Forget El Nino, drought, climate change, giant squid, water diversions, overfishing and bad forestry practices. The boys over at AnglersTube have discovered the real reason salmon populations in the West are crashing! Kidding of course…

Be sure to watch it all the way to the end of the clip for a happy ending!

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Planter trout...the other white meat!


Well, you were having so much fun catching them that you totally forgot that pellet-fed, round-tailed hatchery trout are about as tasty as a wet sock. Now, damn, you’ve got a pile of them and aren’t sure what to do. But wait! Before you plant the mushy biscuit eaters in the garden, there just may be a way to make even these things palatable.

Wild game cooking guru Scott “The Sporting Chef” Leysath shows you how… [click to continue…]

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Fill in the Blank: Broken Net Edition

by JD on March 19, 2010


Okay, so you guys know how the whole Fill in the Blank thing works. Use the comments section below to give us your best idea of how the conversation between these two guys might be going. [click to continue…]

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Now, all wild steelies on the Smith will be headed back where they belong: The water!


One of the worst fishing regulations ever written was finally reversed at the beginning of March and now all wild steelhead on the Smith River must be released! With the amount of fishing pressure the (California) Smith gets, it was only a matter of time before the wild steelie population there crashed and burned.

Luckily, this new regulation took affect before that happened, hopefully ensuring the state’s largest breed of anadramous rainbows lives on! [click to continue…]

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The dynamic duo of sturgeon slaying, “DJ Kool and MC Sleepy Sleep,” teamed up for this fine-looking 75-inch, ghost shrimp-slurpin’ Sacramento River sturgeon on March 5.

For their efforts, the pair is entered into our Hawg of the Month Contest and have a chance to win a free fishing trip at the end of the year…to which DJK said “Cool.” Sleepy had no comment and instead just asked for his pillow back…

Have you caught a Hawg lately? Send it to us now!

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Insanely good fish replicas

by JD on March 15, 2010


As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a big fan of fiberglass fish reproductions. The concept is solid…take a few pix and measurements before you release that trophy fish and you can have an exact replica mount made. It’s the best of both worlds — the fish goes free and you get a memento that won’t rot or get chewed by rats…like skin mounts do.

Take a look at these mounts from Alaska’s Real Life Taxidermy — they may just be the best I’ve ever seen. And here’s the disclaimer: I don’t know these guys, never met ‘em…in fact, just stumbled onto their website last night. Check out these fish…they’re hot! [click to continue…]

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Oregon’s recreational and commercial ocean salmon seasons, scheduled to open today (March 15) and run through April 30, have been closed due, in part, to a low projected run of fall Chinook to the Sacramento River.

“The closure of these March and April openings was expected,” said Eric Schindler, ocean salmon project leader for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “This typically occurs in years when fishery managers anticipate a significant constraint to fisheries.” [click to continue…]

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Steelhead Nirvana is calling…

by JD on March 13, 2010

I wanna go!!!!


While sifting through some photos of previous fishing missions last night, I ran across this one I took of the Skeena River in British Columbia…totally ruined my evening. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how I wanted to be right in this spot again…soon!

Man, I’ve got a serious jones for big steelhead going on right now…you feel me??

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