Free Republic

Competitive high school ice fishing. Who woulda thought? In Wisconsin, it's a growing sport, complete with rankings, trophies, a state tournament, cheers and, yep, team uniforms. Not officially sanctioned as a varsity sport, the activity is growing in popularity in western Wisconsin four years after starting up as a way for teams to square off against schools in eastern Wisconsin during the statewide championship planned for Saturday on Lake Winnebago. The championship will be the eighth and final event of the season for the state circuit, which remains loosely affiliated under the unofficial direction of activities directors and coaches, some...

For generations, tour boats have been collecting fishing enthusiasts in Key West, Fla.: taking them for a day of deep sea casting; providing them rods, bait, companionship; and then, when the day ends, there's a little wharf-side ceremony. Everyone is invited to take his biggest fish and hook it onto the "Hanging Board"; a judge compares catches, chooses a champion, and then the family that caught the biggest fish poses for a photograph. The one up above comes from 1958. Notice that the fish on the far left is bigger than the guy who, I assume, caught it; and...

It’s no coincidence that sage grouse habitat also happens to intersect both the largest untapped coal deposits in the country as well as large parts of the Bakken oil field. It’s clear the primary motivation to focus on sage grouse for ESA listing is to provide yet another tool for special interest groups to block energy development. And in this obstructionist toolbox, there’s no heavier sledgehammer than the Endangered Species Act. What an interesting irony, then, that so much effort is going into “protecting” one bird from energy development, when the Obama administration is turning a blind eye to hundreds...

It’s a dilemma that comes with the territory if you’re an ice-fisher, when you run out of beer it’s going to be a long time before you can go grab a six-pack. Until now… Meet the Lakemaid Beer Drone. Wisconsin-based Lakemaid Beers - whose tagline is "Great Fishermen need Great Beer" - was inspired by Amazon’s announcement that it was planning on using ...

BROOKLYN, MI – Marc Melson plans to use part of his ice fishing prize money to go on vacation with his wife “somewhere warm” -- far from the ice and snow. Melson and cousin Joe Thornburg won first place in the 2014 Midwest Open Ice Fishing Tournament, taking home the grand prize of $20,100 for their winning catch of 7.99 pounds. This was the first year the duo competed in the tournament, but they’ve been fishing for as long as they can remember. “We’ve been ice fishing since we were kids,” Thornburg said. “It’s a family tradition.” Fishermen from nine...

<p>ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Have you heard about the two kids from St. Paul, brothers, actually, who started their own bait company and are now getting the attention of pros?</p> <p>They produce their own fishing videos, hawk their brand with shoe-leather savvy, and have landed a sponsorship of sorts, being named to the "pro staff" ranks of a major fishing-gear manufacturer.</p>

Salvage logging on lands burned by last summer's Douglas Complex wildfire in southwestern Oregon is in full swing on privately owned forests, but not on public lands. ... On BLM lands, federal environmental laws require a lengthy planning process that includes the public. The Douglas Complex fires burned through 76 square miles on a patchwork of public and private lands.

U.S. law enforcement agencies are conducting thousands of investigations using a law that makes violating state wildlife statutes a federal crime, often ensnaring hunters and fishermen for seemingly minor infractions. Some even suffer stiff federal prison sentences. Special agents and wildlife inspectors for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conduct about 2,500 investigative cases a year of violations of the Lacey Act, a 1900 law meant to combat illegal trafficking of wildlife. ... Rock star Ted Nugent, an avid hunter and fisherman .. "Good, decent families' lives are being turned upside down and ruined by out-of-control jackboot game agencies, particularly...

Former U.S. vice presidential candidate, governor, best-selling author and original “Mama Grizzly” Sarah Palin returns to series television on Sportsman Channel to host a new show – the first part of the network’s “Red, Wild & Blue America” programming plan – for the fast-growing outdoor lifestyle network. Titled “Amazing America with Sarah Palin,” the weekly series will premiere in April 2014. The announcement was made today by Gavin Harvey, CEO of Sportsman Channel. Amazing America with Sarah Palin is an anthology of stories that explore some of the most original, interesting – and sometimes inspiring – people, places and pastimes...

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is seeking information about the theft of waterfowl decoys and hunting blinds from the Escalante State Wildlife Area near Delta ... Colorado Parks and Wildlife had partnered with Ducks Unlimited members to teach kids and novices how to hunt ducks and geese.

