The Rod and Gun Club

“Jersey Gold”: A PBS documentary about...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:57:57 -0400

“Jersey Gold”: A PBS documentary about stripers/rockfish makes its way to YouTube. Sit back and enjoy, folks.

“Fly fishing for redfish while kayking the marsh on the...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:47:58 -0400

“Fly fishing for redfish while kayking the marsh on the Upper Texas Coast.”

In early October, Bob Rich — a 70-year-old chairman of a...

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:24:03 -0400

In early October, Bob Rich — a 70-year-old chairman of a large frozen food company — caught a 1,100-pound black marline off of Australia. The details of the catch are an incredible read:

“We only fish ‘tag-and-release’, said Rich a conservationist. “All of our fish were leader released with tags from the Game Fish Association of Australia.”

He and teammate Craig Reagor of Ponte Vedra, Fla., were fishing with Aussie captain and friend, Tim Dean of Port Stephens, New South Wales, on Calypso, Dean’s 43-ft. O’Brien.

“We hooked up my 1100 lb fish on Oct 5th at 13:50 and tagged and released her 15 minutes later at 14:05,” said Rich, “but only after she had charged the boat, slamming and spearing a 2 inch hole through the transom door 2 ft above the waterline.

On a video of the fight, viewers can see and hear the heavy ‘thud’ sound of the marlin hitting and moving the boat.

“That spear hole was just mere inches below the gunwale and dead-on to where Bob was sitting in the fighting chair,” exclaimed Reagor pointing to the amazing footage now posted on You Tube.

“Bob and the deck crew were just inches from taking the full force spearing by that massive and powerful leaping billfish.”

On the video moments after the action, the spear hole is discovered and the affable Rich jokingly calls up to the captain and asks if he has to pay for the damage.

“I don’t think we fully realized until later how close we came to having his billfish land in the boat with us,” said Reagor. “When Bob’s big girl took the bait, an 8 to 10 pound scaly mackerel, I’m not sure any of us knew just how big she was.

“The fact that she had taken the larger of the two baits we were trolling gave us all hope. It was a tough fight for several minutes without ever seeing her. She had decided to go deep and with those large pectoral fins managed a stalemate with Bob and the captain. While the boat was being maneuvered to help take more line it seemed for a few seconds that she might be off. That was laid to rest quite decisively when she leapt 10 feet high, about a hundred plus yards away.”

“It was the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen,” Reagor said. “She seemed to just hang in the sky to let us know that she was still there and not through with the fight. It was like a bench clearing moment when everybody jumped and yelled at the sight of the fish and we knew the fight would continue.”

In short order the captain and Bob went to work and first mate Murray Finlayson (aka Muzza) was able to leader her for the tag. The responsibility of the non-invasive tag had fallen to 17-year old Jay Househam, (aka Junior) after which the third deck crew member Guy Sutherland of New Zealand cut the line releasing the fish.

“All performed their duties wonderfully,” said Rich.

The size and catch was verified by the anglers, captain and crew and accepted and approved by tournament chairman Bob Lowe, a longtime IGFA International Committee Representative of Australia after he thoroughly reviewed all of the stills and video footage.

Bob dedicated the catch to his late friend, Don Tyson, a mentor and leader in the food industry and a founder of The Billfish Foundation a non-profit committed to billfish conservation across the Earth’s oceans.

This is probably the fattest rainbow trout I’ve ever seen....

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:32:51 -0400

This is probably the fattest rainbow trout I’ve ever seen. It comes from Idaho’s North Fork Clearwater River. Aaron Marshall of Boise hooked this beast — estimated between 22 and 25 pounds — in July. The Spokesman has the details:

Marshall figures the fish he caught and released weighed 22 to 25 pounds.

“I thought, wow, I caught myself a baby beluga. I’ve never seen any fish like that, ever,” he said. “It was a fighter. It was just a big, old, fat trout.”

Not sure what the fish was, he returned it to the water. Under Idaho fishing regulations, any rainbow trout more than 20 inches long caught from the Clearwater River, its North Fork below the dam, or any other river where the fish has the ability to migrate to the ocean is legally defined as a steelhead. By that definition, Marshall’s fish could only be kept during an open catch-and-kill steelhead season. However, his fish had an intact adipose fin, meaning it would qualify as a wild steelhead and would never be available to harvest.

But nobody thinks the fish was actually a steelhead. It’s much too fat and its head and snout are too short. Don Whitney, a fisheries biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said the fish is likely a resident rainbow. He said it could be a descendant from a strain of kamloops trout the department used to release in the Clearwater. When the now-defunct program first started, the kamloops planted in the river were not sterile. Whitney said the fish could be an offspring of one of those fish. In later years, the fish were sterilized.

“I would expect that is either one of our old kamloops that was successful in reproduction or it’s just a resident rainbow that has found a great feeding method off of those kokanee,” he said. “Some of those big pigs like that are just hanging out there gobbling kokanee.”

