The second chapter of our cast 'n’ blast adventure (check out Part 1 here) follows Free Range American editor Mike Shea through Hawaii as he does a little bacon harvesting followed by some epic spearfishing in some truly heavenly blue ...
Saltwater
Cutts, Cutties, and Cutthroats: America’s Frontier Trout
There is a magic hour on the South Fork of the Snake River — maybe only a magic half-hour actually — when cutthroat trout seem to spontaneously appear in the long sweeping riffles that spill into the river’s deep emerald green troughs. The ...
Fatherhood, Sammy Hagar, and Salmon Fishing in Alaska
My son, Cam, had a pretty short list of what he wanted out of our trip to Alaska. “I just want to see one bear,” he said. “If nothing else happens and I see a bear, I’ll be happy.” Running a jet boat back down the Naknek River toward camp ...
Don’t Screw Up Father’s Day: Get Dad Cool Stuff He’ll Actually Use
Shopping for Father’s Day is hard. It’s tempting to just get dad a gimmicky barbecue tool that will be used once before getting hung in the garage for the next decade. Or maybe a new pair of Crocs. But, this year, you don’t have to be that lame. ...
Mahi-Mahi: So Strong They Say It Twice
In Hawaiian, mahi-mahi means “very strong” — but through a linguistic process called reduplication, the Hawaiian people say the word twice to signify greater intensity. In other words, these fish will beat you up. Mahi-mahi, aka ...
Free Fly Fishing Video Series Sets Up Beginners for Success
If you’re one of the tens of thousands that tried fly fishing for the first time during COVID as something to do that also allowed you to social distance, or if you’re “fly curious” because you watched A River Runs Through It, there is a new series ...
Meet Justin Lee: Spearfishing Champ, Bowhunter, Cancer Survivor, Role Model
You’ve heard the saying “like shooting fish in a barrel.” When Hawaiian spearfisherman Justin Lee dove into Lake Powell for the National Spearfishing Championship held the last two days of April, fish in a barrel might’ve actually had a better chance ...
Joining The Spring and Summer Cobia Craze
Standing on the bow of a boat fishing for cobia through the hottest part of the day is no picnic. The sun is high and cooking you head-first through your hat. Clouds are thin and disappear too fast to offer any shade breaks. The breeze does nothing ...
7 Ugly Fish and Why We Love Them
The perfect proportions and irresistible charisma of a trout will never be overshadowed by a catfish. Nor will a black drum ever outshine the prehistoric, chiseled-silver elegance of a tarpon. No, ugly fish are not heirs to the throne of “finest ...
New Can’t-Miss Fly Fishing Accessories
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, has wrapped up after a three-day run for the first time since 2019. With the show came a host of new products unveiled to the fly fishing public. We covered ...
The Best New Fly Fishing Packs, Wading Boots, and Apparel
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, is officially underway for the first time since 2019. With the show comes a host of new products being unveiled to the fly fishing public this week. We’ve got ...
New Fly Fishing Reels for 2022
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, is officially underway for the first time since 2019. With the show comes a host of new products being unveiled to the fly-casting public this week. We’ve got ...
New Fly Fishing Rods for 2022
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, is officially underway for the first time since 2019. With the show comes a host of new products being unveiled to the fly-casting public this week. We’ve got ...
Striped Bass: The Phish of the Sea
Striped bass fishing is not an activity for those with addiction issues. The true striper faithful never fully recover from losing their minds during the season. The off-season is essentially one long hangover waiting for spring migration’s ...
Rooster Fish: Get Tropical and Be Ready for a Fight
Out of the gate, I blew three shots. We rose and fell in and out of 8-foot troughs as the mate idled the boat parallel to the shore. We were about 200 yards outside the breaking surf off the coast of Todos Santos, Mexico. The captain had just cast a ...
Bonefish Junkies: Pharma Contamination Drugging S. Florida Fisheries
A recent study in South Florida discovered 58 pharmaceuticals in the blood and tissue of bonefish in Biscayne Bay and the Keys ranging from antidepressants and painkillers to blood pressure and prostate medications. OK, first of all, ...
Blue Marlin Crushes Tournament Records, Earns Boat $1.167 Million
In 30 years of competition, the MidAtlantic Tournament had never seen a fish as big as the blue marlin that came in on Jon Duffie's boat, Billfisher, last week. The 1,135-pound leviathan not only eclipsed the Maryland State record — a 1,062-pound ...
Florida Man Arrested With Dozens of Illegal Spiny Lobsters
This week, Giovanni Jesus Pirez joined a long list of meme-worthy Florida men arrested for colorful and sometimes bizarre activities. In Pirez's case, he got pinched with a boatful of illegal crustaceans, no valid fishing or boating credentials of ...
Father-Son Duo Catch Huge, Pregnant Tiger Shark off Florida’s Gulf Coast
Michael Braun and his son, Nicholas, didn't expect to be wrangling a nearly half-ton tiger shark last weekend, but that's exactly what they did on a wild charter fishing trip. Their fish turned out to be one of the largest sharks ever caught off ...
Surf Fishing Starter Kit: North Carolina’s OBX and Beyond
From the isolated and undeveloped barrier island of Cape Lookout to crowded tourist destinations like Nags Head and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina has hundreds of miles of spectacular shoreline. In summer and early fall, hundreds of sportsmen and women ...
Potential Hammerhead Shark Nursery Discovered off the Coast of Miami
Tourists usually flock to Biscayne Bay for fishing charters, water scooters, and windsurfing, but the vacation destination seems to also be the perfect place for endangered great hammerhead sharks to do some reproducing. A nursery for these ...
5 of the Best Shark Fishing Spots in the Nation
Tarpon guides on the South Florida and Texas coasts can’t stand sharks. Same for mahi, striped bass, marlin, and tuna guides on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In all fairness, when a 10-foot hammerhead or giant blue shark decides to crash your ...
WATCH: Airborne Sturgeon to Tarpon — ‘Hold My Beer’
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
