Articles

Unwritten rules when fishing from a boat

Tips to help you avoid errors with your drift boat, raft, or other watercraft

by George Daniel - Wednesday, May 14th, 2025

Photo: George Daniel.

Watercraft usage for fishing has increased significantly in recent years. Much like a growing city whose infrastructure was not designed to handle excessive numbers of people and vehicles, many of our rivers, boat launches, and access points are dealing with issues related to an uptick in usage—and the resulting crowded boat launches and busy waterways are creating the potential for greater user conflicts.

After the flood

Life and fishing in western N.C. in the wake of Hurricane Helene

by Robert Annis - Tuesday, May 13th, 2025

Photo: Robert Annis.

I’ve known Tim O’Donnell for well over a decade, and I’d never heard this particular tinge of panic permeating his voice until this moment in western North Carolina. Tim had just started fishing a tiny section of the Pigeon River’s west fork, a hole about the size of a five-gallon Harbor Freight bucket, when his indicator suddenly disappeared from the water’s surface and his 3wt Thomas and Thomas rod nearly bent in half.

Wild forage recipe: Asian-style ramp pancakes

Make this twist on scallion pancakes with fresh ramps you can find on your springtime fishing outings

by Cosmo Genova - Friday, May 9th, 2025

Photo: Cosmo Genova.

Growing up, going out to eat was how my family bonded. Nine times out of ten, we’d skip the burgers and pizza and go for something a little more interesting. We lived on the outskirts of a college town which brought a diverse array of ethnic restaurants and stores—from Chinese dim sum to Vietnamese noodle shops, Korean barbeques, and much more.

Are U.S. public lands on the chopping block?

Last-minute shenanigans from House republicans seek to sell-off almost half a million acres of public lands

by Chris Hunt - Thursday, May 8th, 2025

Photo: Bob Wick / BLM.

During a late-night meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee May 6, as congressional members were negotiating the inclusions in the federal budget bill, two Western lawmakers put forth an amendment that could have lasting impacts on America’s public lands and how they’re managed going forward.

Redemption for the 'failure fish'

Native fallfish deserve our attention and respect

by Stephen Sautner - Wednesday, May 7th, 2025

Photo: Jim Leedom.

Let’s say you get your hands on Kip’s time machine from Napoleon Dynamite. You insert the proper number of crystals but instead of going back to the halcyon year of ’82, you choose to travel 500 years back in time to the banks of the Delaware River for some casts. The river would undoubtedly churn with fish — stripers, shad, river herring, bowfin, mighty Atlantic sturgeon. In a slow glide, a pod of risers casually sips hatching insects. You approach, make a cast, and immediately hook what feels like a decent fish.