News

As of early February 2026, the decades-long fight over the Bristol Bay watershed continues on multiple fronts: federal courts, the Alaska State Legislature, and regulatory agencies. While the Environmental Protection Agency's 2023 veto of the proposed Pebble Mine remains in effect, legal and legislative skirmishes have intensified, with the next two weeks...

In a landmark convergence of literary legacy and operatic ambition, Opera Montana has announced the world premiere of a new operatic adaptation of Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It. The production, set to debut in September 2026 at the Ellen Theatre in Bozeman, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the novella's original 1976 publication and marks Opera...

In a significant policy shift for the 2026 fishing season, Yellowstone National Park has announced that the Firehole, Gibbon, and Madison rivers will open to anglers on May 1—weeks ahead of the traditional Memorial Day weekend opener. The decision, announced January 27 by park officials, represents a strategic adaptation to changing climate conditions...

Jim Murphy, a true fly-fishing Renaissance man and leader of an astonishing number of angling brands over the years, passed away on January 21 after a long illness. At the time of his death, Murphy was the Director of Fly Fishing for Pure Fishing—which owns iconic brands such as Hardy, Greys, Pfleuger, and Fenwick—but his history in the business goes...

The Coors Light Cimarron LT doesn't look like a revolutionary piece of fly fishing equipment. At first glance, it's simply another beautifully machined reel from Ross Reels, finished in a luminescent silver with the familiar Rocky Mountain silhouette that has adorned Coors beer cans for decades. But dip it in cold water—or wade into a trout stream on a...

It's late January, the rivers are locked up or running gray, and if you're like most of us, you've been staring out the window wondering when you'll feel a tug on the line again. Cabin fever is real, but so is the cure: a well-lit vise, a warm beverage, and a few hours of wrapping thread. This week's Tying Tuesday has no central thread (so to speak). We're...

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 214-208 on Wednesday, January 21, to allow mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, setting the stage for a potential copper mining project in the Superior National Forest watershed. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minnesota), would rescind a public land order from the...

Renowned Ozark artist Duane Hada is painting a memorial tribute to Dave Whitlock, the Oklahoma-born fly-fishing legend who spent more than four decades on the White River and whose innovations—from the ubiquitous Dave's Hopper to the Whitlock-Vibert Box egg incubator system—helped establish north-central Arkansas as a destination that anglers worldwide...

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission unanimously approved new trout harvest regulations on January 16, 2026, marking a significant step in the recovery of the state's world-renowned trout fisheries following a catastrophic production crisis at two critical hatcheries. The new rules, effective February 1, 2026, replace the emergency catch-and-release orders...

A decades-long legal battle over the fate of four federal dams on the Lower Snake River has entered a critical new phase, with environmental plaintiffs and the Trump administration heading toward a pivotal courtroom showdown. Tomorrow marks the deadline for legal briefs in what could become one of the most consequential rulings for Pacific Northwest salmon...