Learn about the threat to Hot Creek from gold mining

Join a webinar hosted by Trout Unlimited on Tuesday, July 21st at 12pm PDT with experts and local leaders to learn more about the threat posed to Hot Creek and the Mammoth Lakes. The threat of exploratory gold drilling near the Eastern Sierra Hot Creek has reemerged. Trout Unlimited is bringing the angling community together to protect this iconic fishery. This informational webinar will provide participants with a comprehensive overview of the mine's history and look back at a decade of dedicated advocacy from the angling community. Most importantly, you will learn actionable ways this community can show up and make their voices heard in this next chapter of the fight.

Register for the webinar at https://bit.ly/AnglersUnite

More information is available at https://www.nohotcreekmine.com/

Shasta Trinity Cascades Chapter - Representing northern California from the Pacific to Nevada

The territory that the Shasta Trinity Cascades Chapter of Trout Unlimited represents includes some of the most diverse and productive trout, steelhead, and salmon waters in the state. We talked with Chapter President Andrew Harris to learn more about the Chapter and its activities.

TUCC: Can you can you tell me a little bit about the history of the Shasta Trinity Cascades Chapter of Trout Unlimited?

Andrew: About 10 years ago some of the members of the Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers club decided that they wanted to get more involved in conservation. They formed the Shasta Trinity Cascades TU chapter to become the conservation committee of the club. I was invited by one of the board members of the new TU chapter to get involved a year or two after that and then I started attending meetings and got on the board and I've been an officer on and off for a while now.

How did you get started angling?

I’ve fished since I was a kid. I got into it with spinning gear and bait and trolling in reservoirs during the summer when I was able to do a little fishing. When I got my driver’s license I was able to get to some smaller streams and experiment with fly fishing. I was self-taught for the most part and quickly became heavily interested in the sport. I went to the Clearwater House on Hat Creek guide school when I was a junior in college. I started guiding a bit that summer and became a full-time fly fishing guide after graduating from UC Davis.

The Shasta Trinity Cascades Chapter covers a wide range of fairly sparsely populated California. Where do most of the chapter members live?

When we look at our roster we see that members are from all over. We cover pretty much everything north of the Feather River drainage to the Oregon border and east to the Nevada border plus the coastal range including the Trinity and Klamath. Redding is where we have our meetings and where most of the active membership lives. During Covid we did Zoom meetings and we had some involvement from people from as far away as Susanville and Weaverville. Now that we're back to normal in person meetings, most of our involvement is from members in the Redding area.

What are some of the chapter’s signature activities that the chapter has done the last few years?

Lower Sacramento River Cleanup volunteers

Our signature event where I think most people hear about us is our annual lower Sacramento River cleanup. We typically do it on a weekend day in April and it's an event where anybody can come. You don't need a boat. We have a lot of people show up with drift boats and jet boats and a lot of people walk the banks. We focus on cleaning up the river as best as we can. It gets the community involved and we get good participation.

Who are some of the folks you consider key to the chapter that makes these events happen?

The entire board is heavily involved in orchestrating events like the cleanup. Our board includes Curtis and Roberta Cole, Michael Caranci, Creighton Smith, Andreas Fuhrman, Josh Markle, Dan Rhodes, April Brown, Bryan Quick and Jim Wigington.

TU STC volunteers engaging the public

It sounds like you get great participation in the spring cleanup beyond just the board members. What would you say are the most effective methods for reaching your members with news and announcements?

I'd say it's a mix of email newsletters and social media, primarily Facebook and Instagram. Our email mailing list includes both Chapter members and other local folks who are interested in what we do.

Are there other events you do to engage people?

We have an annual fly fishing film tour event that we do every fall that is well attended. We've used different ones over the years and the one we use now is the International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4). We hold the event at the Cascade Theater in Redding, which is a great venue -- it’s a super fun place to see the show. That's our big fundraiser, and we get to make our pitch to folks attending and remind them why we're doing what we do. This big event allows us to focus our fundraising on one annual event, so we don't have to really worry about it the rest of year.

Has the Chapter done any stream restoration projects?

Adding habitat for winter run Chinook Salmon smolts

Yes. We did one in a backwater area of the Sacramento River where we helped install woody debris to create habitat for winter run Chinook smolts. We did another project on a small stream that flows into the Sacramento River above Redding where we removed many truckloads of Carr Fire sediment that would have washed down into the river. We're always searching for projects like that. It’s challenging for us to do in-river projects because we’re dealing with rivers that have endangered species like winter run Chinook or threatened species like steelhead. For us to do anything in-stream requires a lot of help and coordination with state and federal agencies.

