On the
horizon, two glowing patches emerged on
the horizon to our south: cruise ships de-
parting the fairly new cruise port in Pla-
cencia, 69 miles to the south.
I visited Placencia ten years ago and was
enamored. Today it’s thronged with cruise
guests. The magic of its old-world atmo-
sphere now lies buried under the cement
foundation of its unfinished, bankrupt casi-
no. It made me think that without a man like
Hayes, or an organization like TAT, Turneffe
could also become a prime target for devel-
opment because of its beauty and resources.
I stared at the glows until they faded away.
The light pollution was erased as the ships
sailed over the curve of the earth. Turnef-
fe returned to its native state. And under
emerging stars and a new moon, a beautiful
darkness fell on a near-perfect island.
Brian Irwin is Fly Fisherman’s New England field
editor. He practices medicine in North Conway,
New Hampshire. He has a specialty in travel
medicine and he accompanies adventure film-
makers around the world. He was on site when
Red Bull filmed Will Gadd’s first ice climb as-
cent of Niagara Falls in 2015, and he was the
expedition doctor for the National Geographic
Explorer documentary The Last Tepui (2021)
with Renan Ozturk and Alex Honnold.
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 when Frank and Francy

BOOKSHELF cross this Rubicon, they

may find the renewal they
seek, but not without new
trials. Whatever the case,
fly fishing is going to be
near the heart of whatever
comes next.
Ruin, by author Leigh
Seippel, is a challenging
story, and not only be-

W
hen we meet Frank Campbell in Ruin: A Novel of Flyfishing
in Bankruptcy, he’s a disgraced financier behind the wheel
of a screaming-red Lamborghini. He and his wife Frances-
ca are fleeing Manhattan in the wake of epic bankruptcy. They’re
driving to the Hudson Valley in a quest to rebuild their lives.
Frank brought them low through greed and ineptitude. A
self-absorbed Wall Street whiz, he unwisely figured his financial
house of cards would stand tall forever. He struggles to adjust to
his humble new reality. Even after the insult of being egged by
angry investors, he refers to his car affectionately as Lambo.
On their drive north, Frank and Francesca, known as Francy,
come to a river with an interesting, old-fashioned bridge. Francy in-
sists they stop before crossing over. In a foreshadowing of the novel
to come, the river is called the Rubicon. Frank stares at the water be-
low: broad pools, riffles, a waterfall behind a ledge. An angler would
salivate at the sight, but Frank is no angler, not yet anyway.
In the waning light, they make out a fly fisher below, and in short
order he hooks into a fish. We soon learn the angler is a myste-
rious character named Jace Darrow. It dawns on the reader that
cause of what Frank has
to endure in it. The novel
is loaded with symbol-
ism and shifting points of
view. It seems tailor-made
for literary anglers who
want their sentences
up with offbeat forms of syntax and rhythm. I found myself lag-
ging behind at times.
Were the sentences emblematic of Frank’s state of mind, I
wondered, or simply experiments in the modern way?
For example, Seippel writes: “Francy’s hair, wet black ink
glossy and newly boy-trimmed far shorter than mine, shines the
gild light this moment more than I am easy close beside.”
And: “Naturally as just another bug of eventide’s myriad it
alights two feet outside the line of current bubbled by sunken
fronds. Instant surface blink opens a glimmering ring centered
by Jace’s lying magic.”
 The reasons for this language come into
better focus as we learn Frank’s backsto-
ry. He abandoned his study of literature
at Yale—before he could get his doctorate
and score an academic job. “It turned out
I had replaced literature with financial fic-
tions,” he thinks.
Seippel clearly knows his f ly fishing
and finances, and it’s no wonder. He’s
a former president of the prestigious
Anglers’ Club of New York. He has
fished on four continents. As an inves-
tor and advisor, he has seen New York’s
financial world from the inside. What’s
more, he has a small farm in the Hud-
son Valley.
Seippel shows Frank and Francy con-
tending with one challenge after another.
She inherited a small farm. They called it
Time Farm. But it poses a mixed blessing
because it needs urgent repairs and they
don’t have a dime.
They soon find a carpenter who
agrees to patch a leaky roof—in ex-
change for the right to live in a cottage
on the farm and start a craft brewery.
The mysterious Darrow invites them
to a gathering of the local fishing club.
That in turn leads to new opportuni-
ties—and tragedy.
The novel offers rewards for those who
work through what I found to be the hard
early stretch. We get to see callow Frank
become more human. He eventually
trades the Lambo for a used van, grows his
hair below his shoulders, takes to manual
labor, and, most important, empathizes
with other people. Francy, meanwhile,
shows faith in herself and begins to paint
fine, evocative art.
We see scenes of Frank embracing fly
fishing. An elderly member of the local
club, an elderly doctor who senses that
Frank is desperate for a new angle on the
world, urges him to start from scratch,
forgo all fishing literature, and learn the
rudiments on his own. The doctor en-
courages him to keep casting even when
Frank doesn’t understand the point. “It’s
important to so many because it opens to
new life,” the doctor says.
Fishing helps Frank open his eyes. And
we readers are reminded that fishing is
only part of the reason we love to fish. “I
would have driven to this moment with-
out a rod,” Frank thinks to himself, deep
into the story. “Just to see the glassine-
topped pool mirroring its bankside slope
of uncountable birch woven though un-
countable birch.”
—Robert O’Harrow
Over the Guardrail Premiere Benefits DFTU
M
ore than 100 people crowded the sold-out private events
venue at Tröegs Independent Brewing in Hershey, Penn-
sylvania for the premiere viewing of Over the Guardrail,
a short film produced by Fly Fisherman magazine. The film,
with Josh Burnham and Ross Purnell, was shot exclusively on
the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, and highlights urban
fishing near home and close to the road. It emphasizes how time
on the river can help people heal from depression, trauma, stress,

DENNIS PASTUCHA - PHOTOS

and anxiety.
Attendees at the Jan. 21 event co-sponsored by TCO Fly Shop en-
joyed hors d’oeuvres, 15 taps of craft beer, and participated in bucket
raffles and an auction to benefit the Doc Fritchey Trout Unlimited
Chapter (DFTU.org). The raffles and auction, with donated items
including a NRS Fishing Pike 126 inflatable kayak, Abel Vaya reel
The live premiere of Over the Guardrail benefited the Doc
Fritchey Trout Unlimited Chapter, with support from NRS Fishing,
Abel, Orvis, Scientific Anglers, and Tröegs Independent Brewing.
with a native brown trout skin, a 5-weight Orvis Blackout rod, and
fly lines from Scientific Anglers, raised more than $9,000.
“I can’t thank Fly Fisherman enough for hosting this event
to benefit our efforts,” DFTU President Rich DiStanislao said
after the premiere. “Imagine the pride of watching a film that
features your home waters and highlights it in such a great
way. This film shows our sport is about more than just catching
fish, it’s about the whole experience of being on the river with
friends.” Over the Guardrail is now in widespread digital re-
lease and is available on the Fly Fisherman magazine YouTube
Channel (@flyfishermanmagazine).

I
COURTESY OF YDCCF- PHOTOS

Mike Ledezma’s mother Irene, students, and other residents of

Punta Allen helped cut the ribbon on a new dormitory that will
allow teachers to stay in Punta Allen through the school week.
WATER WELCOMES EVERYONE WHO'S WILLING TO SEE
The Jose PRO was named in honor of the legendary Waterman
and larger-than-life personality Jose Wejebe. This frame builds
off the original with six performance additions to help anglers
manage sweat, reduce fogging and keep their frames locked in
place, even when the water gets rough. This frame celebrates the
legacy of our friend and the man who broke barriers in the angling
community. He saw the angler in everyone, even those who had
never fished before. And he grew the community, making it a more
welcoming place. Now we continue in his footsteps and encourage
others to do the same when we say: Open Waters with Jose PRO.
F l i e s a n d s t r at e g i e s
f o r s t i l lwat e r s u c c e s s
Landon Mayer’s Chubby Damsel is an
adaptation of the Chubby Chernobyl,
and is designed both to imitate
an adult damselfly and suspend a
weighted damselfly nymph.

