Who Really Owns America's Riverbeds?

Tomorrow is a big day in Washington, D.C. for anyone who likes fishing, rafting, or canoeing public water in the United States. In what is likely the most meaningful river-access case ever heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, PPL Montana v Montana is seeking to answer the long-disputed question of who really owns the riverbeds on navigable waterways, and whether the definition of "navigable" should be based on the present, or based on the river's navigability when the state joined the Union.

This past weekend was big, at least as far as Colorado waters are concerned. Rivers like the Frying Pan gushed at near flood levels, while the Colorado and Roaring Fork also gauged in at monstrous cfs proportions. Crashing Aspen for the first annual Outside in Aspen festivities, this weather scenario of rain, runoff, and muddy waters didn’t bode well for the weekend fishing outlook.

 So… what to do when the weather deals you a gnarly hand? The plan Bs looked a little like this: Source out hidden pond, a tailwater or two, and pay respects to one of flyfishing's (and the journalism community’s) fallen soldiers. And, of course, a night of Super Diamonds action at the Belly Up in Downtown Aspen.

Bristol Bay and a view from the Columbia River

Thirty million fish. Every year. Thirty million salmon and steelhead returned through the Columbia and Snake River systems. Thirty million.

Dallas, Texas. There is one scene, early in the film adaptation of David James Duncan’s The River Why, where flyfishermen will undoubtedly connect with the movie. It comes the day Gus Orviston, played by Zach Gilford, ditches his parents and his life and moves into a run-down cabin along an Oregon coastal stream. After bringing in his minimal possessions, Gus wanders out onto his back porch, looks down at the beautiful river beneath him, and is filled with joy and excitement at the prospect of his “perfect schedule” (which includes “14 and a half hours of fishing” per day).