Feeding on either live or dead kokanee flushed through the dam would offer trout a high-protein, high-fat diet. Whitney was fishing below the dam in June when he saw another fishermen land a fish similar to the one Marshall caught. He helped the angler land and release it.

“That looks pretty damn close to what I put my hands on,” he said. “It’s definitely not the same fish but it’s really close.”

He said a survey crew from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality found a dead rainbow that was about 30 inches long floating just upstream of the dam. It also had a fat belly.

Whatever the source of the fish, Whitney said it’s impressive.

“What an awesome fish,” he said.

Bluegrass Sundays: The Infamous Stringdusters - “You Can’t...

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:20:42 -0400

Bluegrass Sundays: The Infamous Stringdusters - “You Can’t Stop The Changes”

The 2011 Fishing Compilation from the folks at CP Fishing is...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:24:00 -0400

The 2011 Fishing Compilation from the folks at CP Fishing is quite spectacular.

via the YouTube description: The Condit dam was breached...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:22:09 -0400

via the YouTube description:

The Condit dam was breached today, allowing the reservoir behind it, Northwestern Lake, to drain into the White Salmon River. The dam’s fall will unleash one of the Northwest’s cleanest and wildest rivers, originating from glaciers on Mount Adams.

Nothing better than seeing a river run wild again.

Really cool video of a pike being released after being caught on...

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:50:18 -0400

Really cool video of a pike being released after being caught on a floating tube. Nice visuals!

fishinghistory: Holy breaking news, batman! Stop EVERYTHING you...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:23:30 -0400

fishinghistory:

Holy breaking news, batman! Stop EVERYTHING you are doing and watch this report about…fish that fart. Seriously. Herrings who secretly communicate by passing gas. Lovely. (Posted to Tumblr by The Fishing for History Blog on 102111).

At least he doesn’t have three eyes…

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:20:45 -0400

At least he doesn’t have three eyes…

Louisiana’s Paradise Outfitters recently had a nice...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:05:55 -0400

Louisiana’s Paradise Outfitters recently had a nice weekend on the water laying the smackdown on some tuna. Check out the highlights!

51 Pound Striper Caught On A Homemade Plug

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:55:28 -0400

Gary Soldati of Big Water Lures recently joined the 50-pound slap club recently by landing this monster in the surf of Rhode Island. Beautiful striper! via Surfcaster’s Journal:

Few nights ago, our friend Gary Soldati, maker of Big Water Lures got his personal best. Those of you who know him, know he only fishes his own lures, primarily giant pikes. Two nights ago, in a pouring rain and a wild surf of RI Gary landed 51 pound beauty on his signature 8 inch, 4 ounce pike in some very tough conditions. Another thing of note was that this was the absolute first fish Gary landed on his new zeebass lefty reel, one of the first ever made.

Fantastic trailer for “Off the Grid,” Rick...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:40:55 -0400

Fantastic trailer for “Off the Grid,” Rick Beattie’s 170-minute DVD about “fly fishing in locations off the beaten path.” Purchase it at offthegridfilm.com.

Badass. tommyspeech: Greedy - Giant pike chokes on a 3lb Carp.

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:32:27 -0400

Badass.

tommyspeech:

Greedy - Giant pike chokes on a 3lb Carp.

This pretty piece of dream property belongs to Dennis Quaid....

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:54:00 -0400

This pretty piece of dream property belongs to Dennis Quaid. He’s selling this 418-acre Montana ranch for $14 million. It’s located 13 miles from Yellowstone National Park, also includes horse facilities, an arena, an observatory and two miles of a fishing creek. The WSJ reports he’s buying a house in Hawaii to pursue his new love of surfing. If you have $14 million to burn, what a catch!

This looks nothing like a fly fishing trailer, but trust us, it...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:58:38 -0400

This looks nothing like a fly fishing trailer, but trust us, it really is an outtake from the upcoming pike fishing epic “A Backyard in Nowhere.”

Grouper have been in trouble for decades in Florida waters. But,...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:35:00 -0400

Grouper have been in trouble for decades in Florida waters. But, according to some scientists, the species are starting to make a comeback in the state. The Miami Herald even mentions that some scientists think the fisheries should be healthy enough for a season in the not-to-distant future. Anyway, here’s some recent footage of a Florida boat landing a goliath Grouper. Even though you can’t keep it, the fight makes it all worth it.

"When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he..."

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:47:14 -0400

“

When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape. Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him.

In the same way the human being struggles with his environment and with the hooks that catch him. Sometimes he masters his difficulties; sometimes they are too much for him. His struggles are all that the world sees and it naturally misunderstands them. It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to a hooked one.

”

- Karl A. Menninger

Via Salmonjunkies.com comes this really cool video of a...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:57:28 -0400

Via Salmonjunkies.com comes this really cool video of a helicopter salmon fishing trip to Russia’s Grand Varzuga in June 2011.

Tuna EVERYWHERE.

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:29:47 -0400

Tuna EVERYWHERE.