L A NDON M AY E R
PHOTOGRAPHY & TEXT
Damselflies
andon Mayer is a Colorado
L fly-fishing guide and F ly Fisherman
contributing editor. He lives in
Woodland Park, Colorado. His most
recent book is Landon Mayer’s Guide
Flies: Easy-to-Tie Patterns for Tough
Trout (Stackpole Books, 2022).
L A N D O N M AY E R F LY F I S HIN G . C O M
@L A N D O N M AY E R F LY F I S HIN G
Damselflies live for two months to three
years as nymphs, undergoing up to 15
molts as they grow. Common colors in this
stage are tan, brown, and olive. The larvae
are hunting insects, ambushing and feed-
ing upon other, smaller insects around veg-
etation, weed beds, and rocky shorelines.
Male adult damselflies have iridescent blue, green, or even purple bodies. The females are more subdued with tan and brown colors.
42 FLY FISHER MAN
There’s no doubt that some of the most
aggressive and exciting fishing I’ve ever
experienced is when trout are chasing and
eating damselflies as they swim toward
shore. The first time I witnessed this fren-
zy taking place was on the edge of Elev-
enmile Reservoir when I was 17 years old.
I was amazed not only at how many fish
were actively feeding, but how far they
would move to catch and consume a sin-
gle insect. I remember seeing trout move
6 feet out of their feeding lane to chase a
single damsel near the shore.
My son refers to this stage of life as
“little swimming snakes.” The larvae
(nymphs) migrate toward the shoreline by
undulating their bodies side-to-side in the
water like a sidewinder snake. This is not
a quick, graceful movement—it’s like they
are towing something heavy.
Trout recognize this movement, and
they cruise the shoreline looking for easy
meals. And it’s not just trout—I’ve had cli-
ents catch all kinds of species during this
hatch, from tiger muskies to largemouth
bass. If you think about it, all fish learn at
a young age where to find easy meals. Even
when they mature to giant status, bite-size
damselfly nymphs still make great snacks.
MINI LEECH JIG DAMSEL
To imitate damselfly nymphs, you have
to consider many factors—but let’s start
with the fly. By simply modifying the head
and eyes of standard damselfly nymph
imitations, I was able to create a more re-
alistic imitation called the Mini Leech Jig
Damsel. I use extra-small olive monofila-
ment eyes, and tie them in front of a tung-
sten bead. I push the bead against the eyes
and restart the thread behind the bead.
This is the foundation that will shape
the damsel’s head. I build the legs with
ostrich herl, and the body with wrapped
Krystal Flash and a strip of pine squirrel
for movement. Finally, I pull a carapace of
olive Dura Skin over the bend-side of the
shank, and I disguise the bead by pulling
the Dura Skin up and over the entire head
of the fly, and pushing the hook eye right
through the Dura Skin.
This creates a fly with a natural sil-
houette and convincing movement. The
60-degree jig hook has massive holding
power for large trout and gives you a bet-
ter hook-up rate than a standard J hook.
The challenge for all anglers is being able
to present an imitation at the right depth,
but the fly must also have a profile and
movement like the naturals. To achieve
this, I use different bead selections. If the
target is feeding in water at 6 to 18 inches
I use a fly that is tied with a 2.0 tungsten
bead. It sinks slower and the sink rate is
controlled even more by the micro pine
squirrel. It also creates less of a disturbance
when it lands on the water. In water depths
 Flies and strategies for stillwater success

of 2 feet or more, I go up in to a 2.4/3.0 slot-

ted tungsten bead.
Selecting the right damselfly nymph Join umpqua signature tyer Landon Mayer for An
imitation starts with choosing the right instagram Live fly-tying event on March 23, 6:30PM MST
color. The most common colors I see in @flyfishermanmagazine.
my home waters are olive, brown, and
tan. When damselflies are swimming Chubby Damsel
above or around vegetation they are most
often olive. When they are swimming on
the bottom near sediment or dirt they
tend to be tan or brown. Like chame-
leons, they can transform their color to
match their surroundings. This is both to
evade predation and to help them prey on Mini leech jig damsel
other insects.
Be willing to change the color of your
damselfly imitation to match not only
what you see in the water, but the sur-
rounding structure.
The biggest challenge when fishing
damselfly nymph imitations is being able
to deliver the fly in shallow water, retrieve
it without snagging the bottom or vege-
tation, and keep everything natural so as
not to spook the fish.
THE CHUBBY DAMSEL to clasp onto the back of the females’ heads
during flight, and the females curl their
Trout feeding on damself lies are of- When they hatch into adults, damselflies tails beneath themselves and attach it to
ten in such a shallow environment, do not waste any time. Mating swarms of the portion of his abdomen where he has
you battle constantly with the threat of them hover above the water, gather on pro- deposited sperm. Entomologists call this
being seen. I often use a dry/dropper truding vegetation in the shallows, or flock the mating wheel.
strategy and make a long cast before the to rocky shorelines. Within a few days of They continue to fly in this position for
trout comes into range. When the target emerging, damselflies begin searching for several minutes before detaching. The fe-
is in range of the Mini Leech Jig Damsel, a mate. This is most pronounced during male lands on the water and lays her eggs
skate the surface fly 6 inches and pause. the warmest days of summer or near sum- directly in plant life. It is not unusual for
This matches the motion of the natu- mer solstice. Males use the end of their tail female damselflies to submerge themselves
ral damselfly nymphs and keeps your
fly elevated so you don’t snag as much.
My favorite dry flies for this are #12-14
Chubby Damsel, #14 Goddard Caddis,
and #16 Candy Shop Callibaetis.
Another effective way to deliver the
Mini Leech Jig Damsel is by using a
slow intermediate sinking f ly line like
Sonar Stillwater Clear Camo line that
sinks at 1-2 inches per second. I use a
short fluorocarbon tippet 24 to 36 inch-
es long. You can then use a slow retrieve
from the shore after casting out 30 to 45
feet and covering large swaths of water.
Sometimes it’s important to cast even
shorter so your flies spend more time
near shore. Damself ly nymphs swim to
the shore to break out of their nymphal
shucks, so use a slow finger-over-finger
retrieve to create a slow journey to the
bank. You can also use the Johnny Cash
technique where your hand movements
match the picking guitar string move-
ments with short strips of 3 to 6 inches
with a pause between. It’s common for
damselflies to stop and pause while they Look closely and you can see the empty exoskeletons of damselfly nymphs that have
swim, and this is an important window crawled from the water, and hatched on her hat. Damselflies do this on rocks, reeds,
for the trout to attack. or anything else they can grab to crawl from the water.

