Affiliate Disclosure

The short version

Steelhead Almanac is a free, ad- and affiliate-supported editorial site. When you click a product link on our site and complete a purchase on the retailer's site, we may earn a small commission. It costs you nothing extra. The retailer pays us a percentage of the sale out of their own margin, in exchange for the introduction.

Who we work with

Steelhead Almanac participates in the following affiliate programs. We add new partners as we earn approval; this list reflects current active programs:

• Amazon Services LLC Associates Program — our primary affiliate relationship. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon affiliate links carry our tracking ID steelhead-addiction-20.
• Booking.com Partner Programme — used on destination articles for lodging recommendations.
• Commission Junction (CJ.com) and Awin — additional networks for specific merchant relationships as approved.

We do not sell products directly from this site. We do not collect payment information. We do not handle shipping, fulfillment, or returns. All transactions and customer service are handled by the retailer.

How recommendations work

Every product we feature is something we have either personally used on Steelhead Alley or Lake Ontario waters, or vetted against our editorial criteria for the technique, river, and conditions described. Our gear pages and river-specific shelves are filtered against a structured taxonomy (technique, target species, gear type, price tier) so the recommendations match the context of the article they appear on.

We will never recommend a product solely because it pays a higher commission. When two products are functionally similar, we may surface the one with better availability or stronger reviews — but the editorial decision comes first.

FTC compliance

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides require that we clearly disclose material connections with the brands we recommend. We comply by:

• Marking every affiliate link with rel="nofollow sponsored" in the underlying HTML.
• Disclosing our Amazon Associate participation in the footer of every page.
• Maintaining this dedicated Affiliate Disclosure page, linked from the main site footer.
• Repeating the disclosure inside our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service so it appears wherever a visitor might look.

Advertising

The site does not run Google AdSense or any other third-party display ad network. Local fly shops and guides are listed on river pages for free; if a listing is ever a paid sponsorship, it is labeled as one.

Why we tell you all this

Affiliate revenue is what lets this site exist as a free, ad-light, account-optional resource. We want you to understand exactly how we make money so you can weigh our recommendations accordingly. If anything on this page is unclear, please contact us.

Site operator

Steelhead Almanac is operated by Buell EA LLC, an Ohio limited liability company headquartered in Stark County, Ohio. For business and editorial inquiries: info@steelheadalmanac.com.