Move over, tarpon — Fraser River sturgeon are gunning for the big-air title. Images of giant, sunshine-silver, airborne tarpon in the Florida Keys, Cuba, and Costa Rica have fueled anglers' bucket-list dreams since before Hemingway went gray. The ...
Fish
Roadless Rule Reinstated in Tongass National Forest
More than 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska are safe once again from almost certain logging and mining greenlighted by the last administration. An exemption to the Roadless Rule that was approved by then President ...
California Heat Wave Threatens Chinook Salmon Survival
Boiling water and babies never mix, but that’s exactly what’s happening to juvenile chinook salmon in California’s Sacramento River. Extremely high temperatures are creating “abnormally hot underwater conditions” that could result in a “near-complete ...
North Carolina Blue Catfish Breaks State Record by 5 Pounds
Rocky Baker's electronic fish scale is rated to 110 pounds. When the screen said "overloaded" before he was even able to hoist the behemoth blue catfish off the bottom of the boat, his response was pretty much the same as every other angler in a ...
Meth Trout: Fish Are Getting Hooked on Crank From Our Poop
Fish are getting addicted to meth and are starting to prefer waterways with a little ice in them. Yes, that’s a real thing that’s happening. The fun thing about drugs consumed by human beings — legally or otherwise — is that they’re never ...
Tampa Bay Fish Kill: 15 Tons of Dead Marine Life… and Counting
In what seems like the new annual normal, the Gulf Coast of Florida is seeing the start of debilitating red tide. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay, an area that normally doesn't get hit too hard by red tide, has become ground zero of an absolutely ...
The Lasting Horror and Adventure of ‘Jaws’
In the mid-1970s, few thought a one-word-titled horror-adventure flick from an unknown director would eventually become a staple on “best movies of all time” lists — and it actually doesn’t sound much more believable today. But Jaws (1975) undeniably ...
No Boat, No Problem: A Beginner’s Guide to Pier Fishing Etiquette
You don’t need a johnboat, center console, and guide to catch saltwater slammers this summer. Much of America’s coastal waters are dotted with public fishing piers. From Florida to Maine, from San Diego to Seattle, and all along the Gulf of Mexico, ...
WATCH: The Eye of Fire Burns in the Gulf of Mexico
A video of a flaming, underwater gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico showcased an otherworldly scene that looked like something straight out of The Lord of the Rings. The video of the burning gas, dubbed the “eye of fire,” went viral over the ...
Heat Wave Fishing: Give Fish a Break When It’s Too F*cking Hot
Most of the country is pretty much feeling like a line of ants roasting under some kid’s magnifying glass. But it’s not just humans who are feeling this heat wave. Fish are, too. Extended periods of intense heat coupled with the lack of rain have ...
Oregon Bill Would Ban Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, and Animal Agriculture
Initiative Petition 13, or IP13, was filed in Oregon in November by a Portland animal-rights activist with almost 1,100 sponsorship signatures. In the latest development, if by July 8 supporters collect the 112,020 signatures required to move the ...
Study Discovers This Deep-Sea Fish Lives to 100, Stays Pregnant for 5 Years
Head 500 to 800 feet into the ocean depths off the Comoro Islands near the East African coast and you might find an ancient species of fish that can grow as big as a man and live for a century. Nicknamed "the living fossil," coelacanth outlasted the ...
52,000 Fish Found Dead in Kansas City River
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is trying to figure out why 52,000 fish were found dead in Brush Creek just south of Kansas City. A total of 1,900 common carp, 240 silver carp, and 50,000 sunfish went belly-up throughout a ...
A Father’s Day Lesson: When the Bass Aren’t Biting
"Never curse a sunfish," my dad would say. "It could be the only thing you catch." Even as a kid, I understood the sentiment. But when I was fishing for bass, I still thought it was a ration of shit. If I couldn’t manage a largemouth, no amount of ...
Panfish Po’Boy: A Simple, Delicious Classic
If you’ve only caught one fish in your life, it was probably a panfish. Most anglers cut their teeth on bluegills, pumpkinseeds, and other little scrappers. While panfish aren’t known for being particularly challenging to catch, they're downright fun ...