flyfisherman.com 43
Damselflies Flies and strategies for stillwater success
The great challenge (and reward) of fishing the damselfly hatch during the nymph migration is dealing with shallow water. Using a
Chubby Damsel dry fly as a suspension device, you can swim a damselfly nymph imitation without getting hung up on the bottom.
to lay eggs. Males guard the eggs until they
hatch a few days later.
I have a vivid memory of when at age
14, I witnessed a brown trout leap out of
the water and snag an electric-blue adult
damselfly clean out of the air. Clearly the
trout was watching that airborne insect
from below, and followed it until it paused
in midair, creating the perfect opportuni-
ty for an airborne attack. The event made
me addicted to the thrill of fishing dam-
selfly hatches—knowing that the trout
are willing to abandon caution if they are
convinced they have found their target.
Since that time, I have had some awe-
some takes here or there on standard
adult damselfly imitations, but I could not
find a dry fly that would float like a cork
and appear natural from the point of view
of the trout.
Trout are more willing to take a large
dry fly like a damselfly when it surfs in
and out of view in conditions I call “big
fish chop.” Trout rely on distortion on the
water’s surface to hide below from preda-
tors. But many flies sink when that chop
picks up, and some of the best dry-fly fish-
ing happens in windy conditions.
I decided what I needed to complete the
ultimate damselfly dry fly was a “mother
ship”—a fly that looked the part, but I was
still able to battle the roughest seas and hold
an anchor fly no matter how big the waves.
44 FLY FISHER MAN
Then one day it hit me: Take some of the
features of the best floating attractor dry
fly ever—the Chubby Chernobyl—and
modify it into an adult damselfly.
This is how the Chubby Damsel was
born—taking the bouncy action of a
Chubby but using slim blue/tan/olive
2mm foam to imitate the most common
colors you see on the water. Chicone’s
Barred Regular Crusher Legs represent
the wet wings on the surface like stabi-
lizers on a canoe. The poly yarn tuft is a
great sighter for tracking the fly. The ex-
tended damsel braid tail completes the
realistic look with the tip coated in resin
to prevent fraying.
I most often fish the Chubby Damsel
with three general strategies. I often start
the damselfly season (or start the day)
with a single searching dry fly that will
capture the attention of any cruising or
ambushing trout. Early in the summer,
late May to early July, is best for this tech-
nique when the trout are not as accus-
tomed to feeding on damselflies. Unlike
many anglers, I prefer the fly to remain
still—influenced only by the current or
waves. If you watch drowned adult dam-
selflies they don’t move—except for some-
times the buzzing wings.
My secondary approach is to trail an
extra dry fly to match another hatch
that is taking place during the summer
months. I add a #14 Adams to match a
spinner Callibaetis, #16 Barr’s PMD Vis-
A-Dun, or sometimes I add a second big
bite like a #8-12 Thunder Thighs.
The key to maintaining a proper drift is
to attach the second fly using a loop knot.
It is common to attract the trout to come
for an inspection, and if the fish does not
commit to the big meal, it will have a sec-
ond choice of the smaller trailing fly. It’s
wise to offer choices!
My favorite way is to use the mothership
to support a dropper damselfly nymph
when the hatch is seriously underway, and
the trout are looking for those nymphs.
This is the most effective way to deliver to
aggressive trout because you can present
your fly in the shallow areas. Not only is
the suspending technique effective, but it
also allows you the chance to strip the two
flies and add a little action, matching the
struggling movements of a downed adult
damselfly, and the challenged swimming
motion of a damselfly nymph.
In my opinion, the best way to become
the ultimate angler is by remaining a stu-
dent every day you hit the water. The dam-
selfly hatch is a great way of understand-
ing stillwater fisheries—and succeeding. I
promise that, like Charlie, you will become
a believer in the damselfly hatch when your
heart skips a beat and you catch a giant
trout during this prolific hatch.
Sometimes to save a river,
you have to buy it.
On the Oregon-Nevada border, deep in the heart of sagebrush country, Western Rivers Conservancy is
working to save one of the Great Basin’s last strongholds for Lahontan cutthroat trout: McDermitt Creek.
WRC purchased Disaster Peak Ranch to conserve 7.5 miles of this important stream and 11 miles of tributary
creeks. Our work will also tee up restoration of over 55 miles of stream habitat on and around the ranch.
The effort is nothing short of the last, best hope for this imperiled population of Lahontan cutthroat.

We count on support from people like you, anglers who know the value of clean water, healthy rivers and
public access. To support our efforts on McDermitt Creek and other great rivers visit westernrivers.org.
“Survivor Strain” brown trout are just one
reason why the Farmington River is one of the
Northeast’s finest blue-ribbon trout fisheries
Survivor-strain brown trout like this one are the offspring of “survivor” brood stock that were removed from the
Farmington, spawned, and then returned to the river. The offspring have clipped adipose fins. This fish also had
an orange tag in its opposite eye.
DREW NISBET - PHOTO
 CHRIS DOLNACK

he West Br anch of the Farmington River has its source in the Berk-
shire Mountains of western Massachuset ts, an area bet ter known
for the Norman Rock well Museum and the Boston Pops Symphony at
Tanglewood . Colebrook Reservoir and West Br anch Reservoir combine their outflows to
create New Engl and’s finest tailwater fishery, with 15 miles that have been designated part of
the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System, with abundant wildlife including ot ters, beavers,
deer, bl ack bears, bobcats, and an established nesting bald eagle popul ation.
 Connecticut Tailwater Trout
DERRICK KIRKPATRICK - PHOTO
hris Dolnack grew up fly fishing
C in Pennsylvania and has fished
throughout North America. He is
a writer and licensed fly-fishing
guide who lives in the Litchfield
Hills of northwest Connecticut. His
previous work has been in Outdoor
Life and Sports Afield.  Branch from the Route 318 bridge in Pleas-
Bottom-released water from the res-
ervoirs remains cold all year, making for
consistent flows and water temperatures
in the 50s down to New Hartford, even in
the heat of summer. The result is a river
that produces dry-fly hatches 12 months
a year, and a trout density unrivaled in
New England. And what’s more, for trav-
eling fly fishers, the Farmington River is
just 30-35 minutes from Bradley Interna-
tional Airport in Windsor Locks, serving
DREW NISBET - PHOTO
The upper Farmington River downstream from the Route 219 bridge in New Hartford has cold water even during the summer and has the
highest trout density in New England. Large boulders and didymo (Didymosphenia geminata) algae combine to make wading challenging.
48 FLY FISHER MAN
Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford,
Connecticut. It’s easy to get there.
PUBLIC ACCESS GALORE
With over 30 miles of trout water that
includes two specially regulated trout
management areas (TMAs), the Farm-
ington has a wide variety of water includ-
ing deep, flat pools, riffles, and runs. The
river is heavily stocked with trout aver-
aging 12 to 14 inches. Stable flows sup-
port an excellent population of holdover
browns and rainbows as well as stream-
born wild browns. Anglers willing to put
the time in are often rewarded with fish
over 20 inches.
There is ample access along the upper
portion of the river via East River and West
River roads, which follow along the West
ant Valley, home of the legendary Church
Pool, to the village of Riverton, location of
the Hitchcock Pool. There are a number of
pull-offs as well as parking areas and picnic
areas in Peoples State Forest and American
Legion State Forest. From Riverton you
will find access near the spillway by con-
tinuing along East River Road and then
bearing left on Hogsback Road, which runs
along the river.
South from Pleasant Valley there is ac-
cess along both sides of the river, on foot
along a rails-to-trails walkway and from
River Road and then Route 44 toward the
town of Avon. The terrain in the upper
sections is relatively easy. The lower sec-
tions downstream from New Hartford/
Collinsville can be steep and have some
large boulders to navigate.
The Farmington has invasive didy-
mo (Didymosphenia geminata) algae
throughout its flow. This so-called “rock
snot” makes wading slippery. Boots with
felt soles and studs are a wise choice when
there is no snow or ice on the ground.
Since I fish a lot, and frequently in other
states, I have separate sets of waders and
boots I wear only on the Farmington
for convenience and peace of mind. I’ve
learned firsthand that repeated treat-
ments of bleach solution are unkind to the
adhesion of felt soles. Carrying and using
a wading staff is also advisable.
TROUT MANAGEMENT AREAS
There are five sections of the West
Branch and main stem of the Farming-
ton River that fall under special regula-
tions, and the specific rules are subject
to change from year to year, so be sure to
check the guide that comes with your fish-
ing license and trout stamp, as well as the
Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection (DEEP) web-
site. For the most part on the Upper TMA
sections, hooks must be barbless, and it is
 “Survivor Strain” brown trout are just one reason why the Farmington River is one of the Northeast’s finest blue-ribbon trout fisheries

catch-and-release only from September

1 until the opening day of Connecticut
trout season in early April.
The upper portion of the West Branch
upstream from the Route 219 bridge in
New Hartford is where the highest trout
density is and with it, the highest an-
gling pressure. The colder water tem-
peratures make for active trout in all but
the hottest summers.
Classic pools abound in the upper TMA
with long deep sections and large trout.
Brown trout larger than 20 inches are not
uncommon in this reach, and several fish
over 30 inches have been landed by local
guides Zach St. Amand and Derrick Kirk-
patrick. The lower portions down through
Tariffville Gorge shouldn’t be overlooked,
especially if you’re looking for a little el-
bow room. Explore this section from late
fall to late spring, after which the water
temperatures will warm up beyond what
most of us would consider to be accept-
able for stressing trout in midsummer.
I’ve had some great days fishing the lower
sections and rarely see more than one or
two other fly fishers.