What are some of the other priorities for the Chapter?

A big year-round focus for us is advocacy. Through our advocacy we have been able to positively affect a lot of local projects that are being implemented by third parties. For example, there are a lot of projects being done on the Sacramento river to improve habitat for endangered winter run Chinook salmon. Many of these projects are designed to create more side channel habitat for the young fish. Our primary concerns with these projects include maintaining and improving public access and making sure we address issues for any trout fisheries that might be affected. The side channel projects are a big deal for our chapter and it's great that the local and state and federal agencies reach out to us on these and solicit our input. We also do a fair bit of advocacy around fishing regulations.

Our Chapter also has a focus on the local guiding community. Guiding is a huge deal in our area since people come from all over to fish here for trout and steelhead on our local rivers. Many of our members are folks who work in the fly fishing industry as guides and outfitters. I am an outfitter (Confluence Outfitters) and Bryan Quick, one of our board members, is the head outfitter at The Fly Shop in Redding. The guiding community is important to our chapter so we pay close attention to proposals and projects that might affect the guides and outfitters. Those of us in the fly fishing industry have opportunities to share our conservation values with our customers – that’s something that I aim to do better at in my own business.

What do you see as your biggest challenge going forward as a chapter?

Maintaining engagement and involvement. We have an interesting mix of working age and retired folks on our board which is great, but we need to keep the new people coming in. We really need to grow the active part of our chapter.

Anything else you'd like to share?

I think we’d like to see more volunteer opportunities built- in to some of TU’s big projects. We are always looking for opportunities to do hands-on work to support our local coldwater resources.

Volunteer Anglers Needed For Yosemite Rainbow Trout Sampling

The Trout Unlimited Central Sierra Chapter is conducting field sampling to support National Park Service research to identify, document, and conserve Yosemite’s native Rainbow Trout strains in and around the park.

You can learn how to help Yosemite’s native rainbow trout (by fishing!) at an orientation and training session at the Cascades Picnic Area in Yosemite National Park (on El Portal road about 10 minutes west of the Yosemite Valley) on June 25th @ 5:00PM. Topics will include proper tissue sampling techniques and location tagging. For more info, or if you are unable to attend email: centralsierratu@gmail.com.

Check out the Central Sierra Chapter Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/centralsierratu

Golden State Chapter - supporting watersheds from from San Diego to the Sierra East Side

The Golden State Flycasters is a dynamic organization that is both a traditional fly fishing club and a Trout Unlimited Chapter that covers eastern California from San Diego to Bridgeport. Efforts the chapter supports include conducting Southern Steelhead surveys in San Diego County, restoration work in the South Fork Kern watershed, and volunteering at the Hot Creek fish hatchery. To learn more about the Chapter and their activities we connected with Chapter President Dennis Rudloff.

TUCC: Tell me about the history of the Golden State Flycasters

Dennis: The Golden State Chapter was started by a gentleman named Pat Case who wanted a club associated with North [San Diego] County. Today, most of our member are North County residents. When the club got started, they saw an opportunity to become a TU Chapter, and TU was looking for somebody to represent them in Southern California.

How did you find out about the Golden State Chapter? What got you connected to it?

Chapter members enjoying their annual trip to Bishop, CA

I knew of the club for many years. On occasion, I would go to a meeting when I saw a speaker that looked interesting to me, but I was never a member. Four years ago, I went on a fishing trip by myself with a guide up on the McCloud River, and I came home, told my wife about how I was scrambling up and down these banks by myself. And it was like death defying. And then that's when she said, no, no, you have to join a fishing club. You can't go out fishing just by yourself. So I said, okay. And I just quickly hit the website, went to the next meeting and signed up. In that four years, I've gone from a member to the conservation chair to the president.

How did you get started angling?

As a kid, my parents would take me fishing offshore here in San Diego or maybe trout fishing somewhere in the mountains. Then my cousin, who lived in Oregon, became a fishing (trout and steelhead) guide. In 1980, he invited me to Oregon, where I caught a couple steelhead and then came home. My cousin sent me a nice new Orvis entry-level kit, you know, rod reel line, everything. But the funny part was that this was 1980s, and there was no Amazon or FedEx or anything. A guy knocks on my door and tells me I have this package and I'm like, oh, cool, look, it's from Orvis. And it's COD. Remember Cash on Delivery? So I'm scrambling around my house for the hundred bucks and who knows why I would have $100 on me. But I found it and paid the guy. And from that point on, I was into the fly fishing world.

What are some of the events that the chapter sponsors that you'd like to highlight?

