Brandon Palaniuk, his wife Tiffany, and their 3-month-old daughter Kora were two hours from home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, when we got him on the horn this week. They were on the road, traveling from Wisconsin, where Brandon had just wrapped up his ...
Fish
Behind on Utah Child Support? No Fishing or Hunting License
If you want to hunt or fish in Utah, you need to pay your child support. If hunters and anglers fall far enough behind in their payments, the state will revoke their hunting and fishing privileges. Period. The Utah law implementing this rule went ...
How Good Is The New Redington Trailblazer Travel Fishing Rod?
Since COVID hit and social distancing became the new norm for Americans coast-to-coast, the call to get outside has been an increasingly attractive alternative to suffering in separate personal bubbles. One outdoor activity that has seen ...
Insane Smoky Mountain Largemouth Bass Action
The second episode of "Fishing the American Dream" rolls into the Great Smoky Mountains, where Oliver Ngy and Austin Neary go big-show with big bait for big largemouth bass. Ngy has heard stories about trophy bass that haunt lakes in the Smokies ...
Hawaiian Cast ‘N’ Blast, Part 2: Hunting Hogs and Spearing Giant Trevally
The second chapter of our cast 'n’ blast adventure (check out Part 1 here) follows Free Range American editor Mike Shea through Hawaii as he does a little bacon harvesting followed by some epic spearfishing in some truly heavenly blue ...
Crushing Big Bass With Oliver Ngy, Brandon Palaniuk, and Roland Martin
Episode one of professional bass angler Oliver Ngy’s "Fishing the American Dream" makes a stop at the Harris Chain of Lakes in central Florida. The Black Rifle Coffee–sponsored pro is in town for his first Bassmaster Open tour stop, but first, he ...
Freedive Safe Hawaii: Saving Kids and Changing Lives
In Hawaii and many other ocean-centered cultures, freediving is a way of life. Learning to become one with the water and rely on it for sustenance — both physical and spiritual — is very much a rite of passage. But it’s also dangerous to the ...
Open Pit Mining May Be Banned in Bristol Bay — Permanently
For most Americans, Alaska exists somewhere between high school geography lessons and Nat Geo documentaries. The scale of its breadth and pristine wildness and why it's called The Last Frontier is beyond the understanding of those born and raised in ...
Cutts, Cutties, and Cutthroats: America’s Frontier Trout
There is a magic hour on the South Fork of the Snake River — maybe only a magic half-hour actually — when cutthroat trout seem to spontaneously appear in the long sweeping riffles that spill into the river’s deep emerald green troughs. The ...
Fatherhood, Sammy Hagar, and Salmon Fishing in Alaska
My son, Cam, had a pretty short list of what he wanted out of our trip to Alaska. “I just want to see one bear,” he said. “If nothing else happens and I see a bear, I’ll be happy.” Running a jet boat back down the Naknek River toward camp ...
Don’t Screw Up Father’s Day: Get Dad Cool Stuff He’ll Actually Use
Shopping for Father’s Day is hard. It’s tempting to just get dad a gimmicky barbecue tool that will be used once before getting hung in the garage for the next decade. Or maybe a new pair of Crocs. But, this year, you don’t have to be that lame. ...
Mahi-Mahi: So Strong They Say It Twice
In Hawaiian, mahi-mahi means “very strong” — but through a linguistic process called reduplication, the Hawaiian people say the word twice to signify greater intensity. In other words, these fish will beat you up. Mahi-mahi, aka ...
‘Revision of a Man’: Army Vet Tackles Modern Manliness With Poetry
Editor's Note: Here at FRA, we are a small but aggressive team. We're like a race car that we’re building while it zips around the track. Extending that analogy, Matt Smythe is the wheels: He is the primary point of contact between our edit team and ...
Free Fly Fishing Video Series Sets Up Beginners for Success
If you’re one of the tens of thousands that tried fly fishing for the first time during COVID as something to do that also allowed you to social distance, or if you’re “fly curious” because you watched A River Runs Through It, there is a new series ...