TECHNICAL FISHING
Like most tailwater fisheries, the Farm-
ington tests your skills beyond typical
indicator nymphing or dry-fly presenta-
tions, particularly in the upper TMAs on

JOEY TAKEMAN - PHOTO

the West Branch, where these trout have
been cast over and caught many times.
In winter and early spring, both indica-
tor nymphing and traditional tightlining
with 5X tippet produce fish.
However, when the water levels are
lower and angling pressure increases in
late spring and summer into late fall,
think 6X-7X tippet and precise contact
nymphing presentations. Thinner tip-
pet gets your nymphs down into the
strike zone quicker and allows you to
stay in contact with your f lies. Many of
the local guides and avid f ly fishers ply-
ing the waters of the Farmington River
favor 1- to 3-weight Euro-nymphing
rods 10 or 11 feet long, with long 6X
monofilament tippets.
As on most tailwater fisheries, the sub-
surface bugs in the Farmington River tend
to be in the #16-#22 size range. That’s where
having a 2X or 3X pair of CLIC magnifiers
comes in handy for me, making it possible
to thread a 6X or 7X tippet through the eye
of a #20 Zebra Midge. Both local fly shops,
UpCountry Sportfishing in New Hartford
and Orvis in Avon have a thorough selec-
tion of locally tied and tested flies.
When the water is low in the summer, angling pressure can make Farmington River trout
very skeptical. In these technical situations, use small #20 flies, and long tippets of 6X or
7X with contact nymphing techniques.
Adapting to this type of technical fish-
ing has made me a better angler. Over
the years as I’ve dialed down my fly sizes
and learned more techniques from local
guides, my catch rates elsewhere have in-
creased as well. While fishing delayed har-
vest or fly-fishing-only freestone streams
in Northcentral Pennsylvania near our
family camp, I’ve had fellow anglers walk
by to ask what patterns we were throwing.
Given that #8-#12 Hares-ears, Pheasant
Tails, Copper Johns, Princes, and patterns
of that type are traditional flies for that
area, they were shocked to see how small
the nymphs in our fly boxes were.
In order to achieve a drag-free presen-
tation, the most successful dry-fly anglers
opt for a 3- to 5-weight rod in the 9-foot
range and present their flies at the end of
a 12- to 22-foot leader sporting 6X-8X tip-
pet. An increasing number of anglers are
casting dry flies with their mono-rigged
nymphing rods with good success when a
hatch pops up.
Recent on-the-water seminars by French
world champion Yannick Rivière and local
guide Antoine Bissieux, aka “The French
Fly Fisherman,” have introduced local
anglers to short-distance dry-fly presen-
tations with 3- to 4-weight floating lines
and hand-tied 22-foot leaders where the fly
lands first and begins to drift downstream
while the rest of the tippet and leader fol-
low behind. This technique is especially
effective when casting to a fish lying on the
far side of varying currents.

flyfisherman.com 49
Connecticut Tailwater Trout “Survivor Strain” brown trout are just one reason why the Farmington River is one of the Northeast’s finest blue-ribbon trout fisheries

DERRICK KIRKPATRICK - PHOTO

Large trout come from the classic pools of five different trout management areas (TMAs), and hatches of Blue-winged Olives,
Hendricksons, March Browns, and Isonychias bring them to the surface. During nonhatch periods, focus on tiny midge imitations.

FLY SELECTION Weighted nymphs such as Pheasant Tails

(#14-#18), Copper Johns (#14-18), caddis pu-
During the fall spawn and throughout
the winter into early spring—and also
Year-round dry-fly hatches include pae and larvae (#14-#16), DK’s Winter War- when the river has been recently stocked
Blue-winged Olives (#14-#28), midges rior (#16-#20), Frenchies (#14-#18), Perdi- with hatchery trout—egg patterns and
(#24-#28), and summer and winter caddis gons (#18-#22), and Zebra Midges (#18-#22) other “junk” flies such as Squirmy
(#14-#18). April and early May see a prolific are staples on the Farmington River. Wormies are very effective. Gold, black,
Hendrickson hatch (#12-#16), followed by For bigger morsels, try a Golden Stone and brown stoneflies and bead or tungsten-
March Browns (#12-#14). From May into called DK’s Stoner or a white jig/streamer head Woolly Buggers are good producers
early July, Sulphurs (#14-#18) and Isonychi- called the Dirty Little Stripper. Both are tied as well.
as (#12-#14) take center stage, followed by by local guide Derrick Kirkpatrick and are
Tricos (#24-#28) in mid-July into August. available locally. SURVIVOR STRAIN
In addition to the thriving wild
brown trout population, the “Survivor
Strain” program run by the Connecticut
DEEP adds another twist to this com-
plex and resilient fishery. Each Septem-
ber DEEP’s Inland Fisheries Division
electro surveys stretches of the TMAs
and captures 80 to 120 high-quality
browns that are bred at the Burlington
State Fish Hatchery to produce DEEP’s
survivor strain offspring.
Immediately following that spawn-
You can get away with larger patterns on the Farmington when the flows are up in the ing, the broodstock are released back
spring, when trout are aggressive in the fall, and in the summer after rainstorms give the into the TMA. To identify survivor
water some color. Try DK’s Stoner (left) and the Dirty Little Stripper. strain offspring from other trout in

50 FLY FISHER MAN

the Farmington, biologists initially
implanted elastomer tags, or colored
identification marks just above the eye
with a specific color identifying the
year that the fish were stocked. Today,
survivor strain fish can be identified by
their clipped adipose fins.
Survivor strain trout are stocked an-
nually in the TMA in the spring, some
as adult fish up to two years old and
18 to 20 inches in length, along with
many more yearlings. Subsequent sur-
veys have shown that the survivor strain
browns that are stocked as yearlings
have a more advanced growth rate than
the two-year-old fish.

PROTECTING THE RESOURCE

Founded in 1977, the nonprofit
Farmington River Anglers Association
(FRAA) and its 300 members were in-
strumental in establishing a three-mile
trout management area in 1988 and the
inclusion of the river in the National
Wild & Scenic Rivers System in 1994.
The FRAA was also instrumental in the
expansion of the West Branch TMA in
the mid-90s, and works actively with the
DEEP to further expand the TMA and
enhance the fishery. Members regularly
participate in river cleanups, trout hatch-
ery improvements, school classroom ac-
tivities, and habitat improvement. If you
are visiting the river, pick up a copy of
the FRAA’s 66-page A Guide to the Farm-
ington River, which divides the river into

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LEGENDS ON THE FARMINGTON

different sections from Hartland to its
confluence with the Connecticut River
in Windsor, and includes detailed maps
identifying pools and runs.
Established in 1953, the Farmington
River Watershed Association (FRWA)
advocates for water quality, water alloca-
tion, habitat restoration, recreation, open
space, and wetland and floodplain pro-
tection. The nonprofit FRWA sponsors an
annual River Steward program, training
and deploying interested and qualified
college students each summer to improve
and safeguard the river.
New England’s second largest Trout
Unlimited chapter, the Farmington
Valley Trout Unlimited (FVTU) chap-
ter is dedicated “To preserve, protect,
and restore cold water fisheries in Con-
necticut and the Farmington Valley re-
gion,” and regularly works with FRAA,
FRWA, and DEEP to maintain and im-
prove the Farmington River as a recre-
ational resource and a blue-ribbon wild
trout fishery.
CHASING

The permit of Ascension Bay frequently travel in schools, and their black tails
and dorsal fins often give them away when they feed on shallow flats. It’s a
sight that can buckle the knees and coax mistakes from even the most veteran
flats anglers.
 ROSS PURNELL