Our club is involved in helping the CalTrout office here go out and keep an eye on our local three or four rivers and creeks, looking for potential steelhead to move up into those waters. So that was kind of our first kind of big conservation effort. They bought machines that sample the water to test their cleanliness for southern steelhead migration,. For us, it's kind of a big deal since Southern Steelhead appears both on federal and state endangered species lists.

We also have a particular individual in our club named Dale Dalrymple who spends time all over the Western states fishing and working on various conservation projects. He has been heavily involved working with TU and CDFW people around California and has been sort of the main guy that really carried the load.

When we had COVID, membership meetings fell off. Since people weren't going out together in the field we weren't able to kind of do our normal activities and missions. When I came on board, I started trying to rekindle the activity in the field. I got some insight from Dale and started leading people on walking tours of places like Santa Louis Rey River, Santa Margarita River, and San Mateo Creek. Those are kind of like the big three for us.

Who else besides Dale would you like to recognize for their efforts with the Chapter?

Within our club, we have a board of directors, and those folks for the most part, have been with the club for 10 plus years. I'd give a shout out to our treasurer, Don Fithian, because being a treasurer is practically a full-time job. He generally has his fingers on everything, and he's a guy that that has earned a lot of respect from fellow club members and board members. Don's opinions and ideas generally carry a lot of good weight.

What do you find to be the most effective communications methods that you are using right now?

I think the most effective is our email email distribution list. We have a monthly meeting, so information gets shared to whoever shows up, which is typically about 30 people.We also have a mailing list of our 140 members and another 250 names of people who came to a meeting, signed up for an event, never actually joined the club, but have expressed interest in fly fishing.

When I took over the presidency, I didn't think we were communicating enough with members, so I started a monthly president's perspective email. I volunteer for CDFW so I tend to have some information about what's going on in the fish and wildlife world. We also use it to advertise any kind of film festival or events in town and the four or five trips we have each year. We also re-initiated our newsletter, which was a nice document we last produced in 2017. I found a volunteer who had the right skills to be able to use a document development tool. We solicit inputs and articles and pictures from people with events to share.

So our newsletter and our president's perspective email are probably the best things. And of course, every one of our meetings and events gets multiple email blasts. So if we have an upcoming meeting, there'll be one or two emails out to all 400 people. When we have a trip planned to go up to, say, Bishop or Bridgeport, it gets advertised that way. We also have a Facebook presence.

I'm pretty convinced that the more I can connect people of the club together, the more they'll appreciate the club.

What events are you looking forward to in 2026?

Finding big Rainbows in the Upper Owens

Our winter trip to Bishop this year was a big success. We have a carp outing coming up, and our annual summer BBB (Beach, corBina, and Breakfast) event. We have three or four volunteers who put on a big breakfast spread. We show up at about 5:30, fish for a few hours, and have some breakfast. We haven't caught a Corbina yet, but we keep trying.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for your club going forward?

Oh, that's such an easy one. That is the club aging out. I've never actually calculated, but I'm 70 and I'm going to say that most of the members are as old as or or older than I am. At the TU Western rendezvous in Missoula last month they had a whole breakout session focused on age 40 and under. I'd be happy we had 50 and under.

Anything else you'd like to share?

I'm very excited about the TU half of our club. I have been I have been very vocal around encouraging our members to go to the TU website and complete petitions to their local elected officials about issues like the Roadless Rule and Clean Water Act and potential mining near Hot Creek, which is our local neighborhood water even though it's 300 miles from San Diego. Dan Johnson [Trout Unlimited Manager, CA/NV Public Lands] and I talk about this all the time. So since most of our guys are retired if we get a couple weeks' notice of a public meeting at the Bishop Tri County Fairgrounds and they're taking public comment about the application for core mining work, I'm going to rally people to drive up there and physically show up.

Removing non-native Brook and Brown Trout from the South Fork of the Kern in Monache Meadows

You can find the chapter online at the Golden State Flycasters website and Facebook Page

Truckee Anglers Kick Off the 2026 Fishing in the Sierra with a Party!

More than 100 anglers and Trout Unlimited Truckee River Chapter supporters kicked off the traditional beginning of the season with pizza, beer, and socializing at Blue Coyote Truckee on Friday, April 24. Highlights included Truckee River Trout Unlimited conservation chair Larry Heywood providing an update on Truckee River access at Hirschdale, plenty of merch given away as door prizes, and Greg Falvo bringing his New Jersey DJ chops on the music front. When asked how it all went, 2026 attendee and past board member Trevor Fagerskog responded,

I have been attending the Fishmas Eve celebration at the Blue Coyote since 2014. I am always heartened by the support of our community for the Truckee River Watershed and support of our cold water fishery. I want to give a shout out to Stephan McCloud for starting it in 2009 and for all the past TU board members Dave Lass, Matt Heron and Sam Sedillo for showing up this year!

