CANADA: While we're on the subject of giant freshwater fish, check out this sturgeon caught in the North Country.

FISH STORY: The largest freshwater catch ever recorded. Wouldn't you know, it's a catfish.

MICHIGAN: A smallmouth fishery with a global appeal.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: A dude catches a 9-foot shark from a Ft. Myer's pier.

FLY FISHING:Why saltwater is better than fresh. One man's opinion.

TECHNIQUE: An article sure to make the purists cringe, about fishing live bait from a fly rod.

MISSISSIPPI: The 57th annual Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo takes places this weekend. This is different than the Alabama Fishing Rodeo, which John McPhee made famous in a 1998 New Yorker article.

HOMOSASSA: This year's trophy tarpon season was a bust. And, according to legendary fly fisher Billy Pate, anglers have only themselves to blame.

FLORIDA: Kid catches potential record snook. (Click here.)

SCIENCE: Mystery of the Cape Coral thumping noises solved.

TRAVEL: Fishing the Adirondacks. Some of my first fly fishing expeditions were on the Ausable and Saranac Rivers.

TECHNIQUE: Getting down deep with sinking lines. As someone who's been trying to master a T14 shooting head, I took this article to heart.

FISH STORY: One man's quest to catch a particular fish.

CONSERVATION: TU's efforts to save the apache trout.

PENNSYLVANIA: Where trout fishing is king.

Pike on the Fly

TECHNIQUE: Tips for shallow-water fly fishing. From a guy who's guided the flats of Belize for 40 years.

Can't Stand Registering for One Article?

How many times have you been sent a link for a news piece and then found you need to be registered to read it?

All is cured: http://bugmenot.com/

Check it out!

FISH PHOTO: Check out this picture of a kid lying next to a king salmon.

(Link via Outdoor Weblog.)

Schoolies in the Western Sound

CONSERVATION: Study shows taking big fish weakens the gene pool. Or, why you should take a photo of your trophy and throw it back.

SOUTH FLORIDA: Where you can catch trophy fish in your backyard. (Provided the government doesn't seize your backyard in the name of development. Way to go liberal Supreme Court justices! Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

FISH STORY: Fishing Aussie couple hook their own dog.

PANFISH: Fly fishing for sunfish. While the first fish I ever caught on fly years ago was a trout, I really figured it all out by casting little poppers to sunnies. (If you can call what I do "figured out.")

Padre Island Trout Action

Off to Texas

I'm off to Texas in the morning for work, and hopefully a few redfish and speckled trout, but it's 100 degrees on the Gulf Coast, so we'll see. Either way, no more posts from me until Thursday.

FISH STORY: Two fishing buddies hoping for stripers in the East River, instead rescued a couple of businessmen from a helicopter crash.

ST. LAWRENCE RIVER: High temperatures responsible for muskie die-off? I'm up in that area over the 4th of July. I hope all the fish aren't boiled out of the river by then.

Striper Schoolies on Long Island Sound

BASS: A new article on Midcurrent provides instruction on catching lunkers on the fly.

FINALLY

After a month's delay, the shipyard is launching the center console this morning. I made the last necessary repair yesterday and had to wait 24 hours for the silicone to dry. No real fishing today, though, as I am taking my nephews, in from Michigan, on a cruise into New York Harbor to see the Statue of Liberty. I may throw a spinner onboard, though, just in case...

NEW YORK: An ode to the Delaware, posted on the Flies and Fins site.
The thing that struck me about this post was the writer's admission that it took them five years to figure it all out. On pretty much any body of water, you have to put a lot of time in to learn its habits.

CONSERVATION: Committing "gobycide."

MONTANA: Big fish on the Missouri River.

FISH STORY: A Fish-toting eagle crashes into AN Alaska home.
Quote: "There was this huge fish carcass right where my dog usually slept," she said. "It didn't have a head. It was at least two feet long - just the back bone and the tail."

FLORIDA: Statewide fishing reports from the Miami Herald.

FISH STORY: Yesterday was a grenade, today it's a gun.

