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By Ben Romans

How much would you pay to own a knife carried by a Navy SEAL on the raid in Pakistan that finally took Osama Bin Laden off the Most Wanted list?

One auction bidder thought $35,400 was the right price for this history-laden folder (an example of the knife model is pictured above).

According to ABC News, the knife is an Emerson CQC-7B, a model popular throughout the Special Forces, and was carried as a secondary blade by a former SEAL Team Six member, indentified by his author pseudonym Mark Owen. He's the same retired SEAL who wrote the first-hand account of the mission, "No Easy Day". (The New York Daily News has reported Owen's real name is Matt Bissonnette.)

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By CJ Lotz

We're not too sure about the facts behind this story out of Bosnia, but it's worth a look. The injured shepherd in this video claims he basically choked a brown bear to death when the bruin attempted to attack his flock.

"I grabbed it round the throat and squeezed and squeezed until it collapsed," the shepherd told news agencies from his hospital bed. [ Read Full Post ]

By Kirk Deeter

I will say this on writing about fly fishing for a living: It won't make you rich in the material sense, but it definitely affords a wealth of adventure. And I'd never trade the latter for the former.

I've now lost count of the number of times I've found myself in a surreal setting: Sitting at a table and drinking Coca-Cola in a sweltering conference room with a Bolivian army colonel; Grilling fish over a fire on a desolate beach in the Baja with a retired member of the "Hollywood by the Sea" gang; Casting in downtown Ballina, Ireland, as the nearby church bells chimed; Climbing out of a bush plane to stare at a Kodiak bear fishing the other side of the river; Riding a dugout canoe at night amidst an array of glowing red caiman eyes after an evening of chasing giant arapaima in the jungle in Guyana—the list goes on, and on...

So here I am in Helsinki, Finland (pictured here, several hours ago on my walk to dinner). It's 3 a.m. Last I heard, my luggage was still in Amsterdam. I will meet my friend Chris Santella in a couple hours, and we'll join a group to take a charter flight to Murmansk, Russia. From there, we'll board a Soviet era Mi-8 helicopter to fly two more hours down the Kola Peninsula to reach the preeminent Atlantic Salmon fishing camp in the world: Ryabaga, on the banks of the Ponoi River. 

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By Joe Cermele

Last Friday I asked you to tell me your most ridiculous fishing on a holiday weekend tale. Apparently most of you either don't fish holiday weekends, or took off on Friday, too, because I only got 8 responses. Nonetheless, there were some terrific stories of holiday shenanigans posted, but the signed copy of "The Total Fishing Manual" has to go to David Lester. His story was pretty short and sweet, but boat ramp hijinx so careless they result in a lost boat and truck in one fell swoop takes the cake. As for my holiday weekend it was a bloody mess.

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By Nate Matthews

Jeff Thompson started fishing with his father on Indiana's Kentucky Lake when he was six years old. In 1969 he joined the Marine Corps and bought his first bass boat in 1975. Thompson served a full tour with the Marines as a pilot, flight instructor, squadron leader, and eventually as a test pilot for the Harrier jet program. By the time he retired as a major in 1993, he had a master's degree in wing design and jet engines, and a degenerative disc disease in his spine exacerbated by years of high-G maneuvers and hard landings to the point where he could barely walk.

Despite the pain, Thompson never stopped fishing. "For almost three years I had to crawl to get up and down the deck," he said, and had to work the pedals of his trolling motors with his hands. He needed something for his bass boat that would let him pull himself to a standing position, as well as stabilize him as he moved around the boat while casting. "That's when I decided to sit down and draw up something myself," he said.

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By Colin Kearns

Fans of Top Chef might remember Edward Lee from Season 9 in Texas. Louisville residents might know him as the chef of his acclaimed restaurant, 610 Magnolia, or his brand new place, MilkWood. And fans of Southern (and Korean) cuisine are about to know him as the author of the fantastic new cookbook, Smoke & Pickles.

The subtitle of Lee’s book is “Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen,” and as you read through the book, you get a very good sense what he means by “new.” Recipes include: Collards and Kimchi; Soft Grits and Scallions; Chicken-Fried Pork Steak with Ramen Crust. There’s also his twist on the Mint Julep, which calls for jalapeño-infused simple syrup. And, yes, there’s some great recipes for fish and game—including this recipe for a fried trout sandwich that Lee was kind enough to share with us. Don’t let the long ingredient list intimidate you; the recipe is pretty simple. And just look at the photo. How can you not want to dig into that?

Fried Trout Sandwiches with Pear-Ginger-Cilantro Slaw & Spicy Mayo
This is my take on the famous Vietnamese banh-mi sandwich. Traditionally banh-mi is made... [ Read Full Post ]

By Bob Marshall

Which of the following is more impressive to a member of congress?

A) A sportsman explaining why protecting national lands is important to his pastimes.
B) The owner of a business saying national lands are critical to his operation.

If you answered “A” you might be interested in the polar bear hunt I’m organizing in the Sahara.

There probably are a few members of congress who would give sportsmen’s interests equal consideration to those of business and industry, but lately they’ve been about as a common as – well, polar bears in the Sahara. [ Read Full Post ]

By CJ Lotz

A fisherman battled this giant amberjack for 25 minutes in the Sea of Cortez last week before he finally hauled it in. He and the boat's crew then delivered it to a remote beach in Baja, California where they marveled at its size, guessing it was at least 135 pounds...and then chopped it up and grilled it for fish tacos. It never touched a scale.

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By CJ Lotz

Recreational sport fishing of bonefish, tarpon, and permit in the Florida Keys brings in about $427 million annually, according to a study commissioned by the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.

The study says fishing has provided a huge economic boost for jobs and taxes in the state, and the Trust is citing the survey as an example of why fish conservation efforts are so important in Florida. [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

Q: What is the most demanding game animal for a rifleman?
—Cole Karsins, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

A: Your question is vague and imprecise. You need to focus. In terms of which North American big-game animal have I seen the most lead flung at in vain, it’s the antelope. That’s because they’re small, and always in the open, and people think you have to shoot at them from a long way off. The highest number of consecutive misses at one goat that I know of is 19, at a yearling buck that was 100 yards away.

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By Scott Bestul

When European settlers reached North America, the American chestnut was arguably the most important tree in the country. From the Adirondacks to southern Appalachia, chestnuts fed people, livestock, and wildlife. The tree produced lumber of both high quality and tremendous volume. Then, in 1904, a single tree arrived in New York City that carried a blight lethal to chestnuts. The disease tore through the eastern United States like a tsunami, and by the early 1950’s, the American chestnut was nearly extinct. [ Read Full Post ]