Controversial Bureau of Land Management Director Pick Nears Senate Confirmation...

With Steve Pearce’s nomination looking more likely by the day, BHA @backcountryhunters President and CEO Ryan Callaghan said his organization is ready to help guide him in his role as BLM Director, should he be confirmed by a full Senate vote.

“This is an incredibly tough ride, managing for the many, not the few, and balancing the demands of extraction against a landscape that … produces output of critical need—clean air, water, food, and good old American freedom,” @olcal406 Callaghan told Field & Stream in an April 29 statement. “I’m confident that Mr. Pearce understands how valuable our BLM lands are. The BHA membership will let him know, should he forget.”

If you’d like to share your opinion about Pearce’s pending nomination with your Senator, call the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Read the full story by @travishallmedia 🔗 in story. ...

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When the bite’s slow, some guys switch lures. Others… switch to the dark side.

Artist Dave Appollo takes a different approach to “fishing stories,” blending classic outdoor scenes with a twist that feels straight out of another galaxy. Using upcycled materials and hand-painted detail, his work turns everyday moments on the water into something a little more… powerful.

If you look close, there’s always more going on beneath the surface.

See more from @davepollotart ...

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The lure(s) of summer.
Archival project // @fieldandstream & @yuenglingbeer ...

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Mississippi isn’t known for snook, but kayak angler Matthew Mitchell set a new record for the species, shattering a previous record from 2025.

The prized sportfish are beginning to show up in Magnolia State waters. Mitchell was fishing in the Gulf somewhere near Pascagoula Bay when he hooked the snook on a Z-Man soft plastic mullet. According to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, snook are expanding their range into the Pascagoula Estuary, east of Biloxi Harbor, due to warming waters.

Mitchell’s snook measured 26 inches and weighed 5 pounds, 6.4 ounces. Though small for the species, his new record eclipsed the previous one—set by Vince Wray in January 2025—by a full 4 pounds, 7 ounces. The large jump in size from one record to the next shows that snook are becoming more established in waters off the coast of Mississippi.

According to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), snook are fast-growing fish, reaching 12-14 inches in their first year and 24-26 inches by age three. Angler Roman Duenas Marquez broke the IGFA all-tackle world record for Pacific white snook last July with a 60-pound, 13-ounce fish caught on a beach in Mexico. The reigning all-tackle world record for common snook was caught in 1978. It weighed 53 pounds, 10 ounces.

Full story by Travis Hall & featuring @matthew_mitchell____ ...

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Started with a beat-up ’90s WaveRunner.

He laid down a flat EVA foam deck, then built out a center console using the original handlebars and controls. The real kicker is the retractable side pontoon stabilizers: he added electric actuators to lift them when it’s time to run fast and carve.

Y/N this is your type of DIY? Check out the full build tutorial on @joeoceanside’s profile: the man is CREATIVE. ...

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The old record was 14 pounds from 1998.

Richard Courtright Jr. was competing in a derby alongside several other anglers when he landed the record-breaking trout. “The drag was really loose so it could do whatever it wanted to” he later told CT Insider. “It felt like fighting a piece of plywood.”

Courtright’s fish was what’s known as a “helper fish” reared at the nearby Kensington Hatchery. Hatchery staff use these aggressive rainbows to encourage more timid Atlantic salmon to feed on high-protein pellets.

Story by @travishallmedia ...

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First bird down for Cooper Gallant 👊

Five years on the Elite Series and nearly a literal ton of fish hauled to the scales (1,950 lbs and change). Not his first rodeo just his first turkey. Congrats, Cooper. ...

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