TRAVEL: Fish the Mighty Mississippi.

FISH STORY: Two guys fishing for trout in West Virginia wound up partying with a bear.
Money Quote: "'He only drank three cans,' Larry Gaynor said. 'He would've drank all of them if it would've been Budweiser.'"

FLY FISHING: Why a hex fly hatch beats any video game.

FISH STORY: An Ohio angler hooked into a live World War II-era grenade.

GEAR: Ever wanted a hand-crafted bamboo rod?

FLIES: In praise of the hornburg. I will preface this by saying I'm not the world's greatest trout angler, but when I do fly fish for trout, the hornburg is one of my absolute favorites to use. One of my buddies caught the biggest trout I've personally seen, an 8 1/2 pound rainbow, drifting a hornburg as a dry.

BOAT REPAIRS: Nothing like climbing around the bilge of a boat in 90 degree weather. A colleague and I spent the day making repairs to the 24' center console I'll be fishing all season. We moved the bilge pump through-hull higher above the waterline and replaced the burnt out bilge pump. I have one more repair to make, changing a corroded ground bus plate, and then it's back in the water and back hunting stripers, if there are any left by the time we relaunch.

BOOK: An Honest Angler

Pete and I constantly email back and forth about books. It's bout time I mention one here.. 'An Honest Angler' is a collection of Sparse Grey Hackle's columns.. he shows himself to be the perfect gentleman, and delivers it all with a perfect balance of self-deprecating humor, wit, and honesty.

I'll bring it to Florida.

FISH STORY: A soldier smuggles in a rod and finds fishing in Afghanistan.

TECHNIQUE: Fly fishing for smallmouth bass.

CONSERVATION: Helping the bluefin tuna.

STRIPED BASS: The story of one man's 62-pounder. Could you imagine if one of his buddies actually cut the line? We could be reading about a murder investigation.

FLY FISHING: The "quiet artistry" of the sport.

FISH STORY: A rare white muskie.
(Link via Outdoor Weblog.)

WEATHER UPDATEThe first hurricane already?

GEAR: I'm on a mission to get down deep after big stripers. So, after asking for advice on several fishing website forums, and doing some research online, I decided to buy a RIO T-14 Shooting head from Urban Angler. For anyone in the NYC area, the guys there are extremely helpful and enthusiastic, and you won't feel bad asking them dumb questions.
I got 26 feet of the T-14, and paired it to a RIO running line. Supposedly, it has a sink rate of 10 inches per second. Right now, the fast sink line I use has a sink rate of six inches per second. I can't wait to try to get down deep after those bass I've previously caught only with a bucktail and a spinning rod. Stay tuned.

CONSERVATION: Check out the 2005 Seafood Miniguide, and find out whether the fish you like to eat are sustainable.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: Snook fishing has turned on. You wonder if the tropical storm headed to the Gulf will change that. Also, check out the 216-pound silver king in the photo to the right.

WEATHER: Here we go again.

NEWS: Fishing is the true American pastime.

PERSONALITIES: New Oakland Raider Randy Moss is hosting a celebrity fishing tournament.

SOUTWHEST FLORIDA: A tough year to figure out all the fish.

FEEL-GOOD STORY:The Outdoor Dream Foundation.

NON-FISHING QUOTE OF THE DAY (Though it sort of involves fishing): "I'm going to gut you like a fish." --Mike Tyson

FLY FISHING:Four occassions when you'll eat humble pie.

ALBERTA: Bull trout found in the Athabasca River, a rare occurance.

TRAVEL: Take a luxury cruise to fly fish for bones in Tahiti.

CARP: A Colorado newspaperman makes the case for carp vs. bonefish.

MIDWEST: Fly fish Kansas.

COMPETITION: There's a US youth fly fishing team?

WESTERN NEW YORK: It's now a fishing hot spot.

FISH STORY: The virtual 11-pound bass.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: June marks the beginning of bluewater fishing.

TECHNIQUE:Midcurrent has a column on fishing for stripers and blues with micro flies.