SALT LAKE CITY — A coalition of conservation groups is hailing a federal judge's ruling Monday to strike down portions of the Richfield Bureau of Land Management plan they said gave deference to off-road vehicles at the expense of the environment. "This landmark decision is a resounding rejection of the BLM’s mismanagement of Utah’s stunning public lands,” said Stephen Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. ... The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance was among seven groups that filed a legal challenge to the Bush-era plans following their adoption in 2008, contending they imperiled pristine landscapes. The Richfield plan...

Tennessee’s second poorest county will suffer even more if the federal government buys 120,000 acres of land in that area, near Memphis, all for the stated purpose of wildlife preservation, said that county’s mayor. Lauderdale County Mayor Rod Schuh told Tennessee Watchdog Friday that his county, while poor, relies on farming and agriculture as the primary drivers of its economy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s plan to expand the Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge, assuming it buys out as many properties as it can, will rob the county of its most valuable commodity, Schuh said. Primarily, almost 60 percent of...

Like all Wyoming political races before it (probably?), the Wyoming Senate primary race between Republicans Mike Enzi and Liz Cheney is currently embroiled in a fishing-related controversy — specifically, whether Enzi, the three-term incumbent, and Cheney's dad, the appropriately named Dick, were ever "fishing buddies." Enzi, in an effort to portray Cheney the Younger's challenge as a personal back-stabbing of the highest order, claims that they were. On Sunday, Dick begged to differ. "Mike also said he and I are fishing buddies, which is simply not true," Cheney said. "Never happened." But Enzi insisted to Politico that they were too...

This video is of commercial fishing boats returning from fishing off the coast of Washington and Oregon . They are crossing the Columbia Bar, which is the site where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. This is designated as one of the most dangerous ports of entry anywhere in the world. There are at least eight to 10 deaths per year with people trying to get in or out in boats that are not made for this kind of severe beating – the kind you will see these boats going through. These boats are self-righting, have a super low...

Fishermen discover mutated crustacean in trap and donate it to Maine State Aquarium in Boothbay Harbor where it will go on public display. A very rare lobster is set to go on public display this week at the Maine State Aquarium in Boothbay Harbor where it will live among other odd-looking lobsters, mostly those with strange coloring. But this one will stand out for something quite extraordinary: it has six claws. Capt. Peter Brown and fisherman Richard Figueiredo were lobster fishing aboard The Rachel Leah, one of the five boats featured in “Lobster Wars” on Discovery Channel, when they caught...

From ORB LAB's FB page: Shark fishing season has officially begun for the ORB LAB. Last Friday, a crew struck out to try and recapture sharks carrying tags containing valuable information about the species assemblage encountered by these coastal apex predators. We caught one large female on our first line Friday, but we were not expecting to catch her like this! This unlucky smooth dogfish couldn't resist the menhaden used as bait and unfortunately fell victim to one of the top predators in the bay. The dogfish was about 3 feet long and completely swallowed by the sand tiger shark.

The European Union’s member states supported sanctions against the Faroe Islands, which could be an import ban or closing its ports to its boats, to protest the islands’ decision to treble the limit on herring fishing. … The move follows months of haggling after the Faroe Islands earlier this year unilaterally increased its existing quota by more than three times the allocations it would have got under EU policy, the Commission said. The Faroe Islands, a self-governed territory within the Danish Realm and not part of the European Union, says the EU rules do not give it a sufficient share...

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s long-anticipated plan for the Oregon & California Railroad trust lands amounts to a bold call for — input. Anyone who thought that Wyden would propose something specific has to be disappointed. Nevertheless, people as prominent and impatient as Gov. John Kitzhaber dutifully issued stilted remarks thanking Wyden for his “leadership.” Tongues had to be firmly in cheek. No one dared point out that the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee had again failed to do anything to help the people who inhabit a large part of his state. Instead of legislation, Wyden offered...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles River Recreation Zone officially opened up to the public Monday. City officials launched the new summer boat and recreational program at 10 a.m. at Marsh Park in Elysian Valley. “For the first time since the Los Angeles River was channelized in the 1930′s, the public will be welcomed to access and enjoy a 2.5-mile stretch of the Los Angeles River near downtown to boat to kayak, walk, and fish,” officials said in a statement. The recreation zone starts at LA River crossover at Fletcher Boulevard and Oso Park, Chief Ranger Fernando Gomez with...

The beaver pounced as a man went to take its photograph after spotting the animal on the side of a road during a fishing trip. A fisherman has been bitten to death by a beaver after trying to take its photograph. The man was on a fishing trip at Lake Shestakov in Belarus with two friends when they spotted the animal on the side of the road. He stopped so that he could take a picture but as he approached the beaver it pounced on him, biting him in the thigh. His friends attempted to stem the flow of blood...