Biologists in Montana point to the mobility and adaptability of rainbow trout as among the reasons populations did not crash the way many feared when whirling diseasd was first discovered. photo by Phil Monahan

When whirling disease was first discovered in the Madison River in 1994, many anglers feared that the end of the fishery was nigh. Fifteen years later, the Madison is still a wildly popular angling destination, and biologists believe that  the adaptability of rainbow trout allowed populations to survive the disease. An article in the Helena Independent Record details current thinking on the subject. A variety of factors—including the mobility of rainbows, which travel an average of 42.8 miles per year; their ability. . .

Although unsightly and smelly, salmon carcasses provide vital nutrients for young salmon. Biologists are learning to “fertilize” rivers that lack these nutrients to help salmon fry grow faster. photo by Phil Monahan

Once a salmon run has dipped below a certain number or disappeared altogether from a watershed, the ecology of the system is drastically changed because of the missing nutrients that rotting fish carcasses provide each year. This makes restoring salmon populations more difficultbecause the young salmon must survive in less fertile habitat. Biologists in British Columbia seem to have found a solution: a method of fertilizing rivers to add the missing nutrients. The initial data suggest. . .

One August afternoon on a southern Colorado river, my guide handed me one of the more godawful dry flies I’d ever seen—an abomination constructed entirely of foam, rubber, and synthetic fibers. Although hardly a purist, I do appreciate at least a nod to fur and feathers in a fly, and this thing looked like a science project. Seeing the look of horror on my face, Jason assured me that the fly was his favorite hopper pattern for the water and a pattern on which he had taken. . .

A beautiful winter rainbow from Idaho’s Henry’s Forkphoto by Mike Dawes

We’re buried in deep snow here in the Northeast, so fishing seems like something far off in the future. But Mike Dawes of World Cast Anglers took advantage of a break in the weather around his shop in Jackson, Wyoming, so he ran up to the Henry’s Fork to scratch the winter itch. He’s got . . .