Special thanks also goes to board member and Trout Creek Outfitters co-owner Miles Zimmerman, who got a ton of gear donated for the event.

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PUTAH CREEK CLEANUP & RESTORATION PROJECT JUNE 13, 2026

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In January 2026, 80 volunteers representing 13 different fly fishing clubs spent the day cleaning up Putah Creek, the closest CDFW-Designated Heritage and Wild Trout Water to the San Francisco Bay Area. This watershed, which now hosts a dynamic annual Chinook Salmon run in addition to a healthy population of resident Rainbow Trout, benefited from the efforts of these volunteers to improve access and stream bank integrity.

The Northern California Council of Fly Fishers International has scheduled a 2nd cleanup effort for June 13th that will cover key access points and include garbage clean-up as well as other restoration work to be done. The plan calls for current “existing trails” to be opened to a width of roughly 4 to 6 feet. Riparian areas marked with signs (and with irrigation lines) are to be left alone as these support local plants (including milkweed) that sustain endangered monarch butterfly populations.

Volunteers should bring necessary equipment & tools, including gloves, weed whackers, large clippers, hedge trimmers, etc., with clarification that power tools are either electric (need spare batteries) or gas (with gas filling only in the parking lot areas). No chainsaws are to be brought to the event by volunteers due to liability issues. All volunteers need to sign the “hold harmless” liability form for insurance purposes prior to beginning work for the event.

People who have pickup trucks that can assist in trash removal to debris bins in Winters after the cleanup are asked to bring them. If you are a member of a fly-fishing club, it would be good to set up car pools to save gas and due to limited parking at the various access points on Putah Creek.

The plan is to meet at Steady Eddy’s Coffee House, located at 5 E Main St, Suite A, in Winters at 7:30 AM on June 13th, where people/groups will be assigned to one of the team leaders (selected by John Feaster) and head to their designated access point. Work should commence about 8 AM and finish by noon.

Volunteers will plan to meet back at Access Area #5 where lunch will be served to all the volunteers (starting at about 12:30 PM) – featuring Taveritte's Italian Sausages along with Salads and other side dishes provided by Preserve Restaurant. Water will be provided as well (bring your own beer or favorite beverage). All you need to do is bring a folding chair and enjoy the time together after the cleanup.

You can find more information and sign up to volunteer at the NCCFFI website (link HERE) or via the QR code on the flyer.

Trout Unlimited Truckee River Chapter - Making a difference in the Tahoe Truckee Watershed

To show how TU chapters in California make a difference in the watersheds across the state, we are profiling individual chapters and the folks behind them. For this first profile, we contacted Truckee River Chapter Board Member and California Council Treasurer Greg Falvo. In between juggling family, professional, and volunteer efforts, Greg took some time to provide insights about how he got involved in angling and Trout Unlimited and how the Truckee River Chapter is making a difference in their region.

TUCC: First, tell us where your interest in trout and angling started.

Greg Falvo - Avid angler and TU Volunteer

Greg: You wouldn't think of New Jersey as a trout mecca, but surprisingly enough in the small town of Tinton Falls where I grew up we had a spring creek that they stocked with trout annually. My brother had a fly rod that I would take out occasionally with zero idea what I was doing. I just loved the "idea" of fly fishing. I would mimic Brad Pitt from A River Runs Through It, flinging the fly back and forth with the worst possible form, not catching a thing, but loving it. Fortunately my parents were big into the outdoors, so the love started young.

How did you find out about Trout Unlimited in general and the Truckee River Chapter in particular?

I'm sure I heard of Trout Unlimited through some form of outdoor media, but I never gave it much thought. Moving to San Francisco to escape a banking career in NYC where I had little time to volunteer or do much of anything else ended up being the best decision of my life (don't tell my wife that). I picked fishing back up after we moved to Nevada City and I bought a small rod for backpacking trips and started taking guided trips down the Lower Yuba. That was all it took. I now have a closet full of gear and fish through all four seasons. As part of exiting banking, I wanted to really focus on helping the environment and being involved with organizations that prioritize the outdoors. I was at a Truckee Thursdays event, came across a TU tent, and the rest is history. I was on the Board of the local chapter within a few months.

Where do most of the folks who participate in Truckee River Chapter events live?

Since Truckee is a popular vacation town for the Bay Area and Sacramento, we have participants from all over Northern CA—from the Bay Area to the Central Valley in addition to the locals. And let’s not forget about Reno. We have NV folks as well.

