If there is a god responsible for this year's bounty, his name is U.S. District Court Judge James Redden. This year’s bonus returns are largely the result of spilling more water over dams when this year's returning fish were migrating out to the ocean as juveniles.

Photo: August 2009 Wild Deschutes River Steelhead. Credit: Duffy/Elam/Hickman/KWLS, A-Tm Capture Photo Collection

After months hammering away at features, photo edits, design and other shop needs, we are actually holding a (very) few advance copies of The Flyfish Journal's premiere edition. Newsstand and subscriber copies will be arriving and shipping after the FFR trade show, approx four weeks.

And. We. Are. Stoked.

Thanks to Ron Sorensen, we caught a bunch of chunky monkeys on the Missouri River near Craig last week.  Jim Hepworth got this wallow-hog.  Mid-August has been like early spring around here with rain and highs in the 60s.

Reyes Del Rio

Photo: Rodrigo Salles

A late summer dispatch from our friend Justin Crump; formerly of AEG and currently on a mission to fish like there's no tomorrow. He definitely is doing it right. I mean, are you going to catch 30+ cohos tomorrow? And according to JC, "the beer is free, the food is great, and the crew is top notch"....

Alaskan grayling on dry flies.

Conway Bowman and Jeff Patterson's juvenile great white mined from "The Dong."

Photo: Jeff Patterson