by Joe Cermele

Congratulations to Austin Bockwinkel, whose spring Iowa largemouth bass takes top prize in our weekly Catchbook Photo Contest! Austin gets a PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap from Columbia, and also qualifies to win our monthly prize, a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve fishing shirt and his mug in the pages of our magazine. Click here to learn how you can enter this contest by. Click here for the official rules.

by Joe Cermele

Wall Size: Whether you’re after a landlocked freshwater striper or one cruising along a salty shoreline, the fish anglers covet is that first 40-pounder. Stripers are a slow-growing species, so a fish that size can be 20 years old or older. In that time it almost certainly has encountered plenty of hooks. If you fool a 40, you’ve duped one wise fish.

Special Case: You should score a replica if you can score a 25-plus-pounder on the fly in fresh- or saltwater. If you’re into surf casting, your first beach bass weighing 30 pounds or more should also be considered for the wall.

by Joe Cermele

To the best of my knowledge, Jason Covington's new book, "American BeheMouth," is a work of fiction. However, the science laced throughout the story is supposedly legit. This a chronicle of a couple that spent many years growing a largemouth bass to the 27-pound mark in a 70-acre, man-made, temperature controlled lake in Kentucky. "American BeheMouth" is so new, I haven't gotten the chance to read it yet, but according to Covington's website:

The book is much more than a fishing story; it is a metaphor for many other things: life, family, sacrifice, commitment, and dreams. In addition, it raises ethical questions about modern American sports, American businesses and consumerism, and our quest for the elusive.