Fishing
How to Chicken-Leg for Blue Crabs
Growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, I never realized seafood dinners could be considered fancy. I didn’t know that people paid good money for lump crab meat with melted butter. To me, a crab feast meant wet hands, the smell of salt marsh mud, and an afternoon baking in the hot summer sun. I was barely...
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Fishing
5 Tricks for Catching Fish When It's Hot
During the summer, anglers are completely unleashed. The long days and warm, comfortable nights allow for plenty of fishing time, and most of us practically sprint down to the water any chance we get. It can be a time of plenty. Nearly every fish species, from panfish and bass to trout and walleye...
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Fishing
5 Best Hatches for New Fly Anglers
Fishing a nymph beneath an indicator or stripping a streamer can be an effective way to catch trout, but fishing dry flies during a hatch presents a whole other challenge. For many new fly anglers, trying to “match the hatch” might just make you want to throw your fly rod away and take up golf, but...
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Fishing
The Official Unofficial U.S. Common Carp Record
On Tuesday, December 23rd, 2025, Scott Lennox banked a 64.22-pound common carp from a lake in California, breaking the U.S. record. It was no accident. Lennox is one of the small, secretive band of individuals who target trophy carp—fish of 40 pounds and upwards—and they’re as obsessive and maniacal...
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Spearfishing
3 Spearfishermen Dead After String of Shark Attacks in Australia
On Saturday, June 6, a spearfisherman identified as Daniel Turpin died from injuries sustained while diving off the Western Australian coast, about 250 miles southeast of Perth. The 35-year-old man reportedly had a run-in with a 15-foot great white while spearfishing with family members. Turpin was...
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Fishing
You Should Change Your Fishing Line More Often
I watched my buzzbait disappear in an explosion of water when one of the biggest largemouths I’d seen surged out from under a tangle of hyacinths. My heart skipped several beats as I set the hook, and the fish immediately made a run for deeper water. For a few seconds, that fish peeled line off my...
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Fishing
Bank Fishing for Bass Isn't a Backup Plan
I sat in the truck at the public boat ramp, sipping bad gas station coffee and watching a parade of glitter-covered bass boats launch and race away. They were in a hurry to get to wherever they thought the bass were holed up. I wasn’t in much of a hurry. When the last boat disappeared around the...
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Fishing
7 Underrated Western Fishing Destinations
Fishing in the West has blown up in recent years, particularly river fishing for trout—and for good reason. Western states hold some of the best trout waters in the world. But the rising popularity has led to significantly increased crowding and pressure on many waterways in the West, to the...
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Fishing
How to Catch More Bluegill Without A Bobber
Like a lot of anglers, I got my intro to fishing with a farm-pond bank, a can of earthworms, and a red and white bobber. Reeling in bluegill (aka bream) was enough to get me hooked on fishing. But as a kid, I saw bream fishing as something to graduate from. I thought trading bobbers and bluegill...
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Fishing
Why You Aren't Learning from Your Fishing Mistakes
Every angler out there maintains an unshakable faith that whatever they’re doing will eventually work, even when there’s evidence to the contrary. We target specific hatches, return to the same spots, use the same lures and baits, and hope we’re doing the right thing to get the job done. But...
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Fishing
5 Best Fish to Target in Early Summer
Spring might be the first chance to fish during the year, but I’ve always considered early summer to be the true start of fishing season. During spring, the water is still murky and cold from rains and snowmelt, and most fish are still a bit sluggish. But, when the temps start to rise in the early...
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Fishing
How to Catch Spring Catfish
May 1, 2025I became a shad addict on a quiet backwater creek in eastern North Carolina, just trying to find a way to kill time outdoors untilturkey season kicked off. I was pitching a small red spoon from the bank when a hickory shad snatched it and launched itself from the water, twisting and flipping like a tiny tarpon as it tried to spit my lure. When that spoon came flying back at me mid-jump, I did what any self-respecting angler wasting time on a creek bank would do. I kept casting.Hickory shad are famous for their sudden sprints and aerial displays. Some anglers call them “poor man’s tarpon,” and the nickname is well-earned. These little fish pack more fight per pound than most species. Whilebassandpike get the freshwater glory, the humble shad fights well beyond its weight class, and with sudden bursts of motion and surprising aerial leaps, it's a thrilling fish to catch.American, hickory, and gizzard shad pour into rivers up and down the East Coast by the millions each spring, pulled by primal instincts that take them back to the very waters where they hatched. Then they leave behind countless fertilized eggs before returning to the open ocean.When I was growing up, springtime was always catfish time. Every year, as soon as the ice had melted off the water and I heard the calls of spring peepers in the air, I’d grab my gear and head down to the river for an evening of kitty hunting. I never caught many fish in those days, but it always...
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