Beginning on May 1, sections of the Firehole (shown here), Gibbon, and Madison rivers on the west side of Yellowstone Park will open to fishing, several weeks ahead of the traditional Memorial Day weekend opener. (Teresa Otto/Shutterstock photo)
February 06, 2026
By Fly Fisherman Staff
Yellowstone to Open Madison Drainage to Fishing Early Yellowstone National Park has announced that anglers will get a head start on the Madison drainage this year. Beginning in 2026, sections of the Firehole, Gibbon, and Madison rivers on the west side of the park will open to fishing on May 1, several weeks ahead of the traditional Memorial Day weekend opener.
“Starting this year, Yellowstone National Park will extend the fishing season on three rivers in the park,” the agency said, noting that the earlier opener applies to the Firehole from its tributaries downstream to Madison Junction, the Gibbon from Norris Campground to Madison Junction, and the Madison from the Montana-Wyoming line upstream to its confluence with the Firehole and Gibbon.
The extended season will still close on October 31, in line with the park’s standard fishing calendar, and managers do not anticipate negative impacts to the fisheries. Instead, the May 1 opener is designed to “align fishing access with more optimal angling and water conditions,” especially before warm-water closures that often hit these rivers later in summer. Most other park waters will continue to follow the traditional Memorial Day-through-October 31 season.
Read more here.
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No 2026 Skagit Season? Without in-season monitoring, creel sampling, and real-time run tracking, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife cannot meet federal ESA requirements to keep the Skagit River, shown here in 2017, open to fishing. (Claudia G. Cooper/Shutterstock photo) Washington’s Skagit River steelhead season is poised to remain closed in 2026, not because of poor returns, but because the state legislature failed to fund the monitoring required to legally open a fishery. According to PNW Daily, preseason forecasts estimate 4,557 wild steelhead returning to the basin–numbers that in past years supported limited catch‑and‑release seasons under emergency rule. But without in‑season monitoring, creel sampling, and real‑time run tracking, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) cannot meet federal ESA requirements. As PNW Daily reports, “no season has been authorized,” and the agency has issued no emergency rule to allow one.
“We know the loss of the Skagit steelhead fishery stings for anglers and guides in the North Puget Sound region and beyond,” Kelly Cunningham, WDFW Fish Program director said. “We’re disappointed state legislators chose not to fund the salmon and steelhead monitoring that makes this fishery possible.”
The situation is compounded by broader budget cuts affecting hatchery production and monitoring statewide. North Sound Trout Unlimited notes that the state’s 2025-2027 budget allocated $0 for Puget Sound Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring, despite WDFW’s request for $1.6 million to continue the Quicksilver Portfolio–funding that previously enabled hydroacoustic monitoring, expanded spawning surveys, and the Skagit/Sauk catch‑and‑release fishery under a federally approved plan.
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“All of the progress for these northwest Washington river systems is at risk,” the organization warns. Without restored funding, the 2026 Skagit winter/spring fishery is “on the chopping block.”
Meanwhile, the Nooksack River is already closed under Emergency Rule WSR 25‑24‑050 due to hatchery returns far below broodstock goals. High water has revealed fish holding at Kendall Hatchery, but biologists emphasize that visible fish do not equate to escapement success. As PNW Daily explains, “seeing steelhead at a hatchery… does not show how many fish will reach spawning habitat.” Until monitoring capacity is restored, anglers should expect continued closures across Puget Sound rivers.
Read more here.
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Boundary Waters Protections Face New Political Pressure Hunting and fishing groups are urging their members to speak up, emphasizing that BWCA's interconnected lakes, rivers, and wetlands support world-class coldwater fisheries and a thriving outdoor-recreation economy. (Dan Thornberg/Shutterstock photo) The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is once again in the political crosshairs, with new efforts emerging to roll back or weaken protections that safeguard the headwaters from hardrock mining and other industrial threats. Hunting and fishing groups are urging their members to speak up, emphasizing that the region’s interconnected lakes, rivers, and wetlands support world-class coldwater fisheries, backcountry hunting, and a thriving outdoor-recreation economy.
Organizations including Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the American Fisheries Society are calling for continued protection of the Boundary Waters from mining-related impacts, highlighting the risk that sulfide-ore mining poses to water quality and fish habitat. Their message is straightforward: Anglers who value this landscape need to stay engaged, contact their elected officials, and defend the long-term health of the watershed.
Read more here .
Take action here.
Florida Cold Snap Triggers Widespread Fish Kills Bonefish and mojarra, casualties of the cold kill on February 3, in the Indian River Lagoon at Jensen Beach. (Photo courtesy of Florida Sportsman magazine) Florida’s early‑February cold snap–the harshest since 2010–has caused widespread fish kills across the state, hitting snook, seatrout, tarpon, bonefish, and mojarra especially hard. According to Florida Sportsman managing editor Ed Killer, temperatures dipped into the mid‑20s in some regions, with daytime highs struggling to reach the 50s. Reports of dead or cold‑stunned fish have come in from the Northern Indian River Lagoon, Tampa Bay, Estero, Fort Pierce, and other estuaries. One New Smyrna Beach guide, Capt. Austin Campbell, told Florida Sportsman that the mortality was severe enough that he believes the FWC should consider a snook harvest moratorium, similar to the closure enacted after the devastating 2010 freeze.
