By Dave Hurteau

In my first couple years with F&S, I edited a handful of articles by Bill Tapply. I didn’t know him as the literary force he was. The English professor and author of more than 40 books, including two dozen mystery novels, never let on to any of that in our few phone conversations. His writing was clean and tight—not much to discuss there. So we talked grouse hunting and flyfishing. I didn’t think anything of it. Having no clue of his stature, I saw no reason why he shouldn’t speak to a perfectly green editor as a friend and an equal.

By Dave Hurteau

Local Maryland bass anglers are livid after an FLW Stren Series bass tournament apparently left more than 600 bass floating dead along a six-mile area of the Mattawoman Creek and Potomac River, believed to be victims of delayed mortality after being released alive. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources concedes that even more dead bass may have been carried away on the tide, and the agency has now instituted several new rules to govern tournaments.

By John Merwin

So I’d like to introduce you guys to my pal Tony the Lure Man. That happy-looking young fellow in the photo is Tony Witte, whose job it is to buy fishing lures for Cabela’s. All those great-looking lures you see in the catalogs at one time or another first had to pass muster with Tony. We were bass fishing together down Florida way a while back, where I tried picking the padlock on all those wonderful trade secrets he most certainly knows.

Tony is a very nice guy and, when it comes to corporate operations, also extremely circumspect. I’d ask him some penetrating journalist-type question. He’d grin at me and shake his head, not saying a word. But he did finally tell me a couple of things that I thought were interesting ...

By Joe Cermele

That's me in the photo below fighting a seatrout with a five-weight fly rod on the dock of Getaway Adventure Lodge here in Port Mansfield, Texas. It happens to be my home away from home this week. Photographer Bill Honza snapped the (awesome) shot last night in the eerie green glow cast by the bait-attracting dock lights.