By Joe Cermele

Anyone who follows this blog or my "Hook Shots" video series knows that muskies hate me. They really do. Though I have tried repeatedly to catch one, and come very close by way of follows that didn't turn into strikes, muskies are my bane. So when it came time to hit the trail for one last "Hook Shots" adventure in 2011, I took the easy road and decided to chase...muskies...in December. Now, you can clearly see without playing the video that at least one muskie was plucked from the Allegheny River in PA, but you'll have to watch the episode to find out if I was the lucky angler. All I'll tell you ahead of time is that I only rolled the dice because Red Childress, who is one of the best if not the best muskie guide in the Northeast, told me there was a chance we'd hook up. No guts, no glory. In any case, I'd like to thank you all very much for watching this season of "Hook Shots." It's been a blast, and I'm pumped to kick off season 4 just after the start of 2012. And of course, there's one more "Hook Shots" episode quiz left this year, which you can take here for a chance to win some cool stuff.

By Joe Cermele

The frog lure below was entered into the vintage tackle contest by Joseph Schirrman, who found it in the bottom of his father's old tackle box. According to Dr. Todd Larson of the The Whitefish Press and "Fishing For History" blog, this lure helps tell a very unique story about the craftsmanship and craftiness of American anglers in the early- to mid-1900s.

By Joe Cermele

If your stomach has been in knots since August over the evil, terrorist-like ring in Wisconsin that has been striking fear into the hearts of the community by stealing fish-shaped mailboxes, you can finally breathe easy. They have been caught and authorities will not be lax with punishment. They will receive 3 Saturday detentions each and not be permitted to attend the winter formal dance.

From the story in the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: Police have busted up a high school student theft ring that has been snatching bass-shaped mailboxes from residences.

Ten New Berlin West students who called themselves the "Bass Hunters" were involved in the thefts, and seven of the bass mailboxes have been recovered, Lt. Mike Glider said Monday.

By FS intern Jed Portman

I never thought that I’d go fishing for striped bass in New York City. I never thought that I’d visit an archery range in Queens or cook venison burgers in Harlem. But in the past few months, with some tips and inspiration from my coworkers here at Field & Stream, I’ve done all of those things and more. I never thought that I’d get to spend all day here in the F&S offices talking with the writers that I’ve been reading in the magazine since I was little. Most of all, though, I never thought I’d find myself running down the streets of Chinatown in Lower Manhattan on a quest for a live American eel.