The Orvis Fly-fishing Guide Podcast

This week my guest is noted steelhead angler and scientist John McMillen of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. John’s topic is The Secret Life of Steelhead, and his fascinating discussion of why they do what they do (and the challenges they face) held me in absolute fascination. I am sure you’ll feel the same. Besides being a lifelong steelhead angler (John was a tester on our new Mission Series of two-handed rods), john has spent hundreds of days snorkeling steelhead rivers observing them, and at one time he was fishing about 345 days a year. John has worked professionally for the US Forest Service, the Hoh Indian Tribe, the Wild Salmon Center, and recently for NOAA on the Elwha dam removal project. Despite his lifetime of studying the life history and ecology of steelhead, John remains an optimist on the future of steelhead and it gives us hope that someone who understands them so well feels they have a chance of survival. In the Fly Box this week, we have these questions and suggestions from listeners: How to