The epicenter of permit

fishing in the Caribbean
BRE DRAKE - PHOTO
chasing Palometa The epicenter of permit fishing in the Caribbean
Ashley O’Brien caught this permit with guides Sami and Toluco in October 2022 fishing in the Ladies Permit Pachanga, an annual
charitable catch-and-release permit tournament. Thirteen permit were landed during the one-week event, which raised $2,800 U.S.—
with another $2,800 in matching funds by Palometa Club—to be used for local philanthropic and conservation efforts.
It’s harder and harder to find a place
that hasn’t been degraded over time. If
you are new to fly fishing, you likely don’t
notice—you have nothing to compare,
and it’s always great to be out there cast-
ing a line. But if you’ve been at this for de-
cades, it can be a little depressing to visit
old haunts and realize they have suffered
at the hands of humanity.
Islands where I used to camp on my
home river are now crossed by a freeway
bridge, and homes and golf courses have
replaced open pastures. The river where I
first learned to fish for steelhead still looks
the same, but the fish are gone. It’s sad to
see what a poor job we’ve done of protect-
ing wild places, but I didn’t start tapping
on this keyboard to complain about these
things you already know.
Instead, my intent is to celebrate a
place that, incredibly, looks exactly the
same as it did decades ago. It’s a tropical
paradise with palm trees and white sand
beaches covering more than 1,080 square
miles of land, sea, and coastal ecosys-
tems. It’s a community where locals
came up with a plan to protect the fish-
ery, freeze all development, and restrict
the numbers of boats to the same as they
were in the last millennium.
Mexico’s Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve
is one of that country’s largest protected
54 FLY FISHER MAN
areas, and it’s not just the same as it was
long ago—it’s better. And a new genera-
tion of guides and anglers in the town of
Punta Allen are continuing what their
parents’ generation started. Now there
are strict harvest and pollution controls
on Ascension Bay, a complete ban on de-
velopment, and a frozen number of guide
boats and permits that will never increase.
ORIGIN STORY
Mayan civilization stretched across
the Yucatan Peninsula for centuries, but
their cities and settlements were almost
always centered around life-sustaining
freshwater cenotes. The modern settle-
ment of Punta Allen (in Mayan, Punta
Ah Allin) began from 1898 to 1901, when
Major General José María de la Vega
was appointed the administrator of the
Federal Territory of Quintana Roo and
constructed a lighthouse at the strategic
tip of a long, narrow peninsula reaching
into Ascension Bay. The first lighthouse
operator—who was also the owner of
the surrounding property—was Don
Manuel Mendoza Martin. The founding
members of the community sought his
permission to build their houses on his
property, harvest fish, and farm the land
for coconuts.
BRE DRAKE - PHOTO
The Mendoza, Choc, Ancona, and
Pereira families were the first residents
of Punta Allen, and in the following de-
cades, many relatives joined them, along
with other fishing families who saw
strength in numbers in what was essen-
tially a tropical frontier.
All the buildings at this so-called
“Camp Vega”—except the lighthouse—
were destroyed when Hurricane Janet
made landfall in 1955. The hurricane also
ruined most of the coconut farms, causing
the locals to shift to an almost exclusive-
ly fishing economy. The current townsite
sprang up in 1972 and 1973, when Don
Susano Torres drilled dependable fresh-
water wells about 2 kilometers north of
the lighthouse. Approximately 20 homes
were built on the Atlantic coast, where the
inhabitants actually owned the property
they lived on. They named the town Co-
lonia de Pescadores Javier Rojo Gomez.
Punta Allen is actually the name of the tip
of the peninsula.
From the early 1970s to the mid-1980s,
local fishermen enjoyed almost unlimit-
ed harvest, and Punta Allen prospered.
But indiscriminate netting, overharvest,
outside fishing pressure, and looming de-
velopment threatened the Ascension Bay
ecosystem. Residents saw firsthand what
was happening in the tourist areas to the
north: Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Cozu-
mel, and Cancun. Mangrove forests were
cut down, canals and beaches dredged to
make way for marinas and cruise ships,
and jungle habitat paved to make way for
roads, parking lots, and hotels. Worse,
all this “progress” brought unregulated
numbers of people to a region with no
sustainable way to deal with trash and
wastewater, protect the water quality, or
regulate harvest. Matt McCannel’s floating shrimp pattern
The residents of Punta Allen knew (top left) helps avoid bottom-oriented
more than the fishing was at stake. Their bonefish. His crab pattern tied with in-line
way of life was on the verge of a cata- dumbbell eyes enters the water with less
strophic shift, from a life in balance with splash. And his sinking mantis shrimp has
the ocean toward a future where their a claw just like the real thing.
children would be hotel and nightclub
service employees. So they took action,
appealing to local and federal officials
to protect Ascension Bay and the land
around it. They became the primary

I
stakeholders, organizers, and creators of
the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve.
In contrast with the U.S., where local
property owners often oppose federal
regulation, here the locals were the pri-
mary drivers behind the creation of one of
Mexico’s largest protected areas—652,000
hectares (1.3 million acres) of intricate-
ly linked marine, coastal, and terrestri-
al ecosystems. It has 120 kilometers (75
miles) of coastline, tropical forests, palm
savannahs, one of the country’s most pris-
tine wetlands, lagoons, mangrove stands,
sandy beaches and dunes, and extensive
saltwater flats and shallow sea grass beds.
Part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef—
the world’s second-largest barrier reef—
is also protected. In short, Sian Ka’an is
heaven for bonefish, permit, tarpon, and
countless other fish that thrive in this type
of tropical environment.
Sian Ka’an means “gate of heaven” or
“place where heaven begins.” The bio-
sphere was created in 1986 and became
a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
Legal protections are extensive, and in-
clude restrictions on how fishing takes
place. No nets or traps are permitted.
In the lobster fishery, artificial lobster
habitats are GPS marked throughout the
bay, lobsters are harvested by hand by
free diving, and each lobster is carefully
inspected so no egg-bearing females are
harvested and each lobster meets mini-
mum size requirements.
The fly-fishing guides tell stories of their
grandparents hauling nets filled with en-
tire schools of permit and other gamefish.
But that hasn’t happened for decades—
fly-fishing tourism now drives the econo-
my here, and even that is tightly regulated.
 P

MATT JONES - PHOTO RED KULPER - PHOTO

The prohibitions against development en-
sure that the town (and the ecosystem) stay
the same. The population of Punta Allen
(about 500) has remained static since I first
visited in the late 1990s.
Nothing has changed, except the snook,
permit, and other gamefish are more plen-
tiful now, and the guides have soaked up
the previous generation’s knowledge and
added more sophisticated methods, bet-
ter flies and strategies, and fluent English.
This adds up to a better experience for vis-
iting gringos who want to catch the most
challenging tropical flats species.
That was my revelation the last time
I stayed at Palometa Club, which has
evolved over the years to become the
number one permit lodge in the Caribbe-
an. Yes, Ascension Bay has tons of bone-
fish—possibly too many. It’s a very good
place for first-time saltwater fly fishers to
walk sandy flats and cast to large schools
of willing bonefish.
There is seasonally good fishing for
large migratory tarpon, and it’s an un-
derrated snook fishery. Sight fishing for
large snook along the mangroves is es-
pecially good starting in November and
through the winter months, when cool
weather pushes migratory snook from
the north and toward Punta Allen. The
reverse happens when things heat up in
the summer, tarpon move in, and the
snook creep back northward.
But while snook, bonefish, and tarpon
are all viable options, and many peo-
ple visit the other lodges in the area for
the flats grand slam potential—or just
for warm weather and the chance to see
dolphins, manatees, and rare birds like
spoonbills and flamingos—serious an-
glers visit Palometa Club for just one rea-
son, and that’s to spend a week hunting
exclusively for the black-tailed devil of the
flats: Trachinotus falcatus. Palometa Club
is the only Caribbean lodge where both
guests and guides are tuned toward a sin-
gular purpose. There’s no talk of “What
would you like to fish for today?” or “The
tides are good for tarpon” or “This north
wind is best for bonefish.”
Guides and guests here understand that
they’ll be fishing for permit every day un-
less someone asks for an alternative plan.
Some people feel it doesn’t makes sense to
spend a week’s vacation to fish a saltwater
venue with a variety of species, yet commit
yourself to the pursuit of the one fish you’re
least likely to catch. The rest of us figure
it doesn’t make sense to come to the best
permit location in the Caribbean, with the
best permit guides in the region, and then

