Eddies is a free online publication produced by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and because the word “free” is involved, I thought I’d check it out (especially when it comes recommended by fly fishing writer Ted Williams).

The Summer 2008 issue is available (it’s a .pdf document), and though my eyes are puffy and red from overwork, I still gave it a read, discovering it’s the “Habitat issue.”

It’s not aimed at fly fishermen (the pursuit of knowledge is its own reward, right?), but you will learn party-livening icebreakers like:

A study on Striped Bass C&R mortality says traditional “J” hooks are three times more likely to kill fish than circle hooks:

Striped bass were caught from the Hudson River by volunteer anglers using traditional J-hooks and circle
USFWShooks. The striped bass were tagged and held for five days in an underwater cage near shore. In the end, 16 percent of stripers caught on J-hooks died, while only five percent caught on circle hooks died.

There’s also a short bit about McCloud Redband trout habitat restoration in McCloud’s own Trout Creek Campground (where illegal offroad vehicle use has badly damaged habitat).

And yes, a story about a habitat restoration program in Iowa that included a photograph of an enviously proportioned Official Char of the Trout Underground:


Big brookies, hmmmmmmmmm.

Story about Norfolk’s White River? Check. Grand Canyon Humpback Chubs? Missouri River? Check and check.

And a lot more. And did I mention “free?”

I thought I had. See you reading, Tom Chandler.