What are some of the events that the Truckee River Chapter has sponsored over the last few years?

I have only been on the Board for about 2 years, but some of our most popular annual events include Fishmas Eve—a fundraiser featuring awesome merchandise and fishing gear up for auction to celebrate the start of the season—and our Sierra Trout Camp where we take youth on a camping weekend to teach them lessons in conservation, and of course, how to fly fish.

[editor’s note: The Truckee River Chapter is looking for volunteers to help with the 2026 Trout Camp the weekend of June 27-28. Check out their Instagram post here for more info.]

Who are some of the key folks in the Truckee River Chapter that make these events happen?

It may be cliche, but really everyone on the board gets involved. Our current members include Miles Zimmerman, Larry Heywood, Trevor Fagerskog, Sheldon Felich, Brian Slusser, Brad Christofferson, and Dan Johnson from TU National. I’d like to give a shout out to our newest member, Miles Zimmerman who owns Trout Creek Outfitters. Miles really drove the Fishmas Eve event in getting a ton of gear donated for the auction.

What do you find is the Chapter’s most effective method of reaching your members with news and event announcements?

That's a great question. I think it's a combination of tools-social media, flyers, email blasts and word of mouth. Given the age range of members, different methods may be more effective for different groups of people. You need to approach all angles.

Can you talk about something that you and your fellow chapter members are particularly proud of accomplishing through the Chapter?

Larry Heywood and I dove deep into a complex river access issue the chapter had been looking into for several years. It took hours of work with attorneys along with time at the county archives and chasing down other leads for information. The outcome was a compromise, but it showed what we could do with the support of our chapter, TU National and our volunteers. It was motivating and a big learning experience.

What upcoming Chapter event(s) are you most looking forward to this year?

Well, as you may have guessed, statistically, there is a 75% chance that anyone from NJ was a DJ in their former life. So it's Fishmas Eve where I serve as the MC. It's always a fun event with a great turnout.

What do you see as your biggest challenge going forward?

Time, motivation and prioritization (all wrapped into one). I think one of the biggest challenges for non-profits in general is not just finding volunteers, but finding those that have a longer runaway (youth) and actually show up. Each generation seems to move further away from prioritizing community and "getting involved". Boards are aging and it's becoming harder to find replacements. I’m only 42, but I still need to work to make a living (CA isn't cheap). I am juggling my role as Treasurer of TUCA and a Board member for the Truckee River Chapter along with my professional work and multiple other volunteer efforts. Staying motivated is a challenge for us all.

Anything else you’d like to share?

It's incredibly rewarding to give back and work alongside an organization that makes a real impact for positive change. As technology speeds up our lives, it further disconnects us from the land, from the outdoors. We fail to realize that we are part of the equation. How we impact the environment, impacts us. Being stewards of the land, of the watershed, doesn't just ensure we protect the fish we love for the enjoyment of future generations, but it directly impacts our survival as a species.

Thanks Greg!

For more info on the Truckee River Chapter, find them on Instagram @truckeetroutunlimited or navigate over to their website https://www.tahoetroutbum.org/

Truckee River Chapter hosts 21st Annual Fishmas Eve Celebration April 24 in (where else?) Truckee, CA

Many of us across California and Nevada spend time in the jewel that is the Tahoe basin. If you can make it (or are already there), this is a chance for you to connect your fellow anglers and your Truckee River Chapter hosts in a fun-filled event!

From the Chapter Instagram:

A tradition as old as the Truckee River Chapter itself, Fishmas Eve is the premier celebration of everything trout fishing in the Truckee/Tahoe region.

Join us at the Blue Coyote on Friday, April 24th to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of trout season in California!

Great food, cold beer, wonderful prizes, and old and new friends await.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

The Trout Unlimited California Council supports the grassroots efforts of Trout Unlimited Chapters in California to conserve, protect, restore, and sustain California’s coldwater fisheries, their watersheds, and their natural ecosystems.

Starting in 2026, we are upping our website game with additional content and posts to:

  • Promote events sponsored by California Chapters of Trout Unlimited. These include stream habitat restoration efforts, tree planting, local conservation advocacy, youth education, and social events.

  • Recognize individual TU members in California and their accomplishments (“Every River Needs a Champion”).

  • Highlight active Chapters and tell the stories of how they are making positive impacts in their parts of California.

  • Connect Trout Unlimited Members in California with their Chapters.

  • Connect anyone interested in Trout Unlimited and with work we do.

Are you interested in Trout Unlimited, the work we do, and upcoming events? Check out our videos, news, and find events near you on our calendar. If you’re already a member, thank you for your support! If you would like to become a member, click this link to find out how.