Fishing News

   
Father and Son Kayak Fishing Trip Snags Shark(August 26) - A father and son in Texas got quite a ride while fishing in a kayak off the Galveston coast. It's apparently a new fishing challenge in the area, and thanks to their video camera, they can share with the world their catch of a seven-foot shark. Kevin Stevens and his son Hunter snagged the shark less than a mile off the island's west end. "Super scary and crazy," is how Hunter described the ordeal. "Instead of us using all of our energy to try to pull the shark, the shark pulls the kayak. It's called the Texas sleigh ride," said Kevin. For an hour, Hunter let the camera roll while his dad wrestled with the black tip shark, dragging them up and down the beach. "Yeah, I was like seriously stop, I'm done, I don't want to see anymore," says Hunter's mom Christina Stevens. "I mean seriously, I watched Jaws at a very young age "   Complete Story

$1.5M Fishing tournament opens off coast of Cape May(August 22) - One of the biggest fishing tournaments on the East Coast is getting under way today. More than 100 boats are registered for the Mid-Atlantic $500,000, which has a total purse of more than $1.5 million.Anglers had to pay $6,000 to enter.But a good haul could be lucrative. The heaviest marlin will be worth $100,000 and the biggest tuna will get the person who catches it $75,000. Each boat can go out only three of the five days of the tournament. They're launching from Cape May and Ocean City, Md., and must stay within 125 miles of Cape May.
 
Mazur Wins Erie Bass Fishing Tournament(August 22) - Lawrence Mazur of Lancaster, N.Y., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win the EverStart Series  t on Lake Erie. Complete Story

Invasive smallmouth bass gains foothold in Lake Tahoe(August 16) - Invasive smallmouth bass have become established in Lake Tahoe, posing what researchers call a "much more ferocious threat" to native fish than anything that has come before. "We've had reports of smallmouth bass before, but now we've 100-percent confirmed its presence in Lake Tahoe," said Kevin Thomas, environmental scientist at the California Department of Fish and Game. "The population could explode and put more stress on the native fish." The finding was announced Monday by the University of Nevada, Reno. It came during a UNR project with Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which removed 5,000 invasive fish from the near-shore aquatic zone. Sudeep Chandra, a UNR limnologist, found that decreased ultraviolet radiation in the near-shore environment. Complete Story

10 Year old Boy catches 19-year-old bass(August 11) - A 10-year-old Kalispell boy using a rubber worm caught a largemouth bass in Western Montana that wildlife officials say is nearly twice as old as he is. Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Mark Deleray said the bass caught and released by Garrett Frost in Rose Creek Slough on July 16 could be as much as 19 years old, which may be the oldest on record for Montana. The fish was 20 to 22 inches long and weighed about 3.5 pounds. Garrett removed a tag that had been placed on the fish in 1997 in another Flathead River backwater area about 5 miles away. Biologists estimate that the fish was 5 years old when it was tagged, based on the fact that it was just over 14 inches long and weighed 1.5 pounds at the time. Most literature says largemouth bass can live to be 15 or 16 in the northern United States.  Fish tend to grow slower and live longer in colder waters.
         
Costly State Regulations Threaten California Recreational Fishing and Jobs(August 10) - Many Californians are not aware of a very serious and looming threat to recreational fishing. Fish farmers who stock California lakes and grocery stores are threatened by a legal case quietly moving through the courts as well as the costly regulations being drafted by the California Department of Fish and Game. Given that California grows some of the healthiest and safest fish in the world under existing regulations, one can only assume that the State's actions were not motivated by a public need, but merely by a political agenda, one that anglers know has led to significant limitations on ocean fishing off the coast of California. Due to new regulations being drafted by Fish and Game, fish stocking could be a thing of the past once costly regulations are mandated.  Complete Story

World Record Striped Bass(August 9) - The fishing community is in a frenzy as a flurry of reports came in Saturday that a world-record striped bass had been caught on Long Island Sound. The catch, reportedly caught by North Branford resident Greg Myerson, tipped the scales at 81.88 pounds, according to several angling blogs. If confirmed, that beats the existing record of 78 pounds 8 ounces, which was set by Al McReynolds on Sept. 21, 1982, when he was fishing in Atlantic City, NJ. It will be up to the International Game Fish Association to determine if Myerson's catch snags the new world-record. According to a Connecticut Post blog, Myerson caught the fish off a boat, using live eel as bait. AGoFishn blog published a map that shows the potential record-breaker was reeled in off the shore between Milford and East Haven.
 
