Field & Stream — The World's Leading Outdoor Website

By Ben Romans

A Texas angler has likely broken a world record with this 11-foot, 1,323.5 pound shortfin mako shark caught off Huntington Beach, Calif., according to a story published on ktla.com today. If the weight holds up, it could break the 12-year-old IGFA all-tackle record of 1,221 pounds.

Jason Johnston of Mesquite, Texas chartered a boat Monday and hooked up with the huge apex predator. Two hours and a quarter-mile of line later, the catch was his.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Ben Romans

A surveillance camera overlooking a tributary of the Blackfoot River outside Seeley Lake, Montana recently captured an unusual angler—a mountain lion—plying a stream for trout.
 
In an article from the Missoulian, Jamie Jonkel, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bear manager, says he was using surveillance cameras to monitor a specific Blackfoot River tributary where he knew rainbow trout spawned. He says he wanted to see if bears in the area were using it as a food source—which they were—but this was the first time he’d seen a cat feeding on fish.
 
[ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

In order to hunt animals it’s generally necessary to tolerate the outdoors, which is usually too hot, too cold, or too wet. That you can live with. But the worst part of the outdoors is bugs. I do not like bugs. Bugs, however, like me a great deal. Here are a few observations on the subject.

Chiggers, or redbugs, inhabit the South, along with pellagra and okra. They are insidious little bastards who burrow under your skin and inject some kind of disgusting chemical that liquefies your flesh, which they then slurp up. Up until the invention of Permethrine, every one who stood in a Dixie swamp or field was fair game for redbugs, and once they bit you, the bites swelled up and itched like fire. The common cure was to paint the bite with clear nail polish which caused the little monster inside to suffocate. Now, however, if you spray Permethrine on your clothes, the chiggers leave you alone. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Wolak

It wasn't that long ago when frog and mouse topwaters were “niche” baits used only in certain situations at certain times. But these days, frogs and mice (which continue to grow in popularity) are employed almost year-round in some areas, and anglers have found new ways to present them. They also cast them to a lot more structure types than just pads, mats, and grass. While it might be easy to say a frog lure and mouse lure are so similar, one isn’t better than the other, there are subtle differences, and understanding when to go with an amphibian, and when to tie on a rodent can really help you cash in on the hot topwater bite this time of year.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano

Being that it's Friday I figured you all could use some entertainment to get ready for the weekend. This week's romp around the Internet led me to some very entertaining bits of video.

The first I know Mr. Cermele will really appreciate, a gentleman landing a permit—on the fly from a Stand Up Paddleboard from Chris Lewis. The second is simply a gorgeously shot tarpon release by Color Blind Media. Lastly, while way too long and not up to the quality of the first two videos, is a story about a guy dropping a fly rod in the Green River and his friends going back a week later with scuba gear and actually finding the thing.

Permit on an SUP

By CJ Lotz

California wildlife officials think a recent outbreak of lice might be causing deer to go bald across the state. Researchers say the deer respond to the lice by biting and scratching, which can cause hair loss. Hair and blood samples have been collected from 600 deer and elk.

Here's another possible side effect of the lice: as deer spend more time grooming, they become easy targets for coyotes and mountain lions. [ Read Full Post ]

By Phil Bourjaily

We have one more week of Marlins, then we’ll give some other guns a chance. However, after the 336 crushed the Model 94 Winchester in last week’s voting I am eager to see what happens in today’s Gun Fight. It’s an asymmetrical matchup: the Marlin 1894c squares off against a Glock 10mm pistol. Which is the better walking gun for pigs and whitetails?

[ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

I know it’s the end of May, but I still have turkeys on the brain. Probably because I got schooled by them this season. Luckily, there have been several Wild Chef readers who filled their tags and have been filling my inbox with the results in the form of turkey photos and great recipes, including these two. [ Read Full Post ]

By Kirk Deeter

Greetings from Ryabaga Camp on the banks of the Ponoi River in northern Russia. 

The Ponoi has certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the world's greatest Atlantic salmon fisheries. Prior to coming here, I fished for Atlantic salmon in Canada and Ireland for a total of eight days, and only landed one fish. I landed nine on my first day here, and I did even better yesterday. The 12 anglers who covered this section of the river accounted for 205 caught salmon, the largest being around 20 pounds.  [ Read Full Post ]

By CJ Lotz

A German angler fishing near Norway will go home to a happy spouse. Christian Johannsen's wife told him to come home with fish as he left for his trip. He responded by landing a 427-pound halibut this week.

"Oh she'll get a big piece," he told the newspaper Die Welt.

Johannsen needed the help of two friends in the four-hour figh to reel in the huge fish.

“Every fisher dreams about this, it’s like winning the lottery,” Johannsen said.

This is the second monster fish caught in Norway by a German angler in recent weeks. Remember that pending-world-record cod?
[ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano

This video from of Jazz and Fly Fishing begs the question that I'm sure most of us have come across at some point in our fishing careers: Do you cast at fish that probably aren't land-able from a bridge, pier, or any other abutment above water? [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

Last month, I asked you to finish the sentence: “You may be deer crazy if…,” which you did with such great deft and humor that instead of picking 10 to go in our new book “The Total Deer Hunter Manual,” we went with almost 30.

Below are the winners, in no particular order (some reworked a bit; sorry that’s what editors do). Many thanks to all, and we’ll be contacting the winners soon about your free copy of the book when it comes out in the fall. [ Read Full Post ]