Rainbow Trout

Testing a new photo service.

SAN FRANCISCO: Giant squid invade the Bay.

BIG FISH: Norwegian angler lands 321 pound halibut.

CANADA: Wildlife Service proposes banning lead weights.

ETHICS: Does technology give us too much of an edge?

TRAVEL: For marlin and tuna, New Zealand is the place to be.

(link via Classic Aquasport.)

MINNESOTA: Ice fishermen go 106 fish over the limit.

NORTH CAROLINA: Fishing for landlocked stripers.

NEW ENGLAND: Hooked on ice fishing.

GOTHAM FISH TALES

Watched the DVD of the documentary Gotham Fish Tales yesterday. I highly recommend it. It's an account of the blue collar fishermen casting out lines along the sea walls of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. (It's amazing to see guys pull striped bass out of the Gowanus Canal.) It also touches a little on the dying tradition of New York baymen--clammers, crabbers, and their way of life. The opening scene rang particularly true to me, as I used to ride the subways with my fishing rods. The guy with the blue hair and face paint making animal balloons doesn't get so much as a raised eyebrow, but the guy on the subway with a fishing rod, now that's strange!

Net Worth

Nets with rubberized baskets make handling and releasing fiesty fish (like this blue) so much easier.

TECHNIQUE: Tips to improve your catching.

TRAVEL: Bonefish in Turks and Caicos.

TRAVEL: Chasing golden dorado in Bolivia.

FLORIDA: This week's fishing reports.

TROUT: Targeting brookies.

SOUTH CAROLINA: A fee to catch trout and bass?

CONSERVATION: An MPA must read. (It's a pdf file posted on Shifting Baselines Blog.) Whether you're for or against, you really should take a look at this paper.

An excerpt from the conclusion: No-take reserves are potentially valuable fishery management tools, but there are significant gaps in our biological knowledge that currently preclude implementing them with full confidence that they will sustain surrounding fisheries. These gaps can be filled, but first they must be acknowledged.

Tuna Leftovers

Tuna
Originally uploaded by Useless-Trivia.

I'm recycling some fishing pictures. I didn't get any good ones on my last trip, so...My colleague Dan with an nice bluefin.

(If anyone has a good picture/story, email it to me at fishingjones@gmail.com and I'll post it.)

HOUSTON: A Texas fly fishing hub.

STRIPED BASS: A convert to striper fishing on the fly.

FLIES: The McGinnis Extra Stout fly.

GUIDES: A primer on how to be a good one.

GEAR: Make your own rod.

WYOMING: Whirling disease cripples a hatchery.

ETIQUETTE: Outdoor writer Dave Richey posts a treatise on trout stream ethics.

FLORIDA GULF COAST:Seatrout, snook are likely targets.

MONTANA: Targeting whitefish on the Bitterroot.

KEY WEST: What's doing in Cayo Hueso? Permit, tarpon, and cheese fries.

The Famous Pike Photo

pike
Originally uploaded by Useless-Trivia.

I think this won a photography award a few years back. Notice the little trout fry peaking out.

CONSERVATION: SCREWING UP BIMINI
I just recently went there for the first time, so I have no great authority to speak on this subject. But here, the scientists are right. From what I gathered in conversations with locals and regulars, nobody really wants the Bimini Bay Resort & Casino anyway. Leave the gambling to Nassau and elsewhere and keep Bimini as the angling and diving paradise it is.
I did see the damage already done to the flats in North Sound Lagoon. There's a whole swath that looks ugly and scarred.

(link via Shifting Baselines.)

PERSONALITIES: Meet your new fishing show host.

ETHICS: To fish the spawning run or not?

SHAD & STRIPED BASS:Both should benefit from the Embrey Dam removal on the Rappahannock.

(link via Mark Cahill's Reel-Time Flog)

VIDEO: Jeremy from Flies and Fins has posted a cool steelhead video from the Salmon River.

THUNDER BAY: It's lunker lake trout season.

(Link via Classic Aquasport.)

FISHING IN IRAQ: Good to see some soldiers are able to take a break and catch some fish.

(Link via Instapundit.**)

(**What are the odds Instapundit ever links to the FJ? Don't answer that.)

Another Bimini Bone

bonefish
Originally uploaded by Useless-Trivia.

My colleague Jill with a nice bone caught off South Bimini.

MONTANA: The mysterious giant brown trout.

FLORIDA: Red tide affecting the west coast.

FLY FISHING: Long rodding as a competitive sport?