Summertime Storms Can Provide Fishing Frenzies(August 8) - Anglers aren’t the only ones affected by the hurricanes and tropical storms that spaghetti plot their way from the scorching Atlantic and Caribbean waters to Florida, a vulnerable target with its exposed, one-thumb-down shape. Fish take action before, during and after these summertime storms, and many anglers begin prepping their summertime gear soon after The World Meteorological Organization Hurricane Committee has decided which household name to slap on a storm. The tropical storm is likely to at least skirt Florida’s east coast by Monday. The storm could tickle the Tampa Bay area with enough rain to trigger a heck of a redfish bite. Anglers can count on this hurricane season to determine many fishing factors. The fishing typically is the best a few days prior to, and during, a storm. Complete Story

Homer promotes image as halibut fishing capital of the world(August 7) - Visitors to Homer are welcomed by a sign at the top of Baycrest Hill proclaiming Homer the "halibut fishing capital of the world." Is it true? "There are two thoughts on that: more halibut gets moved across the fish dock or more people come here to sport fish for halibut. I would say both things," said Homer Harbormaster Bryan Hawkins. "It is the largest port for commercially caught halibut. On the other side of it, the sport-recreational side, Homer is very popular for sportfishing halibut." While the moniker is true, Monte Davis, executive director of the Homer Chamber of Commerce, believes the title first was self-proclaimed. "No one else had it, so Homer reached up and grabbed the title 'fishing capital of the world' and it has stuck and been true," said Davis.    Complete Story
 
Redneck Fishing Tournament takes aim at Asian carp(August 6) - The fish are already flying at the Redneck Fishing Tournament. "We've had two boats come in, and they brought in over 300 fish," said organizer Betty DeFord on Friday afternoon. "We're going to have one of the biggest fish kills of silver Asian carp in the history of the Redneck Fishing Tournament." Conditions are ideal this year for a big haul. The water level is low and the fish are jumping.Bloomington resident Mike Rave, who has come to the tournament every year, caught 50 in just a few minutes. He is passionate about the need to rid the Illinois River of these invasive fish. "If we don't take care of the river, it's going to go the way of so many other things," he said. "My family and I come through here for recreation and the fish threaten that.   Complete Story

Keep 'em cool--tips for helping bass survive a ride in your livewell(August 5) - Throughout the South, anglers who visit tournament sites a few days after a hot weather competition often have the same sad report--lots of dead bass, despite the fact that most fish were released alive the day of the event. To be sure, nobody brings in more than a legal limit of fish at these events and they could all legally take them home and fillet them: mortality rate 100 percent. In that sense, any that survive are bonus fish. But the majority of bass anglers would rather have their fish than eat them; catch-and-release is almost universal, which is a big part of the reason that bass fishing has remained so good across much of the nation despite the angling pressure. But if a high percentage of released fish don't survive more than a few hours. Complete story
 
Tarpon fishing on Tampa Bay is good(August 3) - Tarpon fishing in Tampa Bay has been excellent, and I would expect to see a good bite right through the late summer. Most of the tarpon will be in the 100-pound class and smaller, and there will be lots of them from Apollo Beach north to Port Tampa, near and around the Gandy Bridge and, of course, along the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I like fishing tarpon on a strong, outgoing tide using large, live threadfin herring for bait. There are always a number of juvenile tarpon in most of the rivers that empty into Tampa Bay. The Hillsborough, Palm, Little Manatee and Manatee rivers are all known to hold these fish. Try fishing the mouth of the rivers using artificial bait on a strong outgoing tide near sunrise or sunset. My favorite artificial lure is the DOA Bait Buster.   Complete Story

Bass tourney ends in historic first: co-champs(August 2) - After three days of fishing, it came down to an impromptu backstage meeting to determine the winner of the 2011 Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. But following a lengthy discussion, it was decided Richard Rud and Jon Austin, from International Falls, and Thunder Bay’s Glenn Leroux and Trevor Zimak would share the tournament title after both teams finished in a dead heat with a three-day total weight of 52.42 pounds. The official rules of the tournament state that in the event of a tie for the top spot in the standings, both teams would head right back out onto Rainy Lake for a one-hour fish-off. And if there still was a tie after that, a coin flip would then determine the winner. Complete Story