The 6-foot-9 former professional goalie retired in 2017, spent two years working offshore charters, and earned his captain’s license before launching his Pensacola-based shark charter.

Today, he introduces anglers to some of the Gulf’s most powerful predators through catch-and-release fishing.

For McLean, it all comes down to a screaming drag and the unknown on the other end of the line.

Story & Media: @bigjohnoutdoors ...

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It became a bucket-list adventure when Kirk Price realized he’d never heard of anyone hunting Montana black bears with West Siberian Laikas.

After confirming it could be done, he tracked down an outfitter who could help navigate the permits, logistics, and planning.

What followed was eight days in Montana bear country with his own dogs. Some days covered more than 15 miles on foot. More than anything, Price wanted to see his Laikas do what they were bred to do—and give them a chance to prove themselves in bear country.

The trip began and ended in Bozeman, where Price and his pack stayed at the Field & Stream Lodge between days on the mountain. Follow @fieldandstreamlodges to get ready for your next adventure, and watch the full video—out now on @kirkprice_’s YT channel. ...

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The brookies were eating just about everything he threw at them. Then he decided to see if they’d eat a taco.

At first, the fish wanted nothing to do with it. A few drifts later, curiosity got the better of them. Turns out brook trout aren’t above questionable food choices either.
We’ve seen flies tied to look like mice, frogs, crayfish, and even baby birds. A taco might be a first.

Most creative fly you’ve ever caught a fish on?
Let’s hear it.

Story & photos by 📸 u/Boomknowledge ...

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Our stories used to look like this. The good days usually didn’t feel like the good days until they were over.

Field & Stream Archival Project // Old School Sunday with @yuenglingbeer #OldSchoolSunday ...

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The Fish Camp plan was simple: find a hole, stick your arm in it, and hope a flathead catfish bites.

Ryan @ryan_izquierdo had wanted to go noodling his entire life. It took him 27 years to finally get the chance. Standing beside him was Capt. Dustin, who has been noodling these waters since he was 7 years old. The scars on his arms tell the story.

During the spawn, flatheads move into holes around old structure like this and guard them aggressively. Reach into the wrong hole and they’ll let you know you’re not welcome. And while plenty of nerves came along for the ride, Brent @seeyadude walked away with the biggest flathead catfish of his life.

It’s just one stop from our four-day Fish Camp on Santee Cooper, where every challenge tested a different skill and every loss came with a consequence. Presented by @sportsmans_warehouse and Pure Fishing. Watch the full video now on the Field & Stream YouTube channel. ...

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The state of West Virginia recently announced new state records for blue catfish, redhorse sucker, and tiger trout.

(Card 2, Top Photo) Zak Roper landed a state-record redhorse sucker at Kanawha Falls on May 7 that beat the previous state record by less than a pound. The fish weighed 6.46 pounds and measured 25.43 inches long. Roper caught it on 15-pound-test line using corn for bait.

(Card 2, Bottom Photo) Michael Ramey caught the new state-record blue catfish in the Ohio River on May 9. The fish weighed 71 pounds and measured just over 50 inches long. Ramey used cut bait and landed the fish on 100-pound-test line. It edged out the previous record caught by Michael John Drake in 2023.

(Card 3) Donnie Workman of Nicholas County, West Virginia, hooked an impressive tiger trout weighing 13.32 pounds on April 26. Workman caught the trout, which measured nearly 30 inches long, on mealworms and salmon eggs.

Story by @travishallmedia ...

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Hunters have spent years arguing about the 6.5 Creedmoor. Federal may have just given them something new to argue about.

Field & Stream Shooting Editor Richard Mann tested Federal’s new 6.5 Creedmoor +PEAK load and found it delivered about 250 fps more velocity than standard Creedmoor ammunition. More impressive, the +PEAK load from a 16-inch barrel outperformed standard 6.5 Creedmoor loads fired from a 24-inch barrel.

That matters because hunters can now get more performance from shorter, lighter, suppressor-friendly rifles. One of Mann’s test rifles was an 18-inch Wilson Combat NULA that weighed less than 6.5 pounds scoped and suppressed while delivering performance that brushes up against 270 Winchester and some 30-06 Springfield hunting loads.

Drop a “PEAK” comment and we’ll DM you the full review by Richard Mann @emptycasesrm ...

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Thirty years in the making. Sold out in hours. Before The Montana ever made it into a pocket, Josh Smith spent three decades building custom knives by hand. The first limited run didn’t last long.

Brandon Horoho thought he might be the first guy to put blood on one. “I thought I was going to get first blood on the @montanaknifecompany folder.”

Part of what separates The Montana is a liner lock that received more attention than any other component on the knife. Harder liners. A hardened stainless pivot. A lock designed to get stronger under pressure, not weaker. The first batch is gone. The next batch can’t get here fast enough.

📸 @brandon_horoho | @montanaknifecompany ...

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The young grizzly outweighed the crane by roughly 30 to 1, and still decided this wasn’t worth the hassle.

The bear has all the usual advantages: size, strength, claws, and a few hundred pounds. The crane has a nest to defend and absolutely no interest in discussing alternatives. This moment only lasts a few seconds, but it tells you everything about parenthood.

Story & video by @roamwildphototours, a Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks photographer specializing in private tours, workshops, and stories. ...

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A $10,000 shotgun won’t magically turn a C class shooter into a champion. But that’s not why people buy them.

As Phil Bourjaily wrote for Field & Stream, the shooters who spend that kind of money are often chasing the smallest possible advantage. The extra target that gets them into a shoot off instead of sending them home.

Hand fitted actions. Tool grade steel. Precision regulated barrels. Triggers measured in pounds. It’s designed to withstand hundreds of thousands of rounds, and in some cases, more than a million. One dealer compared it to the difference between a Corvette and a Ferrari. Both will get you around the track. But when two drivers of equal skill line up, the Ferrari starts to matter.

From the Field & Stream archives by Phil Bourjaily @bourjaily with photographs by Ruel Reyes. ...

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He learned to run it from a century-old book.

Ty Walker grew up farming and fly fishing in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. When he heard about an abandoned trout hatchery for sale near New Castle, he tracked down a contact using obituary records, Facebook leads and Google.

Ty and his wife Shannon bought the place and taught themselves to raise trout the same way it had been done there nearly a hundred years before — spring water from a limestone aquifer, no antibiotics, no chemicals, no plastic pools under fluorescent lights. Today, Smoke In Chimneys supplies some of the Mid-Atlantic’s finest restaurants, including Michelin-starred kitchens, with what they call the closest thing to stream-caught trout you can get without pulling one from the wild.

📍 @smokeinchimneys | New Castle, VA
Photos by 📸 @ianmahatheyphoto ...

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She has been fishing Sturgeon Bay her whole life. On this trip, @maggiejo_outdoors launched solo and landed the biggest smallmouth of her life, a 7.76-pound giant that stopped her in her tracks.

She said the fish ate a Rapala CrushCity Salted Ned Roll paired with a chartreuse VMC Ned Head, a goby imitation convincing enough to fool a true Sturgeon Bay tank. After she landed it, Maggie called her fishing partner Andrew over from across the bay to share the moment.

Story & Photos by @maggiejo_outdoors ...

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