flyfisherman.com 57
chasing Palometa The epicenter of permit fishing in the Caribbean
The guides at Palometa Club are among the best permit hunters in the world. They work in pairs, so there is a 1:1 guide-to-angler ratio
when wading the flats. Shown here left to right and top to bottom are Julio, Rodo, Christian, Luis, David, Cesar, Sami, and Toluco.
squander the opportunity by fishing for
bonefish, snook, or barracudas.
Permit are widely known as the most
difficult of all flats species to catch on a fly,
but when you are at Palometa Club, the
odds are tipped more in your favor for a
number of reasons. This vast ecosystem of
reefs, sea grass, flats, and lagoons creates
the perfect habitat for the entire lifecycle
of Trachinotus falcatus, and the protec-
tions of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere do more
than prevent harvest of permit. The bio-
sphere prevents development and loss of
fragile rearing habitat for juveniles, pro-
tects water quality, and limits the number
of boats on the water. There are a lot of
permit here—everything from schools of
baby permit weighing 3 to 5 pounds, up
to giants of 35 pounds and more. Don’t
let the IGFA record book fool you—there
are multiple record-size fish caught here
every season. The guides just don’t carry
certified scales or mess with line-class tip-
pets unless you specifically ask.
Permit fishing out of Palometa Club isn’t
great just because of Ascension Bay and the
biosphere, though—there are layers to this
cake. Over the years, Palometa Club has
58 FLY FISHER MAN
cultivated many of the top permit guides
from the Punta Allen community. They ar-
en’t employees, because all the guides are
independent contractors from the Punta
Allen cooperatives. But Palometa Club has
sought permit specialists who have proved
their merit year after year, and they have
some of the best teams on the water.
Teams like Gerardo/Rodolfo, Corre-
ano/Veaudy, Jorge/Luis, Charly/Nino,
Toluco/Sami, Alonso/Christian, and
Jonathan/Julian are some of the best of a
new generation of Ascension Bay permit
guides. They have deep roots in the re-
gion—some of their fathers, uncles, and
grandfathers were part of the cooperative
when the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve
was created. They are proud of that her-
itage, they have absorbed all that their
forebears learned on the water, and they
bring a new energy to the flats that didn’t
exist here 10 or 15 years ago. It used to be
that Ascension Bay guides were lobster
fishermen for much of the year, and part-
time fly-fishing guides.
Not so with the majority of guides at
Palometa Club, where they prefer pro-
fessional year-round fly-fishing guides so
RED KULPER - PHOTOS
their guests can take advantage of that
expertise and experience. For instance,
Jorge, Charly, and Alonso have all guided
for Untamed Angling on the Rio Marié
and bring with them a wealth of experi-
ence. All the guides on the Palometa Club
roster are these kinds of global superstars
. . . they speak fluent English (communica-
tion is paramount when chasing difficult
flats species), they share their passion for
permit on Instagram and understand the
permit culture outside of Punta Allen,
they are aware of and know how to use the
best equipment to maximize your oppor-
tunities, and they tie and design flies to
match specific seasons and flats.
They tie and use flies you can’t get in
Colorado fly shops—mantis shrimp with
a rear claw, floating shrimp flies, and crabs
weighted in line with the hook shank so
they cast better and land with less impact.
They have new ideas, new flies, and new
techniques. They are a new generation of
Punta Allen guides, and when it comes to
permit, they are the best of the best.
Ross Purnell is the editor and publisher of
F ly F isherman.
 Vegetation, sediment, algae and phytoplankton pile up at the bottoms of reservoirs behind dams, where the organic
material gases off into the atmosphere. Algae blooms, like this one behind the Klamath River’s Iron Gate Dam, produce
Clean Hydropower

a carcinogenic liver toxin called microcystin, which is harmful to humans and animals, including salmon. EcoFlight

into the atmosphere. Despite decades of greenwashing, dams aren’t

a clean, green or cheap energy source, they’re wastefully inefficient.
dams contribute to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases
If pushing salmon and steelhead to extinction wasn’t bad enough,
Is a Myth
F LY F ISH I NG
THE

A five-state hike along America’s spine

he nearby jagged peak slowly faded from our view as the air
tinged an eerie burgundy or ange, as we debated bailing for
the safet y of our SUV . A thunderstorm had just rolled through and the
smoke had quickly got ten consider ably worse. L acking cell reception, we had no
way of knowing if a new fire had spawned nearby. We made pl ans to jump in the l ake if
an inferno came roaring up over the hills, though that wasn’t ideal as the lows were
forecast to be in the 30s that night at the elevation we were at. Anxiet y consumed
the three of us, but we made the decision to stay and wait.
 JOSHUA BERGAN
PHOTOGRAPHY & TEXT

The Continental Divide Trail roughly follows America’s spine

(the Continental Divide), which separates watersheds that
ultimately drain into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. There
are innumerable fantastic and gorgeous fisheries all along its
path, as illustrated here in Wyoming’s Wind River Range.
F ly F i s h i n g t h e C D T A f i v e - s tat e h i k e a l o n g A m e r i c a’ s s p i n e
oshua Bergan is F ly F isherman
J magazine’s digital editor, the
former associate publisher at
Wilderness Adventures Press, a
freelance writer and photographer,
and author of the Flyfisher’s Guide
to Southwest Montana’s Mountain
Lakes and Tributary: Fishing the
Northern Rockies’ Periphery. He, his
wife Liz, kiddo Thomas, and their
dogs Mika and Koda basecamp out
of Belgrade, Montana.
JOSHUABERGAN.MYPORTFOLIO.COM
@JOSHUA _ BERGAN
Southwest Montana offers some of the CDT’s best fishing opportunities. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and its fisheries biologists, are
great stewards of the mountain lakes, maintaining opportunities for native westslope cutthroat trout, golden trout, and Arctic grayling.
62 FLY FISHER MAN
This incredibly smoky evening was the
culmination of what we would later learn
was the fishing gods’ efforts to keep us
away from a certain lake, this past sum-
mer—the gods’ thwarts made this already
roughly our Plan F. A couple of friends
and I were backpacking and fishing along
the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) high
above Montana’s famous trout streams.
The lakes and streams along the CDT
are underutilized fisheries that boat
ramp-weary anglers should keep in mind.
We encountered a total of three other hik-
ers on our most recent five-day outing—
and none of them were fishing. Grant-
ed, this was shortly after Labor Day, but
it was also at a time when those famous
Montana fisheries were largely shut down
to fishing due to “hoot-owl” restrictions
(fishing closures due to high water tem-
peratures that stress trout) or full fishing
closures due to low flows.
The Continental Divide National
Scenic Trail covers more than 3,000
miles (including loops and alternate
routes) in five states and three of Amer-
ica’s fishiest national parks (Glacier,
Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain)
from the Canada border in Montana
to the Mexico border, and traverses the
native lands of 14 different indigenous
tribes. Thousands of creeks and lakes are
accessible along its course, many of them
as pristine and clear as they have been
since the days of solely tribal inhabitance.
It’s quite popular for through-hikers and
other backpackers, but is not particularly
popular among anglers.
As it follows the Continental Divide,
there are not many places where it’s within
reach of large, famous rivers. These fisher-
ies are mere trickles high in the mountains
where these major drainages start.
The trail is only semi-complete in plac-
es, and it does get rerouted from time to
time. In other places, there are actual-
ly multiple routes to a destination that
are all considered the CDT. And while
through-hiking is rarely the modus ope-
randi of dedicated fly anglers, there’s no
reason it can’t be, with the opportunities
along the CDT.
PLAN F
We planned our trip for five days and
four nights along the Montana/Idaho
border. Several initially planned trips to
Resources and Gear
T

SCAN THE CODE TO WATCH

THREE DIFFERENT VIDEOS:
HOW TO FISH MOUNTAIN LAKES,
WHAT INSECTS LIVE IN THEM,
AND HOW TO PACK LIGHT FOR
THE HIGH COUNTRY.
F ly F i s h i n g t h e C D T
The best mountain lakes often have what biologists call “limited natural reproduction,” meaning the fish spawn on their own in the wild,
but do not overwhelm a lake’s biomass. In other words, there is enough food for these wild beauties to grow large quickly.
Montana’s Beartooth Mountains (Plans
A, B, and C) were aborted after learning
of all the damage done by the same floods
that ravaged Yellowstone National Park in
June of 2022.
Then in August, the film crew that
came along to help tackle some video
projects came down with COVID on
their previous trip (Plan D). So with our
trip replanned and rescheduled, we fi-
nally embarked the Tuesday after Labor
Day. But this forced our school bus-
driving friend out, as classes had start-
ed (Plan E), and contributed to our large
packs, since there was a legit chance for
snow in the forecast (it did get down to
26 degrees one night). And once up in the
mountains, we realized I’d planned our
route based on an old map, and the trail
did not go near several of the lakes we’d
anticipated fishing. This was Plan F. Flexi-
bility is crucial on this kind of trip.
Because of the reroute, we were only
able to get to six of the nine lakes we
planned to fish. And of those, three
seemed to be fishless at that time (which
is relatively common, even at stocked
mountain lakes, for a variety of rea-
sons—you really need to go to know),
one had only 6- to 8-inch brook trout,
64 FLY FISHER MAN
and one seemingly had only small rain-
bows. But the other lake—the one that I
believe that the fishing gods were trying
to hide from us—made the whole trip
worthwhile. More on that lake later.
MONTANA
The CDT meanders for about 800
miles in Montana, starting at the Cana-
dian border on the north end of Glacier
National Park. It snakes its way south
through the Bob Marshall Wilderness,
the Helena National Forest over Mac-
Donald Pass, across Interstate 15 north of
Butte and Interstate 90 over Homestake
Pass, through the Highland Range south
of Butte, then back across I-15 into the
Anaconda Pintler Wilderness.
This is where some of the best moun-
tain fishing on the trail begins. From
here to the border of Yellowstone Na-
tional Park where it enters Wyoming,
the CDT passes by a great many stun-
ning stillwaters, rich with stocked and
wild westslope cutthroat trout, wild
Yellowstone cutthroats, Arctic grayling,
and occasional goldens, rainbows, and
brookies. The tumbling inlets and outlets
of these tarns also provide opportunities
to cast dry flies to opportunistic fish.
In southern Montana, it mostly follows
the Montana-Idaho border, but at times
around Yellowstone, the trail briefly ven-
tures into Idaho.
Some other noteworthy fisheries on or
within a day’s hike of the trail here in-
clude several beautiful lakes in Glacier
National Park, the Middle and South
forks of the Flathead River, the upper
Blackfoot River, the Big Hole River, the
streams of Red Rock Lakes National
Wildlife Refuge, Henry’s Lake (Idaho),
Hebgen Lake, and innumerable moun-
tain lakes and creeks along the way.
WYOMING
The 550-mile Wyoming stretch of the
CDT begins just south of West Yellow-
stone, Montana and just west of the Old
Faithful Village in Yellowstone National
Park. It cuts across the Madison Plateau
en route to the Firehole River before skirt-
ing Shoshone Lake, crossing the Lewis
Channel, and then on to Yellowstone’s
Heart Lake—one of the best cutthroat
trout fisheries in the world. It then trac-
es the Heart River to the extreme upper
Snake River, and exits the park near the

