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Just weeks after the months-long oil spill from the BP disaster was finally staunched, another rig off the coast of Louisiana has reportedly exploded.

From this story on ABC News:
An offshore oil rig has exploded and burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico just west of the infamous BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Initial reports said that the 13 workers on the rig were accounted for but were floating in the water near the rig. Twelve of the workers are reportedly wearing immersion suits, and one worker is reportedly injured. The U.S. Coast Guard has seven helicopters, two fixed-wing planes and a number of watercraft on the way to the scene. The rig, positioned 80 miles south of Vermillion Bay in Louisiana, is owned by Mariner Energy. It was not immediately known what caused the explosion, but the rig reportedly remained on fire after the explosion. Initial reports suggest that the rig was not actively drilling oil at the time of the incident, but it is unclear whether oil is leaking into the water.

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The reason there's no giant rainbow trout photo here, and instead a video on how to tie a double surgeon's knot is simple:

Because I was too lazy yesterday to tie an extra double surgeon's knot (which takes about 15 seconds), so the 20-plus inch rainbow trout that ate my grasshopper fly along the river bank, broke me clean off. [ Read Full Post ]

Everyone has fishing-related goals of some sort, whether it's trophy fish or a particular species or sheer numbers. I want to catch a bluefin tuna before they disappear, as well as the various subspecies of cutthroat trout and largemouth bass. But American angler Steve Wozniak takes it to a whole 'nuther level...

From this story in the UK Daily Mail: An angler has broken the ultimate fishing record by becoming the first person in the world to catch 1,000 different species of fish. Steve Wozniak, 47, has spent 10 years pursuing the astonishing quest that has seen him fish in 63 different countries. He has spent 20,000 hours on riverbanks, piers, beaches and boats waiting for a nibble from fish ranging from a tiny minnow to a 900lb shark. Steve has forked out more than £50,000 and racked up over one million air miles criss-crossing the globe with his rod and tackle over the last decade. The record rodman has fished on every continent bar Antarctica, including places as far flung as Cambodia and the exotic Isle of Wight. He... [ Read Full Post ]

Environmental and animal-rights groups have grown very adept at using lawsuits to further their agenda. Now a pro-hunting group is taking a page from that playbook in the latest chapter in the ongoing, never-ending wolf controversy saga.

From this story in the Duluth News-Tribune:
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and five other groups gave notice this week they will sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if the federal agency doesn’t move quickly to remove Great Lakes wolves from the endangered species list. In a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, which oversees Fish and Wildlife, the pro-hunting groups say the agency has not responded to their May 18 petition seeking fast action on delisting wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.“No one wants to engage in litigation on this issue,” said Bill Horn, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation director of federal affairs, in a statement. “However, the law is the law and it is high time that (the federal government) move forward with giving states back their rightful ability to manage their wolf populations.”

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Yet another innovative and easy tying tip from Jason Borger that requires no tools and is a handy alternative to whip-finishing.

Jason says, "This is the tying knot I first learned when I was a kid (thanks, dad!). It has served me well ever since (along with the whip finish). It also works nicely as a way to lock off the thread at certain points during more complex tying procedures. If you’ve (k)not used a double-hitch before, I think it's worth learning and keeping in your tying skill-set."

TR

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My oldest brother likes to joke that as soon as Jenny and I have a kid Pritch “will be kicked out to the porch.” And a new study I recently saw on MSNBC proves that he may be right. According to data compiled by a researcher at Indiana University South Bend:

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Fishing is a big-time passion (and a big-time business) in America, but what about Great Britain? Sure, there are a few carp anglers, and some tweedy, landed aristocratic dudes who like to catch Atlantic salmon in the rivers and trout in England's famed (and very, very private) chalk streams, but that's about it, right? As it turns out, the blokes across the pond are as mad for fishing as we are.

From this story in the (UK) Express:

In Britain there are an estimated four million anglers - that is those who catch fish by means of an “angle” or fish hook - who like nothing better than to sit hudd­led on a river bank or beside a lake and wait for that all important bite and that ever bigger fish. The money spent on the pastime is thought to put around £3billion into the economy and we are not short of celebrity anglers either. [ Read Full Post ]

Since I first went to Africa in 1978, I’ve hunted with something like 20 PHs, and not one of them used a double rifle. Every one of them carried a bolt gun of .375 H&H on up. Part of it, of course, is the scrotum-shriveling expense of a decent double rifle, and the other part I got a look at last Saturday, when the club I belong to staged its annual African shoot. There are three events: running lion, rising buffalo, and standing elephant. The first is as many shots as you can manage, the second six, and the third five, and you have only a few seconds to get off each round. [ Read Full Post ]

The next week or so will see the kick-off to many state's upland bird hunting seasons, and perhaps none are as eagerly anticipated as the dove opener. Tomorrow will find yours truly and thousands of like-minded hunters sweating on a dove field or stock tank. And while mourning dove will make up the overwhelming bulk of the bag, there's a new bird on the block that's slowly muscling its considerable bulk into the equation, the Eurasian Collared Dove.

Long considered primarily a suburban dweller, collared dove are spreading quickly enough that most game departments now mention collared dove in their hunting regulations. The physical differences between mourning and collared dove are easy to spot, most noticeably the sheer size of the brutes. They dwarf a mourning dove. I live five miles out of town, and last year I had no collared dove at my feeder. This year I have at least two breeding pairs. Not only are they large, but apparently they like to get busy. I have yet to actually shoot one while hunting, but judging by how many I'm seeing, this might be the year. ... [ Read Full Post ]

The "rod wars" are back on. I've already seen (or at least heard about) more new fly rods from manufacturers in advance of the upcoming International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) trade show than I have seen in at least a decade.

And the number one feature that makes a lot of these rods different than past generations is that they are tougher. Oh sure, you'll hear claims of "lighter" and "more sensitive," but in reality, most anglers won't be able to feel or sense a 10% weight reduction in rod blanks. [ Read Full Post ]

 From this story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune:
It was not too long ago that Florida was desperate to save the black bear. The species lost so much habitat and became so heavily hunted in the 1950s the animals were almost never seen. Decades later, it looks like the state may have done too good a job. The black bear population has exploded, forcing the animals out of the wilderness and increasingly into contact with humans.

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Okay, thanks to some prodding from loyal followers I’m kicking off Monday with a Reader Gun Dog of the Week.

As you may remember, we’re spotlighting readers’ dogs. So far we’ve covered everything from a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever to a Lab to a GSP. So this week I’m going with a breed near to my heart—the Boykin spaniel.

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