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September 30, 2011
 [dme:image size="large" side="left" index="-1"/]
The other day a buddy asked me if I had a fantasy fish—the one fish that I hadn't caught that I'd really like to catch. My answer was simple: a Wels catfish. Found primarily in Europe, these fish grow to humongous sizes. The world record, just recently caught in Italy's River Po, weighed more than 250 pounds and measured over 8 feet, 2 inches. Reeling in one of those giants has got to be just an incredible experience.
Well, British angler Jonathan Avery sure got a taste for that thrill last weekend when he landed a giant of his own while fishing the River Segre in Spain. It took five men to help haul Avery's catfish to the bank where it was taped at 8 feet, 3 inches. It was later weighed at 245 pounds. Quite the reward for 15 hours of fishing.
Ahhhhhh someday I hope to be as fortunate.
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Recent News
September 29, 2011 by
For this week's taste of PETA idiocy, we head to Florida...
Saying that they hope it will make people rethink fishing, PETA is planning a new billboard ad campaign implying that shark-attack victims deserve their fate. The gruesome ad depicts a shark with a bloodied human leg coming out of its mouth and a startling slogan: "Payback Is Hell. Go Vegan."
PETA was hoping to place the ad on billboards and benches on Anna Maria Island in Florida and other areas where shark attacks have recently taken place. Charles Wickersham, 21, was mauled by a bull shark while spear-fishing on Saturday. He was pulled to safety by six of his friends and remains hospitalized with bite wounds on his thigh.
"We are certainly glad the man is going to be alright," said PETA activist Ashely Byrne, "but we hope he and other fishermen will use this as an opportunity to rethink fishing."
Thus far, PETA has not been able to find an outdoor advertising company willing to place the ad.
"If I see one of those billboards that they plan on putting up, I will burn it down," angler Bill Goldschmitt told a local Florida television station.
[ Read Full Post ] September 27, 2011 by
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials say that state game wardens have discovered up to 3,000 dead sharks tangled in a long stretch of fishing net off the Texas coast near southern South Padre Island.
"About 3 miles of gill net was removed just past the third sandbar near the mouth of the Rio Grande," the department said in a statement. "The nets were running north and south, catching anything that attempted to get into shallow water."
Sergeant James Dunks told a local tv station that "an unbelievable amount of sharks, anywhere between two and three thousand black tips, bonnet heads and sharp nose sharks" were killed. Authorities suspect Mexican fishermen set the illegal nets, but no arrests have been made.
[ Read Full Post ] September 24, 2011 by
Would anyone mind if the federal government ordered hundreds of coral reefs around the Florida Keys to be dynamited into rubble and hauled away?
One hopes the rhetorical nature of that is obvious. Hell, yes! The uproar would be huge, particularly among environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council.
So I have to wonder why such environmental groups haven’t spoken out against destroying hundreds of living coral reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In fact, at least one —the NRDC — is on record actively opposing any effort to stop such destruction. These groups are aware of the plan, but I suspect most of the public is not or there would be more pushback.
[ Read Full Post ] September 23, 2011 by
Results of new study just released by the University of Illinois may have surprised researchers, but confirms what anglers have suspected for a long time—small fish recover faster than lunkers. To replicate catch-and-release scenarios, a test group of net-caught largemouth bass were put into a darkened tank and allowed to rest. Next, they were chased about the tank for 60 seconds to simulate a fishing situation and allowed to recover for up to four hours. Plasma and white muscle samples were taken intermittently.
[ Read Full Post ] September 22, 2011 by
One of our Twitter followers posted this photo and a little story about how it happened. The follower, @Bigbass101, tweeted about a Florida angler who had landed some trout using a shrimp tail jig under a popping cork rig. Everything was fine until he tried to unhook a fish he caught on a Zara Spook. The fish slipped, resulting in a bloody finger and a doctor's visit.
Here's one way to remove a fish hook in case you can't get to a hospital.
[ Read Full Post ] September 20, 2011 by
Normally, we avoid shining any light on PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals), but sometimes their message is so over the top that we can't help but share the laugh.
Blogger Dan Mitchinson at www.MYNorthwest.com writes that the organization is currently telling parents that taking their kids fishing is actually endangering their developing minds.
[ Read Full Post ] September 19, 2011 by
I've heard of anglers making some bizarre catches in the past, but few can compare to the tale of Beth Krohn. While walleye fishing with her husband over the July 4th weekend on Lake Ida, Minnesota, Krohn felt a snag, but as she reeled it in she came to the realization that the snag was actually a prosthetic leg.
Determined to find its rightful owner, Krohn began making phone calls until she was connected with Pam Reilly. Turns out that Reilly had lost the leg while swimming in Lake Ida about three years ago. The $7,000 prosthetic limb was returned to Reilly for use as a spare. I'm sure that there are dozens of one-liners applicable to this weird tale, but I'll just leave it lay. But, what's the weirdest thing you've ever caught while fishing?
[ Read Full Post ] September 13, 2011 by
Catch a world record and win a $1 million! What could be easier than that? Well, lots of things, but that's precisely what the folks at Mustad Hooks are offering in their "Hook a Million" fishing promotion which begins on October 1.
Here's how it works. U.S. residents 18 years of age and older must first go to the Mustad website and register in order to qualify to win. In all, 10 fresh- and saltwater fish are targeted: largemouth bass, walleyes, channel catfish, white crappies, coho salmon, striped bass, kelp (calico) bass, redfish, seatrout and yellowfin tuna.
[ Read Full Post ] September 6, 2011 by
It's perhaps what lies at the core for us as outdoorsman: the chance that every so often we'll bear witness to a unique event, a once-in-a-lifetime happenstance. Fishing buddy Eddie Permenter calls this amazing site his "National Geographic" moment.
While fishing the Mississippi Gulf Coast a couple of weeks ago, Permenter and buddy Steve Herbison happened upon a rather fascinating fish boil.
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