Trout Unlimited, the national cold-water conservation group with membership of more than 152,000, has featured Robert Behnke in its quarterly magazine, Trout, for more than twenty years. Professor of ichthyology at Colorado State University, Behnke is our nation’s pre-eminent authority on trout biology, as well as a conservationist and superb fisherman. Known as “The Trout Doctor,” Behnke writes about topics such as native species introductions, genetic markers, endangered species, improving habitats, angling tips, and improved conservation in the wake of the efforts of Trout Unlimited. Illustrated with full-color images throughout by world-renowned fish artist Joseph Tomelleri, this book is the collection of Behnke’s best columns and most meaningful insights about trout, the environment, and the future of fishing. The perfect gift for anglers everywhere.

Robert Behnke is professor emeritus at Colorado State University.

Trout Unlimited

About Trout
25 Years of Essays and Articles by Robert J. Behnke, Ph.D. from Trout Magazine
[Scott, it’s technically 24 by pub but month, after that Xmas it will be 25. What do you think?]

Illustrations by Joseph R. Tomelleri


Preface by Charles Gauvin, President, Trout Unlimited

Foreword by [a famous angler/writer/conservationist]

[I’d like to ask former-President Jimmy Carter to write this one. I know he’s a TU member and loves to fly fish. Don’t know what he’ll say... Other short-list guys are Ted Williams, Theodore Roosevelt IV, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Gierach (he’d be great and he represents the west, where Doc is. ]

Introduction

[Doc has published 86 articles since 1983 and we’ll list the titles of all of them in the back of the book. He’s cherry picking which ones need updating and it’s about one-half we’d reproduce in total for the book plus his notes on each one. I’ll have them all typed in, but for today, why don’t I choose some highlights. Good enough? The titles get much much better in later years. Here’s 20 or more to begin.]


Articles and Essays

The McCloud River Rainbow Trout
Spring 1983

Bearsdlee Rainbow Trout
Autumn 1984

Alvord Cutthroat
Spring 1986

Paiute Cutthroat
Spring 1987

Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout
The first trout encountered by European man in the New World
Summer 1988

America’s Changing Fish Fauna
Spring 1991

California Golden Trout
Autumn 1992

Lahontan Cutthroat Trout: A Megafish for Megatrends
Summer 1993

Yellowstone Fishes: Changing Times and Changing Perspectives
Spring 1994

Kamchatkan Cutthroats?
Summer 1996

Going Home Again: Revisiting Native Trout Watersheds of the West
Winter 1998

Tailwater Trout: Fish of Enormous Size
Spring 1996

New England’s Salmon: A Fish of Controversy
Autumn 1996

Ecological Integrity and the Angler
Autumn 1997

Wild Trout and Hatchery Trout: A 40-Year Review
Spring 1999

The First Forty Years: From Rhetoric to Research
Winter 1999

A Retrospective Look to the Future
Summer 2000

The Nature and Nurture of Trout Behavior
Fall 2002

A Fishy “Whodunit?”
Spring 2003

America’s First Brown Trout
Summer 2003

The Best Science
Spring 2004

Ivory-Billed Trout?
Fall 2005

A Mongolian Adventure
Winter 2006

"Shining from every page of this book is Behnke's love for these beautiful and complex works of evolution, his commitment to their conservation and recovery . . .

You will comprehend trout and salmon not just as lovely life forms and splendid quarry but as critical parts of complicated ecosystems. You will understand how they came about  . . and, most importantly, how we can recover them."

                        -- From the Forword by Ted Williams

Over the past 25 years, Robert J. Behnke has done more to inform modern anglers about the diversity and biology of native trout than any other writer. His influential quarterly column "About Trout" in Trout magazine began in 1983 and continues to this day, bringing up-to-date news on trout and salmon conservation to Trout Unlimited's large and active membership.

Collected here for the first time are Behnke's most informative articles. From species descriptions and conservation commentary to the history and lore of fisheries management, readers will find a wealth of clear and entertaining writing from the world's leading expert on trout and salmon. Each article includes new commentary by Behnke that updates and expands on his original text, tying together his more than 50 years of experience as a scientist and advocate for conservation.

Illuminating Behnke's text are over thirty stunning illustrations of native trout and salmon by Joseph R. Tomelleri, several of which have never appeared before.

From Arctic char and Dolly Varden of northern Alaska, brook trout and Atlantic salmon of Maine, cutthroat of the Great Basin, Apache trout of the desert Southwest, to rare Mexican trout of the Sierra Madre Occidental, readers will discover in this book a celebration of our most beautiful native gamefish.

Imprint: The Lyons Press
Distributor: The Globe Pequot Press
Publication Date: 09-01-2007
Pages: 272
Measurements: 8.00in X 9.75in X 1.00in