Lobster Diver Grabbed, Spit Out by Whale, And Other Close Encounters
“This is how you’re going to die,” thought Michael Packàrd, a commercial lobster diver out of Provincetown, Massachusetts. "In the mouth of a whale." Packàrd guessed that he was trapped for 30 to 40 seconds before the whale spit him out in a ...
Man Overboard: What To Do When Your Fishing Guide Is a Total Asshat
I didn’t care that we had paid him for a day of fishing. He needed to go for a fucking swim and I was this close to helping his ass off the boat. There’s a bottomless well of stories that fishing guides can tell about nightmare clients. My ...
Coastal Conservation Association: Saving Florida’s Redfish and Specks
In 1977, 14 concerned anglers led by Walter Fondren gathered in a tackle shop on the Texas coast vowing to save redfish and speckled trout from being wiped out by commercial fishing. Soon after, the Texas Legislature voted the Red Drum ...
California Drought Amplifies Threat to Endangered Salmon and Steelhead
TikTok influencers aren’t the only thirsty critters in California. Thanks to the severe drought, farmers, forests, and fish are, too. This past May was the fifth-driest May and 2021, to date, is the 15th-driest year for the Golden State over the past ...
Hemingway’s Top 5 Hunting and Fishing Stories
In a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway wrote, “To me a heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in.” I like to think this version of heaven does ...
Fly-Fishing-Only Tournament Raises Big Money for Striped Bass
Cape Cod normally isn’t such a tightwad with its striped bass in late May. But on this particular Saturday, the only fish it seemed to give up were sub-20 inches. Or shad. This particular Saturday happened to be the Cheeky Schoolie ...
One Long Swim: Louisiana Gator Appears on Padre Island
A young alligator from Louisiana made an unexpected appearance on a Padre Island beach in South Texas this week. The gator was about three months late for Spring Break, but you can’t blame him for trying. According to Padre Island National ...
5 States That Totally Blew It With Their State Fish
When it comes to the flora, fauna, landmarks, and historical items that states designate as official symbols of their heritage or identity, some make sense and some are head-scratchers. We’ve talked about multiple states claiming the same state fish ...
Montana Biologists Stumped Over Brown Trout Decline
Brown trout numbers are dropping across southwest Montana — and biologists don’t know why. Angling pressure, warming water, and the ongoing drought could all be reasons behind that widespread decrease across many of the region’s rivers, but right ...
Huge Bluefin Tuna Caught Off New Jersey Coast
It’s been a big month for bluefin tuna off the coast of New Jersey. Internal Fixation Sportfishing boated a 99-inch giant on May 3 after a five-and-a-half-hour fight. Not to be outdone, Capts. Gerard Faccone and Robbie Radlof stuck a 104-inch torpedo ...
West Virginia Angler Lands New Muskie State Record
All it took was 15 minutes and some major luck for Chase Gibson to land a new West Virginia muskie record. The fishing guide caught the new state-record muskellunge, which weighed 39.6 pounds and measured 54 inches long, on Burnsville Lake on April ...
Fish of the Union: The Top 6 Species Claimed as State Fish
Every state lays claim to some unique animal, flower, tree, historic reference, or geological feature as uniquely their own: Idaho gems and potatoes, California gold, Florida sunshine, Georgia peaches, Michigan wolverines. While most states ...
Century-Old Sturgeon Caught in Detroit River
A 6-foot, 10-inch, 240-pound sturgeon was recently pulled from the Detroit River and recorded by biologists as one of the largest in the nation. The big female was estimated to be at least 100 years old. For context, when this fish was born, ...
Reel Warriors Reconnects Veterans Through Offshore Fishing
The pain and isolation that many veterans carry home from deployments can occupy some of the deepest parts of their being. When it comes to hope and healing, those depths can seem simply unreachable. Through offshore fishing trips, Reel ...
Off Script: Free Range Q&A With Paul Bourcq, Fly-Fishing Ambassador
The fly-fishing industry is most definitely not just for old white guys anymore. The sport is worldwide and getting younger, and it has never been more accessible or diverse as it is now. Even with the ongoing shit-show that is influencer culture, ...
