We can only assume a similar mechanism exists in fresh water, innocent fish lured away from the safety of fallen logs and deep pools to the shallow end where they can be caught. After developing for weeks at sea, baby tropical fish rely on natural noises to find the coral reefs where they can survive [...]

While the ignoble Brook Trout has enjoyed recent popularity due to its coronation as the Official Char of the Trout Underground, the question remains which Char is that exactly? Brook trout are exhibiting two distinct sets of behaviors, and scientists are attempting to determine whether it’s in the early stages of divergence – splitting into [...]

I know where they’re trying to push us, and while I have my share of suppositions I still don’t know who they are … The reviewers who offered their opinions about the scientific merit of our application, however, stressed that it would be more interesting to find out if a sharp object passing through the [...]

The true game-fish, of which the trout and salmon are frequently the types, inhabit the fairest regions of nature’s beautiful domain. They drink only from the purest fountains, and subsist upon the choicest food their pellucid streams supply … [It] is self-evident that no fish which inhabit foul or sluggish waters can be ‘game-fish’.’ It [...]

Just finished a deep scan of the 293 page California Draft Recovery Plan for Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead (9MB’s PDF), and I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed. Not so much the scope and cost as their reliance on dam modifications for the existing pristine – versus recovery of any ancestral haunts. The Central Valley [...]

With all the genes being sprayed at the tasty fish we should’ve known eventually we might get something other than a soft docile lump, content with pellet feed and milling aimlessly within its concrete lined habitat. All the gnashing of teeth and mention of asterisks will be done away with … and by them that [...]

I know I shouldn’t look, but I did. There are thousands of highly trained scientists examining the diet and feeding habits of both salmon and trout. The Bad News is they’re doing so to determine whether they can be raised on Plutonium pellets, concrete, animal waste, or anything else we don’t want… An admirable task [...]

Science has upset matchmaking theory and suggested the perfect mate for a fisherman is a female Smallmouth Bass. Sexual selection theory asserts that a female should choose to mate with a male that offers a benefit to her or her offspring. If the benefit is genetic, females should be drawn to indicators that a male might [...]

The US Geological Survey released a study this week suggesting bass are especially prone to gender-bending and are doing so with great gusto. … makes me wonder whether the professional BASS circuit will be stood on its collective ear when metrosexual bass cease feeding on crankbaits as the ensuing chase makes them all sweaty … [...]

I’ve always been jealous of the really good social issues, having some neo-Jesus like Bono or Sting whispering in the President’s ear is guaranteed to fast track aid to the starving millions in [insert_name_here]. Us fishermen have endured the conspicuous lack of Tier 1 entertainment talent advancing our issues with heads of state, or immortalizing [...]