Most states face a budget hole for their fish and game departments due to the decline in anglers. A state holiday for fishermen would solve the decline in revenue, as proof of license ownership would qualify the bearer for a day off. Budget issue solved.

If video games are the first introduction to the Great Outdoors, how can the reality keep pace with the expectation? Games for Nintendo, Wii, and the xBox bustle with nonstop, fast paced, fishing - and the reality is droll by comparison. Is this the new “Mark Trail” - and will Wii replace the father-to-son tradition of the outdoorsman?

It’s absence is glaring and with all the hand wringing over the decline in hunters and fisherman, no mention that less of us may help things, after all, we’re the barbarians putting pressure on declining populations - why no uptick in critters?
Politicians and the Captains of Industry may like our dwindling numbers - as we’re […]

We ate all the big stuff, most of the medium sized stuff, and we’re working on the small stuff now. Next comes the really small stuff, those critters so important to the food chain that their absence upsets the entire apple cart.
West coast salmon virtually collapsed this year despite our best lip service, we […]

That just ain’t fair, they get McCartney and I get the Hulkster?
McCartney, 65, posed for a photograph for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization accompanied by the words: “I am Paul McCartney and I am a vegetarian”. It also features the quote: “Many years ago, I was fishing, and as […]

You can enjoy your pristine wilderness-kinda experience, then wonder why your congressman boots you out of his office, despite amusing his secretary with fish costumes and chants about indiscriminate water bottle use.
Money and “C” list celebrities are the new Tammany Hall mob, a lethal combination of pandering and getting the message across; it doesn’t […]

Fly tiers have it a bit easier come Spring, all those rainy days allows us to address holes in the fly box - we always wait till the last minute, but the theory of “winter tying” is sound.
The rest of you will procrastinate as well, but that initial outlay of cash for flies each […]

I’d just finished another hallway conversation wherein I defended myself, the rest of you louts, and our beloved pastime. I was fumbling for the file to notch my “gunbutt” with another eco-radical kill, when I was brought up short…
It was innocent piece, really - but it cited a statistic that fascinated me:
Each year, more […]

 I managed to whip myself into a froth over the purchase of a new rod. It was a self inflicted wound so I have only myself to blame, TC didn’t help much with his scholarly work on the resurgence of fiberglass - I was feeling “retro” anyway’s, all he did was fan the flame.
My second […]

Like it or no it’s an election year and the current regime feels obligated to safeguard the economy until December, so’s they can blame whatever party takes power shortly thereafter.
It’s a time-honored tradition, and with $600 bucks hurtling your way - coupled with your patriotic duty to blow it in an orgy of consumption, […]