Yellowstone Thoroughfare—one of the
most remote places in the Lower 48.
From there it runs south into the Teton
Wilderness before crossing the extreme
upper Wind River, paralleling the up-
per Green River and Green River Lakes,
then passing through the innumerable
mountain lakes of the Wind River Range
—some of the best golden trout country
in the world.
From the south end of the Winds, it
traverses the Sweetwater River (which
eventually feeds the incredible North
Platte River) and spans some serious-
ly desolate fishing in Bureau of Land
Management checkerboard oil country
around Rawlins en route to the Colora-
do border.
COLORADO
The CDT enters Colorado after passing
through Wyoming’s Huston Park Wilder-
ness in the Medicine Bow-Routt National
Forest, where it crosses the Middle Fork
of the Elk River (a fine dry-fly tributary to
the Yampa River) prior to scrambling over
the 12,000-foot peaks of the Mount Zirkel
Wilderness and Park Range northeast of
Steamboat Springs.
After briefly dipping into the valley
along U.S. Highway 40, the trail then
travels through the Never Summer Wil-
derness and enters Rocky Mountain Na-
tional Park (RMNP) just north of Grand
Lake. Here it crosses the extreme upper
Colorado River at the Bowen Gulch Trail-
head and offers a loop through the park
near several fishy mountain lakes. Then
it heads back to Grand Lake and Shadow
Mountain Lake and on to Lake Granby
and Monarch Lake. And while RMNP is
not necessarily known as a hotspot for
huge trout, there are many opportunities
for beautiful and native trout.
The next noteworthy section is where
the CDT skirts and pokes through the
southern end of the Indian Peaks Wil-
derness near Devils Thumb and King
lakes, and onward through the James
Peak Wilderness, over Berthoud Pass,
and along the fishy pocketwater of Clear
Creek near Bakerville.
From there it makes an arduous jour-
ney along the ridgeline of some 14ers and
around the headwaters of some of the
state’s most famous rivers, before drop-
ping down to the uppermost freestone
section of the Blue River. Then up and
over the Tenmile Range, over the upper
Eagle River, and onto Turquoise Lake
and Twin Lakes in the upper Arkansas
A five-state hike along America’s spine
River drainage near Leadville.
It continues southward through the
Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, then past
Chalk Creek toward Monarch Moun-
tain. Near there, it follows a ridge directly
above the Waterdog Lakes which have a
population of rare and native greenback
cutthroat trout.
The trail continues working south and
west through the La Garita Wilderness
near the Gunnison River headwaters and
along Cochetopa Creek, on through the
Rio Grande headwaters, then the Wemi-
nuche Wilderness where it passes many
mountain lakes and through the South
The lakes and streams along the CDT are
underutilized fisheries that boat ramp-weary
anglers should keep in mind. We encountered a
total of three other hikers on our most recent
five-day outing—and none of them were fishing.
San Juan Wilderness along the Conejos
headwaters. After its 750-mile journey
through Colorado, the CDT spills south
over the state border northeast of Chama,
New Mexico.
NEW MEXICO
The southernmost 820 miles of the
CDT enter New Mexico in the Carson
National Forest. It skirts the Cruces
Basin Wilderness, crosses the Santa Fe
National Forest’s Chama River Canyon
Wilderness and San Pedro Parks Wilder-
ness, passes through the Cibola National
Forest, El Malpais National Monument,
the mountains of the Gila National For-
est and Aldo Leopold Wilderness, as it
terminates its course in a remote part of
southwest New Mexico.
Fly-fishing opportunities thin out
down here, but that doesn’t mean you
should leave your rod at home.
For example, the CDT dips into the rug-
ged Chama River Canyon at Skull Bridge,
which hosts some nice rainbows and a few
truly huge brown trout. And if you build
in a couple of extra days, you could thumb
it 15 miles to the northwest of where the
trail leaves U.S. 180 to Cliff, New Mexico.
Here, the Gila River—which hosts small-
mouth bass, catfish, and carp—flows
through private land. One portion, along
Iron Bridge Road, is owned by the Nature
Conservancy and is open to the public.
From that point on U.S. 180, the CDT
travels another 150 or so miles through
Lordsburg and the Big Hatchet Moun-
tains Wilderness Study Area to the south-
ern terminus at a remote area in New
Mexico’s bootheel.
UPHILL FLY FISHING
Especially at a time when our cold-wa-
ter trout streams are increasingly affected
by climate change, we should be looking
uphill more and more at high-elevation
trout fisheries. Continuing to fish the
West’s famous main stems through Au-
gust will not make much sense if the trout
are no longer there. Many of the lakes and
streams along the CDT embody this al-
pine future.
So about that lake that the gods were
trying to keep from us that smoky night
on the CDT in western Montana . . . It
turned out to be a gorgeous 9,000-foot
gem bubbling with thick 12- to 18-inch
westslope cutthroat trout that were fac-
ing the banks under downed logs, eager
to ambush ignorant grasshoppers.
My film crew (Ben Pierce and Chris-
tine Marozick of Side Channel Produc-
tions—both excellent fly anglers) helped
me spot fish, got me set up to cast in a
way that the camera could capture, then
confidently reassured me that if I can
cast my hopper within a given radius of
the sighted fish, it would eat. And they
were right, time after time.
The smoke actually cleared that af-
ternoon, revealing cyan heavens that we
hadn’t seen for days. Together the three
of us sighted, stalked, and caught more
than enough native cutthroats on dry
flies, and made our peace with the fishing
gods on a fantastic trip on the Continen-
tal Divide Trail.
flyfisherman.com 65
 MCKNIGHT’S

DANGER MUFFIN CRAB

 Scan to watch Charlie Craven tie
McKnight’s Danger Muffin Crab,
and follow us on YouTube for more
TOP patterns
/flyfishermanmagazine

The pieces that set Doug’s pattern off

from so many others are the hook itself
and the way in which he constructs a
shell using a bit of deer hair for shape
mixed with a bit of soft rabbit fur to
counteract the buoyancy of the deer and
soften up the landing.