Meet Justin Lee: Spearfishing Champ, Bowhunter, Cancer Survivor, Role Model
You’ve heard the saying “like shooting fish in a barrel.” When Hawaiian spearfisherman Justin Lee dove into Lake Powell for the National Spearfishing Championship held the last two days of April, fish in a barrel might’ve actually had a better chance ...
Joining The Spring and Summer Cobia Craze
Standing on the bow of a boat fishing for cobia through the hottest part of the day is no picnic. The sun is high and cooking you head-first through your hat. Clouds are thin and disappear too fast to offer any shade breaks. The breeze does nothing ...
Bull Trout: The Gravel Bar Brawler
If you were fishing on the Clearwater in Idaho, the Metolius in Oregon, or the Elk River in BC and left your sandwich on the shore while you walked off to take a leak, there’s a chance that a bull trout would take your lunch — probably your beer, ...
7 Ugly Fish and Why We Love Them
The perfect proportions and irresistible charisma of a trout will never be overshadowed by a catfish. Nor will a black drum ever outshine the prehistoric, chiseled-silver elegance of a tarpon. No, ugly fish are not heirs to the throne of “finest ...
Best of 2022: Killer New Fly Gear From IFTD
If you’re a serious fly angler, there is a shit-ton of must-have fly gear vying for your wallet for the 2022 season, from decals that will help your lost fly box and $250-worth of flies find their way home after a float trip out west to an absolute ...
New Can’t-Miss Fly Fishing Accessories
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, has wrapped up after a three-day run for the first time since 2019. With the show came a host of new products unveiled to the fly fishing public. We covered ...
The Best New Fly Fishing Packs, Wading Boots, and Apparel
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, is officially underway for the first time since 2019. With the show comes a host of new products being unveiled to the fly fishing public this week. We’ve got ...
New Fly Fishing Reels for 2022
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, is officially underway for the first time since 2019. With the show comes a host of new products being unveiled to the fly-casting public this week. We’ve got ...
New Fly Fishing Rods for 2022
The American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s International Fly Tackle Dealer Show, or IFTD, is officially underway for the first time since 2019. With the show comes a host of new products being unveiled to the fly-casting public this week. We’ve got ...
Striped Bass: The Phish of the Sea
Striped bass fishing is not an activity for those with addiction issues. The true striper faithful never fully recover from losing their minds during the season. The off-season is essentially one long hangover waiting for spring migration’s ...
7 Kick-Ass Fly Fishing Boots That’ll Get You There and Back
When it comes to fly fishing boots, most anglers’ first experiences with river footwear are wading around for summer bass in soggy sneakers or pulling on a pair of hip waders when the water temps run frigid in the early spring or late ...
Court Declares New Mexico River Access a Constitutional Right — Again
Anglers in the Land of Enchantment notched a big win in a stream access fight that saw private landowners attempt to bar the public from using waters that flow through their property. In a ruling on March 1, the state Supreme Court unanimously ...
Brown Trout: The American Badass Jekyll and Hyde of Gamefish
Brown trout in the US are two fish trapped in the same body, switching from one to the other, like Jekyll and Hyde, depending on their mood. One minute they’ll be gently sipping mayflies from the surface like they’re holding up their pinkies at ...
Rooster Fish: Get Tropical and Be Ready for a Fight
Out of the gate, I blew three shots. We rose and fell in and out of 8-foot troughs as the mate idled the boat parallel to the shore. We were about 200 yards outside the breaking surf off the coast of Todos Santos, Mexico. The captain had just cast a ...
Bonefish Junkies: Pharma Contamination Drugging S. Florida Fisheries
A recent study in South Florida discovered 58 pharmaceuticals in the blood and tissue of bonefish in Biscayne Bay and the Keys ranging from antidepressants and painkillers to blood pressure and prostate medications. OK, first of all, ...
Bill That Would Gut Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board Up for Public Comment
Next week, the Vermont Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy will hold a virtual public hearing on a trio of Senate bills that could reduce the size and power of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board, ban hunting coyotes with dogs, and ban ...
