Steelhead OverviewWritten by Cameron Larsen
This article is intended to be a basic education in great game fish Steelhead. Entire volumes have been written on subject, so this article will not go into much specific detail. Those of you wanting hottest tip, will be better off calling your buddy, local guide or fly shop. However, if you are a beginner or thinking of beginning, or a seasoned veteran looking to catch perhaps a new idea or remember a lost one, we hope this series will be of value.Steelhead are nothing more than sea run Rainbow Trout. They are born in fresh water streams (at least wild steelies are) where they imprint everything from water chemistry to natural occurring food sources. The Steelhead life cycle is about as varied and complicated as fish can get. They can spend anywhere from 1 to 4 years in freshwater before going to sea and 1 to 4 years at sea. Steelies are native to Pacific once occurring from Asiatic coast to Southern Alaska and originally down to Tijuana River. Now they are found as far south as Central California. Steelhead have been successfully planted in Great Lakes region, and fly fishing there can be incredible. Great Lakes steelhead live entirely in freshwater, and migrate up tributaries to duplicate spawning behavior of Pacific Steelhead. To further complicate Steelhead life cycle is time they return to spawn. There are generally two runs of steelhead. One enters river in summer and runs through fall, usually spawning in early to mid-winter. This is typically called summer run. And then there is a winter run where fish enter river in early winter to early spring and spawning sometime in that time frame. The Great Lakes Steelhead generally enter river in early fall, especially in Pennsylvania, and fishing can be done in fall, winter and spring.
| | 3-PointerWritten by Gary Whittaker
Point 1: NHL Lockout players, Fans lockout NHLIf a tree falls in forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it really make a sound? That is question Gary Bettman should be asking himself right now. The NHL season should have been in full swing by now, but other than a few junkets set up by Bettman or NHLPA, very little attention has been given to lockout by press. Where is outcry from fans? Where is demand for a settlement to CBA by season ticket holders? Over 200 hundred NHL players have left to play in Europe, while rest have remained (or should remain) silent on issues. Ardent fans have turned to minor leagues to get their hockey fix. They appear to be enjoying hard-nosed hockey played for love of game. Even in Montreal, where Maurice Richard has been unofficially elevated to Sainthood, Canadiens fans have chosen to focus on making ends meet, rather than to worry about which side should get greater share of their money. With fans fed up of seeing which of two fat pigs can oink loudest, Corporate America will turn their advertising dollar towards latest diversions taking up a former NHL fans' time. The NHL will be hard-pressed to get ANY television deals, even in Canada, since public has shown pure ambivalence towards lack of hockey this season. The NHL is in business of entertainment. There will always be a market for hockey, even if it means going to a league of "original" six teams. Point 2: Barry Bonds, Black Power or Bud Power? Bonds is most likely meanest, nastiest player since Ty Cobb to swing a bat. He holds major league record for Home Runs, and he IS a steroid user. There is no question about it. To say that Bonds gets his shape from working out is like saying Pamela Anderson drinks a lot of milk to keep her breast size. He could have put answered all rumours, silenced his critics, if he just took a drug test, yet he refuses. More and more, allegations keep coming about his steroid use from former roommates to training instructors. In a league whose very soul is based on statistics, how can Major League Baseball continue to allow a public asterisk on last TWO home run records? Could it be that commissioner is afraid of a 200 pound black man holding a bat? Could it be that Bud is afraid that reaction from black community would bring about riots if he chose to remove Barry Bonds' home run record from books? Or maybe it is because MLB feels that after decades of injustice towards Negro League, this would be another way to repay some of debt owed to black community. Let's go back to summer before McGuire and Sosa made headlines in their famous battle that ended in McGuire breaking Maris' home run record. The average attendance in major league ballparks was slipping. MLB still had not recovered from their last work stopping, and fiasco of replacement players. TV ratings were also low. There was talk about Football becoming officially recognized as America's favourite national pastime. Then come McGuire, with his own brand of steroid, and Sammy Sosa. They brought new life into game. Ratings skyrocketed. Attendance was up. The owners made MONEY. Jump ahead a few years later. Barry Bonds has taken steroid problem further. He is being "tipped off" before having to take "random" drug test. How can MLB admit to this new problem without taking money out of their wallets, and calling into question every major broken record over last 5 years. Steroids are THE cover up of Selig era, and it won't be until a few more Ken Caminiti's die before mainstream starts focusing on this story.
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