2
3 7

8
4

9
5

10

6
11 15

12 16

13 17

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Continued from page 72
I thought of how much that song might
fit Aaron and me—two travelers who’ve
made it a long way down life’s road, mak-
ing the most of every loop. We drifted. We
cast. We retrieved. We cast again. Two
wounded warriors. Poets by nature.
We made several passes along the sea-
wall and I felt a few hopeful bumps and
tugs which I was unable to convert into a
fish at the gunnel. The water here is dark
and dirty with who-knows-what leaking
out of the shipyards, so I couldn’t see what
smacked at the fly. We took another pass
and just as we drifted around the area
of the last tug, I saw a swirl and felt the
weight of a fish, which I solidly hooked.
With the first silver flash of fish flesh, I
wondered if I’d lucked into a juvenile
tarpon, but with its first of many leaps
I knew I had connected with a ladyfish
or skipjack—something I was trying to
avoid. Don’t get me wrong, I have noth-
ing against catching ladyfish, it’s just that
I was searching for snook. I set that one
free and we moved down to the next spot,
which was a long shoreline of black rip-
rap between two massive ships.
There were plenty of forage fish swim-
ming all around us and quite a bit of
splashy predation going on. I cast out
into the carnage and almost immediately
hooked another skipjack, which jumped
and fought with conviction and attitude
before I was finally able to land it. We
started working a cove that was rimmed
in black mangroves, and a few more la-
dyfish were the result. After I had caught
about half a dozen of them Aaron said, “I
think I’m going to start calling you the
lady killer.” “Please don’t,” I replied.
We were quickly losing the coolest
hours of the morning, so we headed to-
ward a shoreline that had a little artificial
cove cut into it that looked quite “snooky”
around its rocky edges. I saw something
snapping at the water near a couple of
half-submerged boulders, so I lined up
a quick cast, landed it where I wanted,
made a couple of short strips, and con-
nected with a nice mangrove snapper. I
was as happy to see him swim away as I
was to catch him. I guess the pointlessness
of catch-and-release is exactly the point.
Everything is transitory.
We found a sheltered cove brimming
with mangroves and anchored the boat
so we could enjoy the final shaded mo-
ments of the morning and a bite of lunch.
Aaron popped the top on a couple of ice-
cold Wild Texas Kölsch beers, which the
brewer describes as “perfect for enjoying
the Texas outdoors.” I can’t argue with
that description. We weren’t eating fan-
cy—just a few gas station sandwiches and
a bag of chips, but it felt like the perfect
combination, along with the sounds of
water lapping against the shore and Aar-
on’s music wafting through the air.
I had begun to fall in love with the mu-
sic and lyrics of JJ Grey. Guitars, horns,
harmonica, and Hammond organ all
blended with his soulful Southern voice as
he sang of his deepest questions about the
existence of God and the significance of
humanity. I’ve wondered these things too,
and I won’t know the answer until I cross
that final river. Perhaps, not even then.
JJ’s voice spoke to me as a fellow
son-of-the-South who never knew the
hateful world I hear about in the media.
Each pleading tone bled through the open
wounds of my beloved Southland . . . all too
often, self-inflicted wounds where slave and
slaver once prayed for redemption and for-
giveness. There is no reason for division and
yet no region free of those who would divide
us. In every generation of every tribe there
are those who love and those who hate. Love
needs to prevail, one blended voice at a time.
For a while we just sat there in rela-
tive silence as the soft morning light was
replaced with the brightness of a rising
sun and the grayness of an industrial
watershed. We did our best to follow the
wisdom of seeking the few softly shaded
places that remained in this hard, bright
midday waterway. We were holding on to
our faith in finding the fish of our dreams,
if we cast onward with patience and per-
sistence. But for now, we listened to JJ
Grey singing “I Believe (in Everything)”—
his song of wisdom and faith.
Faith is a funny thing. It’s based upon
nothing provable and everything immov-
able. Nobody ever learns anything they
don’t want to learn. After all, you may
put your faith in something, that may be
nothing; and nothing can remove that
faith—but you. I’m not saying the stories
aren’t true; just that it’s true that they are
stories. And over time, I’ve come to be-
lieve that almost everything in life is faith.
Reality is questionable.
Every song we heard was of longing and
aloneness. Every note that played was like
the evening call of a bird. Like a “last call.”
And yet within all that longing and alone-
ness was the commonality that unites us.
Namely, we are not alone in feeling alone.
We don’t own the only eyes that ever
cried, or lips that ever smiled, or voice that
ever sang. There have been billions before
us and there may be billions more yet to
come. Who knows?
In between sips of Wild Texas brew, we
watched the day unfold and spoke in tones
of poetic tragedy and hope. We spoke of
this place, its people, and its harsh beau-
ty. My friend Aaron is philosophical, tat-
tooed, and widely educated, with a halo of
smoke and heart of gold. I’m grateful for
our friendship.
Running through my mind was the
idea that this place was either a lost land
or a forgotten one—or both. I wondered
as I have so many times before why we
can’t just all get along—humanity and
nature. Why can’t we have a port without
the poison? Why can’t we build cities that
are filled with fresh clean running water,
safe urban fishing, native plants and trees
to shade and oxygenate the air we all must
breathe? Why can’t we create public gar-
dens and fruit trees from which everyone
eats? Why can’t the sound of birdsong
resonate from every urban park and path?
Have we become such a small species that
we can’t pursue such a big life? I refuse to
accept such defeat.
We fished throughout the sun-filled
day, beneath bridges and in the shad-
ows of dilapidated seawalls. We fished
in the night, beneath the lights of every
dock and derelict ship. And yet we nev-
er did connect with a snook; we never
even saw one. Over the course of the
morning, we caught ladyfish, snappers,
and jacks but no snook, and I’m fine
with that. It took nothing away from
the taste of cold beer, the feel of the
warm sunlight, the joy of our laughter,
the meaning of our silences. It could
not erase the joy of casting side by side
with a good friend, both moving to the
rhythm of a life well lived.
As we cast our lines and hopes among
the lifeless hulls of the ship graveyard I
wondered, “Is this us?” Are we in the last
moments of our usefulness to the world
—more burden than blessing? But then I
looked across at my friend casting toward
the setting sun and I knew that as long
as we’re here, we have value. The trick is
to live a meaningful life in the “here and
now” while being open to any “there and
then.” It’s a loop, not a line. If you miss
your mark, just pick up and cast again.
You simply do whatever you can do to
keep the circle unbroken.
Steve Ramirez is a Texas master naturalist,
poet, and Marine Corps veteran. He is the
author of Casting Forward (2020) and Casting
Onward (2022). His new book Casting Sea-
ward will be available from Lyons Press in
April 2023.
flyfisherman.com 71
 WRECKAGE STEVE RAMIREZ
ILLUS TR ATION BY ROB BENIGNO

he sk if f sl id jus t bene at h t he l ow- sl ung bridge a nd w e coul d see t he

scr a pe s a nd sc a rs on t he concre t e f rom t hose w ho c a me bef ore us
a nd negl ec t ed t o pro t ec t t heir fishing rods a nd boat a n t enn a s . M y
buddy A a ron R eed h a s pa s sed t his way m a n y t ime s bef or e , so our ge a r a nd our he a ds w er e
a ppropri at ely l ow er ed f or s a f e t y. A s t he bo w of t he boat beg a n t o pro t rude ou t t he o t her
side of t he bridge , t he sunl igh t il l umin at ed a n au t ic a l scene compl e t e w i t h shrimp boat s
a nd pel ic a ns t h at s t ood wat ch f rom t he w hi t e wa shed p y l ons a nd piers . T he boat s s way ed
w i t h a ir - dried ne t s a nd emp t y hul l s . T he pel ic a ns p osed mo t ionl e s s a nd s tat ue sque in
t heir f e at her ed sui t s of gr ay ish brow n.
As the skiff slid past the docks of
shrimpers and bait fishermen, we hoped
to target snook and a variety of other
native gamefish with our fly rods, using
nothing more than a bit of fur and feath-
ers attached to a stainless-steel hook,
which we’d drag enticingly through the
deep, dark waters of the Brownsville Ship
Channel. We had been traveling at speed
for a while, trying to get to our fishing
area in the ship graveyard before the sun-
light grew too strong and the day too hot.
Normally, I like to fish with only the
sounds of nature around me, but the ship-
ping channel is a place largely devoid of
birdsong and replete with the noise of pile
drivers and boom cranes that swing from
side to side like dinosaurs feeding on the
hulls of decommissioned ships.
All around us the gray metal skeletons
of once grand vessels were being cut into
bite-sized pieces and hauled away as scrap.
So, when Aaron asked, “Do you mind if I
play music while we fish?” I was more than
pleased to say, “Go for it brother.” Mo-
ments later, the sounds of deconstruction
were replaced with the wonderfully poetic
words and melodies of soulful songs that
went a long way toward tightening my
loop and widening my smile.
I don’t know if it was the good music or
the great company, but I was relaxed and
casting as if I knew what I was doing. There
was a natural native rhythm to everything
from our casting to the sound of the music.
We cast into murky waters while listening to
the Michigan Rattlers singing a song of long-
ing, love, and loss, and the purely mortal fear
that our journey might end—all too soon.

72 FLY FISHER MAN Continued on page 71

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