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Guest post by Gary Garth

The Corps of Engineers’ Nashville District has begun placing what it describes as “permanent full-time waterborne restrictions” around the 10 dams on the Cumberland River system in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Buoys and signage will be used to mark restricted, no-boat zones that will extend from 500 to 1,000 feet downstream on nine of the Cumberland’s 10 dams. Laurel River Dam, one of the smaller headwater structures, will have a 125-foot tailwater boating restriction zone.

The restrictions will keep anglers from reaching some of the most productive water on the river. Waters immediately downstream from the dams are rich with food and cover, are well oxygenated and are magnet areas for sport fish. Under the current Corps plan, bank fishing will be allowed within the restricted zones. [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

It’s well known that human progress doesn’t move in a straight line. It goes off on tangents, strange, ill-thought-out detours that are invariably proved to be worthless. For example, we currently have the wind farm, where brigades of enormous propellers are erected at colossal expense to generate a feeble amount of electricity and require costly repairs before they have even begun to pay for themselves.

In rifles, a strange detour was the belief by custom gunbuilders in the late 1970s and early 1980s that the best way to bed an action in a synthetic stock was to glue the sumbitch in permanently. Synthetic stocks for hunting rifles were a novelty then, and it seemed to make sense: You got a perfect, unmoving, permanent bond between the stock and the action which would result in superior and unchanging accuracy. [ Read Full Post ]

By CJ Lotz

Game wardens attempting to guide a wandering moose in Burlington, Vt. away from people and traffic were following the animal's tracks when they discovered a shed filled with 32 marijuana plants.

The 29-year-old resident of the house nearby was arrested and accused of marijuana possession. [ Read Full Post ]

By T. Edward Nickens

The blackpowder rifles that come out of Hershel House’s workshop hidden in the Kentucky backwoods aren’t just exacting, made-from-scratch re-creations of true frontier guns. The home-forged springs and screws, the hand-carved stocks, the focus on function and reliability embody the history of America.

By 1780, the American frontier was changing. In Kentucky and Pennsylvania and Virginia, in much of the old Ohio Territory and the big woods of Tennessee, the baddest of the big game was largely gone. The eastern wolves that terrorized the earliest settlements had nearly vanished, and so, too, the elk and bison. Bear and mountain lion remained, and deer. But anywhere the ring of an ax was heard, the report of the blackpowder rifle followed. [ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

Growing up, I pretty much threw nothing but spinners during the spring trout season. My dad, my grandfather, and I were Panther Martin men. It wasn’t until later that I realized everyone on my local rivers was throwing in-line spinners, so I started experimenting. These days, I catch more and bigger trout on stickbaits. The trick to being successful with these lures is making sure you match the style of stick to the water you’re fishing. These three have come through for me in all kinds of rivers. Choose your weapon wisely—and you’ll outfish the spinner crowd. [ Read Full Post ]

By Phil Bourjaily

I know, real men don’t read manuals. I do. Granted, it’ usually as a last resort, but I am not afraid to read a manual when I’m stumped. It can answer all kinds of questions.

The other day a friend and I were test-shooting a new Turkish semiauto I had just received. It was a model I had never shot before and I was completely unfamiliar with it.

It wouldn’t cycle. We tried heavier loads. It still wouldn’t cycle. We took it apart and looked at the gas system. It all looked fine to me. [ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

I've never met an angler that doesn't have a particular time or place in history they'd love to fish if given the chance. Perhaps you'd like to flycast on the Blackfoot circa 1940, or maybe chase stripers on Cape Cod in the days when 40 pounders were thick as thieves. Me? I'd love to visit the New England coast back when all the rivers were rife with wild Atlantic Salmon. Despite efforts to bring salmon runs back, I don't think we'll ever see the same fishery that existed pre-industrial revolution. But that doesn't mean all the wild Atlantics are gone. In fact, kayak angler and blogger Pierre Champion scored one in the Bronx, of all places, just a few days ago. The story goes like this:

[ Read Full Post ]

By Peter B. Mathiesen

The best riding pants I’ve found were designed by arborists as a hybrid between standard canvas pants and rock climbing pants.
 
Meet Arborwear’s Original Tree Climber, made from 12.5 ounces of prewashed canvas that’s soft to the touch, and tougher than hell.

What makes these pants so ideal for riding is the unique Arborwear cut in the crotch and contour of the pants. The fit keeps them in place and allows you to lift your leg higher with much less pulling. The cuffs are tapered so they won’t hang on obstructions and you can actually get them inside a pair of rubber boots— something I can’t do comfortably with most Carhartt’s. [ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

There are pure-strain, landlocked striped bass all over the country, but there are only so many places in freshwater where these fish reach the same "cow" proportions as their coastal cousins. Being a Jersey guy, I know a thing or two about big bass (or pretend to, anyway), so it's taken me a while to pull the trigger on a sweetwater striper hunt. That's partially because it's hard to break the mentality that the biggest bass are salty, and partially because picking the right body of freshwater and finding the right guy to get you on the big fish is tricky. But I finally found him. In three days on the Clinch River in Eastern Tennessee, veteran guide Bud White made me and fellow Northeast striper nut Mike Sudal realize that you can't appreciate the fight of a 30-pounder until you need to lock down the spool with your thumbs to stop the fish from running into one of many downed trees that are always in close proximity. Enjoy the show. 

[ Read Full Post ]

By CJ Lotz

Invasive species experts say feral pigs are no longer just a southern problem.

They’ve been found in nearly every state and cause about $300 per pig in agricultural damage annually. And it’s not just in the United States -- we recently also reported on the accidents that pigs are causing on European roadways.

“The pig bomb went off after 1990,” one expert said, adding that most states haven’t yet figured out how to deal with the invasive species, although at least one (Michigan) allows hunters to shoot them in the wild all year. [ Read Full Post ]

By Will Ryan

Trophy walleye hunters, you’ll want to take notes.

A 2009 study, published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management, found that in lakes with yellow perch and no ciscoes, walleyes grew more quickly to sexual maturity—12 to 17 inches. But in lakes with ciscoes and no yellow perch, walleyes grew more frequently to trophy size—30 inches or more. These trophy walleyes ate bigger ciscoes—possibly up to 12 1⁄2 inches—but were more likely to have empty stomachs. In some fish, ciscoes accounted for as much as 55 percent of prey by weight, but only 18 percent by item. Consuming fewer but more substantial meals left the fish with more energy for growth. [ Read Full Post ]