The freeze also triggered cascading ecological effects. Hundreds of manatees crowded into warm‑water refuges such as Blue Spring, Crystal River, and the TECO power plant discharge canal, while invasive species–including iguanas, peacock bass, clown knifefish, and armored catfish–suffered significant die‑offs. Iguanas were reported “falling from palm trees,” and FWC crews in Palm Beach County collected more than 1,000 cold‑stunned individuals for humane euthanasia. The event echoed the 2010 freeze, which killed millions of estuarine fish and at least 282 manatees, underscoring how vulnerable Florida’s subtropical species remain to prolonged cold.
FWC encourages anglers to report fish kills or abnormal behavior through its hotline or online portal, and regional editors are gathering local observations for Florida Sportsman’s Action Spotter reports
Read more here.
Robert Traver Fly Fishing Writing Award Submissions Open John Voelker aka Robert Traver describes this photograph as a "portrait of an inland Captain Ahab who chases slightly smaller whales." (Bob Kelley photo) Submissions are now open for the 2026 Robert Traver Fly‑Fishing Writing Award . Presented by the John D. Voelker Foundation and the American Museum of Fly Fishing , the award recognizes “distinguished original stories or essays that embody the implicit love of fly fishing, respect for the sport, and the natural world in which it takes place.” Entries must be 3,000 words or fewer, unpublished, and all entrants will be required to certify that no part of their entry was generated by artificial intelligence. The winner receives $2,500 and publication in the American Fly Fisher in Winter or Spring 2027.
Submissions are open until midnight EDT on May 31, 2026, and writers may enter multiple pieces with separate $25 entry fees.
Learn more here.
Community Rallies Around Belize Permit Legend Lincoln Westby The Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation, in partnership with Blue Horizon Lodge, has launched a “Lincoln Westby Guide Support” fund to help cover medical expenses as Westby transitions off the water. (Earl Harper photo) In Belize, the flats community is rallying to support 85-year-old permit legend Lincoln Westby as he faces serious health challenges and an abrupt end to his guiding career. The Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation (YDCCF), in partnership with Blue Horizon, has launched a “Lincoln Westby Guide Support” fund to help cover medical expenses as Westby transitions off the water. YDCCF notes that all donations will be matched up to $2,500, and “100% of your donation will make it directly to Lincoln,” underscoring how central he is to the Belizean guiding community.
A separate GoFundMe organized by Damien Nurre paints a fuller picture of Westby’s situation. “At 85 years old, Lincoln Westby, is a legend in the world of fly fishing for permit in Belize,” the campaign reads, adding that after a recent fall and hospital stay, doctors discovered heart issues and determined “Lincoln will no longer be able to work as a guide.” The fundraiser explains that he now needs help with medical bills, living costs, and potentially moving closer to family in Placencia, and emphasizes that “Lincoln has given so much to his community and to the world of fly fishing” over decades of guiding and conservation advocacy.
Donate to the YDCCF fund here.
Donate to the GoFundMe here.
Proposed Rattlesnake Key Cruise Port Alarms Conservationists The Knott-Cowen owned tract of land, highlighted in blue, is the site of the proposed cruise port around I-275 near Palmetto in Tampa Bay. (Photo courtesy of the Manatee County Appraiser) A proposed cruise port development on the seaward side of Florida’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge, near Terra Ceia Bay and Rattlesnake Key in Manatee County, is drawing sharp criticism from conservation groups and flats anglers. The Knott-Cowen Cruise Port would sit adjacent to the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve, in an area Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) describes as “ecologically sensitive” and “important to tarpon and many other recreational fish species like snook, seatrout, and redfish.” The same habitats—live hardbottom, seagrass, and wetlands—that make the area so productive for fish are at the heart of the controversy.
BTT warns that dredging an access channel and accommodating large cruise ships would “destroy extensive hardbottom, degrade and sediment adjacent hardbottom, and destroy and degrade seagrass and wetland habitats,” disrupting a key migratory corridor and spawning area for adult tarpon. The group also notes that juvenile tarpon have already lost much of their creek and wetland habitat statewide, making any additional loss “especially damaging” to the fishery. With a regional recreational fishery estimated at $1.5 billion and supporting thousands of jobs at stake, BTT is urging the Manatee County Commission and other agencies “to address and resolve these environmental impacts before taking further action on the Knott-Cowen Cruise Port.”
Read more here and here .
BTT Announces 2026 Circle of Honor Inductees Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) has named two iconic Florida guides–Captain Carl Ball and the late Captain Jose Wejebe –as the 2026 inductees into its Circle of Honor. The pair will be recognized on April 16, 2026, during BTT’s 13th Annual Florida Keys Dinner and Awards Ceremony at Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada. “Carl Ball and Jose Wejebe represent the very best of our flats fishing community,” said BTT President and CEO Jim McDuffie, praising Ball’s “decades-long commitment to science-based conservation” and Wejebe’s ability to “inspire through storytelling, which brought saltwater fishing and conservation into the hearts of millions.”
Ball, a Fort Lauderdale native and longtime Biscayne Bay and Everglades guide, will receive the Flats Stewardship Award for his extensive work tagging and tracking bonefish, tarpon, and permit, including dart-tagging more permit than any other guide. Wejebe, best known as the creator and host of the groundbreaking TV show Spanish Fly , will be posthumously honored with the 2026 Curt Gowdy Memorial Media Award for using his platform to champion conservation and support organizations like Make-A-Wish, Wounded Warriors, and others. Their names will join other legendary anglers, guides, and conservation leaders in the Circle of Honor exhibit at the Florida Keys History & Discovery Center.
Read more here .