COOL FACT: Did herons invent fly fishing?

(link via Midcurrent.)

MARYLAND: Dean from Angler Wannabe is touting the state's trout fishing.

CONSERVATION: Bottom trawling banned in Alaskan waters.

Fly Fishing for Muskie

muskie
Originally uploaded by Useless-Trivia.

An article from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on taking muskie via fly.

The pictured muskie was caught on the St. Lawrence River. I wrote an article about it a while ago.

SCIENCE: How anadromous fish survive.

ICE FISHING cont'd: The day before we fished, a guy in the next shanty pulled out an 18 lb salmon that barely squeezed through the hole. Not having caught anything ourselves we were relegated to eating bait. Delicious bait.  

George our guide, made our day. Born in Bronxville, grew up in Scarsdale, the former food manager at The Plaza Hotel left the city 15 years ago with his wife to run a country inn and sporting guiding service. He ties his own flies, carves his own pike plugs, builds his own fly rods and guide boats. He feeds his guests with meat he hunts, fish he catches, vegetables he grows and honey he harvests (he’s a bee keeper). More pictures on his website: www.villageinnofeastburke.com Any time we want to go up and use his shanty we need only stop by and grab the keys. We caught 50 or so rainbow smelt, had three flags tipped but no fish. My wife Ashley is completely hooked. Fishing in a shanty toasty warm next to the wood stove and hot cider w/ rum was a lot more comfortable than she expected.
 

FISHING MEDIA: The "Why Fish" podcast guys get a big write-up.

STUPID PeTA REQUEST OF THE DAY: Yeah, this is going to happen.

TROUT: Protecting Utah's state fish.

CONSERVATION: Why you should throw your big catches back.
If you don't want to log into the WaPo, here's the nut graf:

Recent studies show that larger, older fish produce more eggs and surviving offspring than younger fish, researchers said yesterday, adding that policymakers need to protect broader swaths of the ocean to preserve these efficient spawners.

BACK FROM MIAMI: Another good boat show. Just walking down the isles past fish boat after fish boat makes you drool. My angling prospects while down there temporarily improved but then quickly crashed to earth. I had an opportunity to fish for swordfish out of Ft. Lauderdale on Friday night, but 8-10' seas in the Gulfstream kept that expedition at the dock. I had an invitation to go sailfishing today, but instead I am sitting in my study as I flew home yesterday afternoon. But now that I am home, I will be making arrangements to go trout fishing on the Connetquot as soon as possible.

And I'm looking forward to hearing more about Stefan's forays into ice fishing.

Jigging the Void
My first ice fishing experience. Definitely not to be my last. On lake Seymore, VT 10 or so miles from the Canadian border. More details to come.

MIAMI BOAT SHOW 2005 UPDATE
Blogging from the internet cafe at the Miami Boat Show. Just checked out the sportfishing room. The simulated big game fishing chair is about as close as I'll get to catching another fish this trip. Cool deal, we did see the boat we're going to use this season, a Sea Strike 240 Center Console. Can't wait to get after the stripers and blues this spring.

FISHING REPORT:Slow Day In Palm Beach

I went fishing with Capt. Scot Hamilton off Palm Beah, FL, yesterday. We targeted the spinner sharks that I love to try for at this time of year. We cruised the beach and saw hundreds off them swimming lazily along a few mile stretch. We set up a bloodline, but strangely the sharks didn't get excited. We had two make serious charges up to the boat, but both didn't take the fly. We did experience a two-minute aerial display with several sharks free jumping and pulling off triple-axl spins. Simply awesome to watch. But as far as getting a bend in the rod, we got no takers. We wound up catching some jacks and bluefish along the beach, which was fun in and of itself. If anyone has the opportunity, though, the sharks are there.

GEAR: Lighted fishing line in the future?

Tommorow's Trip

spinner shark on fly
Originally uploaded by Useless-Trivia.

I am off to the Miami Boat Show tomorrow so blogging will be light the rest of the week. But I have a fishing trip scheduled so hopefully when I get back I'll have more photos like this.

FISH STORY:
Or rather, how a fish story becomes a "fish story."

(Here's the link to the original post.)

MINNESOTA: Walleye stocks on the upswing.

(link via My Bass and I)

TECHNIQUE: Bigger can be better for Florida shad.

MISC: Is this art?

Check out this cool bass photo from Outdoor Alabama. 

TECHNIQUE: Ten inexpensive ways to catch more bass.