New to MeatEater? Get started

Contributor

View All

Sam Lungren

Sam Lungren is MeatEater's Fishing Editor and a former freelance writer/photographer, commercial fisherman, and editor of BHA's Backcountry Journal. Though originally from Whidbey Island, Washington, he's been in Montana for almost a decade and probably isn't leaving—except during steelhead season. Follow him @samlungrenmedia.

Topics

Latest

Fly

Wading Into Winter: A Guide to Fly Fishing for Cold Weather Trout

Sam Lungren

Dec 5, 2019

I’ve been date-less on the last two Valentine’s days. Now, before you go feeling sorry for me, you should know that both years I found lovely dance partners in the form of big, banana-yellow brown trout. A dozen girdlebugs cost a lot less and last a lot longer than a dozen roses anyway, so I always head into Feb. 15 feeling like I put one over on everyone. Fancy restaurants were probably booked solid, but I had world-class trout water all to...

Black-tailed Deer

Kodiak December: A Hunt and a Blacktail of a Lifetime

Sam Lungren

Dec 2, 2019

I’d just strapped knee-high gaiters over my boots in the bunk-lined forecastle when a rifle shot rang out from the bow deck directly above my head. After settling my heart rate I climbed into the F/V Kylia’s tophouse to hear what happened. It was 9:00 a.m., but the pale pink late November sunrise had only begun to define Kodiak’s colossal mountains and beachheads. Just enough light in fact, for Kris to spot a three-point Sitka blacktail wandering...

Saltwater

Bar Room Banter: The Biggest Fish in the World

Sam Lungren

Oct 16, 2019

There’s a difference between book smart and bar smart. You may not be book smart, but this series can make you seem educated and interesting from a barstool. So, belly up, pour yourself a glass of something good, and take mental notes as we look at the largest fish to ever swim the seas.
We’re all about big fish stories here at MeatEater, and we recently came across the biggest one yet. At an estimated 70-plus-feet-long, Leedsichthys...

Recipes

Blackberry Smoked Salmon Recipe

Sam Lungren

Oct 9, 2019

Blackberry Smoked Salmon Recipe

5m35s

It was part collision of available foods, part childhood “science project.” I was probably around 12 years old, with a pile of pink salmon on my hands, a backyard full of ripe blackberries, and a Little Chief smoker. I’d made my standard-issue brine, but on a whim decided to smoosh in a pound of juicy, dark purple berries that happened to be sitting nearby on the kitchen counter.
I was surprised by the results to say the least. After brining all...

Freshwater

The Worst Dick Moves an Angler Can Make

Sam Lungren

Oct 1, 2019

John Gierach famously wrote that there are two types of fishermen: the guys in your party, and the assholes. It’s been quoted way, way too many times, but bears particular mention in a discussion of fishermen making dick moves. It goes to show that anglers are naturally suspicious of and hostile toward other people on the water, simply by nature of them being on the water that we would like to have to ourselves. If we happened to run into the...

Policy & Legislation

How Changes to the Clean Water Act Affect Hunters and Anglers

Sam Lungren

Sep 19, 2019

On Sept. 12, the Trump Administration’s EPA and Army Corps announced that it was rolling back regulations regarding interpretation of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The federal agencies say it was necessary to repeal the Obama-era rules that limited filling and pollution of wetlands and ephemeral streams, but the conservation community is gravely concerned about the effects of these relaxed regulations on fish and wildlife.
The leaders of a number of...

Environmental Issues

Florida Water Crisis: Is New Leadership Finally Turning the Tide?

Sam Lungren

Sep 10, 2019

Captain Daniel Andrews stands on the skiff’s bow, staring intently across the sunrise-pink waters of Pine Island Sound, remembering aloud when the tide flowed the wrong way.
“In the summer of 2013 we had really bad discharges,” Andrews said. “It was like a full-time outgoing tide at Redfish Pass. There were days where the tide was supposed to be slack and it was just dumping. It would have to be like a really strong incoming to be able to fight...

Wildlife Management

California Bans Fur Trapping, Rinella and Callaghan Respond

Sam Lungren

Sep 6, 2019

On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he had signed a bill making it illegal to trap animals for the purposes of recreation or to sell fur, making his the first state to ban trapping.
“Fur trapping is a cruel practice that has no place in 21st century California,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego, the bill’s author.
Data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife suggest that trapping had already lost a...

Environmental Issues

Cartooning Conservation: Ding Darling, Ed Anderson, and Saving South Florida

Sam Lungren

Sep 3, 2019

Wandering around ICAST, the big fishing industry tradeshow in Florida a few years ago, I came around a corner and saw a burly man in front of an easel. I watched as he set down his paintbrush, slung a ukulele off his back, and absentmindedly began strumming a tune toward the six-foot wide, half-finished painting of a tarpon.
Though early in the composition, the creator’s identity stood out in bold brushstrokes, loud colors, and the slightly comic...

Freshwater

All-Around Angler: What Fishing Line Should I Choose?

Sam Lungren

Aug 28, 2019

Alongside the official launch of the MeatEater Fishing Department, we’re pleased to bring you this new article series, All-Around Angler, anchored by Fishing Editor Sam Lungren. We’ll be sharing in-depth breakdowns of fishing tackle, techniques, and philosophies. Keep an eye out for future editions!
Selecting fishing line used to involve two decisions: what pound-test, and Maxima or Stren. Now, walk into any self-respecting tackle shop and you’ll...