Bighorn

In the 1970s, the Bighorn River was one of the best-kept secrets in the fishing world. Local angler Phil Gonzalez helped put the river on the map, but not in any way he could have imagined. In 1978, he was fishing with friends on the river when a game warden, brandishing a shotgun, arrested Gonzalez and confiscated the 5-pound rainbow they had caught. The arrest and subsequent court case made national headlines and shaped the river’s future. Decades later, Shooting Editor John B. Snow joined Gonzalez on the Bighorn to hear how his life became intertwined with one of our greatest trout fisheries. “As we floated downstream, I listened to him dissect the river. Each twist, side channel, and run had decades’ worth of stories,” writes Snow.