Free Republic

ABRUPT CLOSURES of popular ocean fisheries in recent years by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Fisheries Service, some based on allegedly sketchy data, raised the ire of many anglers and conservation groups. Rob Wittman, Virginia's 1st District representative in Congress, has crafted a widely endorsed bill that requires catch limits to be set based on sound science. Wittman's Fishery Science Improvement Act, House Resolution 2304, was first briefed to legislators June 14. Now filed and assigned to the Committee on Natural Resources, the bill has 17 co-sponsors in Congress and is endorsed by the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus as...

No license is required. SOUTH CHARLESTON -- National Fishing and Boating Week runs from June 4 -12 and as part of it, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is offering its 21st annual Free Fishing Weekend. The weekend is June 11-12 and allows both state residents and out-of-state residents to fish in West Virginia without a license. “It is a great opportunity to remind people of the fun of fishing, especially with family and friends. If you already have a license, take someone fishing. It may be your children, spouse, or co-worker and introduce them to a lifetime of...

Palin sounds like candidate in return to New Hampshire Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin swept into New Hampshire on Thursday sounding like a candidate, but stayed mum on her plans for the 2012 presidential election and beyond.The 2008 vice presidential candidate and conservative star took her "One Nation" bus north from Boston to the seaside town of Seabrook, New Hampshire.It was the first visit to the key early primary state since Palin's failed run for the White House with John McCain."I want people to focus on my record," Palin told reporters outside the small blue house where a few dozen...

Paul Christensen cast his line deftly into the water. Seconds later, the line went taut and he went to work to reel in his catch. The outcome was never in doubt, but the fish was not giving up without a fight. After a couple of minutes, Christensen showed off his catch, a carp of about 5 pounds (more like 3 pounds), hooked on the soccer field at Fuller Park in Ann Arbor Friday. That’s right, a soccer field. “It’s sort of a making lemonade out of lemons situation,” said Dirk Fischbach of Saline, who came out with Christensen Friday to...

Right after ice off on the lakes many insects start hatching and this is a perfect time for fly-fishing. Rainbow or 'Kamloops' trout is the fish of choice on the small lakes and a day on one of these lakes whether you catch fish or not is one of life's most relaxing moment. I've seen deer and moose while fishing and ospreys have dived within a few meters, loons come close looking for a hand out and this time we filmed a fishermen giving his catch to a bald eagle.

State Noodles With Decriminalizing Fish-Grabbing; Watch Out for the Tail Brady Knowlton believes it's his inalienable right as a Texan to shove his bare hand into the mouth of a 60-pound catfish and yank it out of a river. But wrestling a flapping, whiskered giant as it latches onto your arm with its jaws isn't among Texas's accepted methods of capturing fish. It is, rather, a class C misdemeanor, with fines of up to $500. So Mr. Knowlton, a 30-year-old-private citizen, oilman and outdoor enthusiast here, is pushing a bill in the state Legislature to legalize hand fishing, also known...

Oregon and Washington have been given permission to resume removing or killing California sea lions at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, a federal agency said Friday. The decision by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration came about six months after a federal appeals court struck down a similar permit aimed at reducing the number of threatened or endangered salmon eaten by the hungry marine mammals. ... the California sea lion population is healthy, estimated at 238,000, while wild Columbia River spring chinook salmon are listed as endangered. ... NOAA Regional Director William Stelle said new data suggest sea lions...

East Coast fishermen say the new Obama job-killing regulations are killing the industry. Poor distraught fishermen are attempting suicide. WMUR reported: Fishermen on New Hampshire’s Seacoast are warning that new fishing regulations could destroy their industry and have already caused them severe emotional stress. The U.S. Department of Commerce has sent a team to Seabrook to look at the effects of the new regulations. “If they don’t do something to modify the fishing regulations, we won’t have a fishing industry on the Seacoast, is what it boils down to,” said Hampton Town Manager Fred Welch. Many in the fishing industry...

VANCOUVER — Canadian "superfish" are making an international splash this week. A prime specimen has landed on the cover of one of the world's most influential scientific journals, along with a study showing some of British Columbia's fabled sockeye salmon may not survive climate warming. Peak summer water temperatures in the Fraser River are already "near lethal" for some sockeye populations, says biologist Erika Eliason, lead author of the study that is sure to raise eyebrows at the ongoing federal judicial inquiry into the troubled Fraser River fishery. The salmon are so finely tuned to their environment they appear to...

FAIRFIELD, Ohio -- A Butler County church that gave away $1,000 to fill more pews last Easter Sunday says it will do it again this year and on future Easters. Lindenwald Baptist Church in Fairfield draws names to award $500 each to a member of the congregation and a guest. Like WLWT on Facebook: Pastor Randy Moore said the church had hoped for 1,000 worshippers last year, when it made the offer for the first time. It packed in 1,140 – more than double the usual Sunday attendance of around 500. "There were more visitors last year than we had...

You would think I could remember this. After all, it’s my rule. That’s why it’s called, “Randy’s Rule”. However, its importance never hits its mark until after I’ve become frustrated beyond measure. My most recent fishing expedition was no different. “Heston, stop that!” “Emma, will you just please stop casting long enough for me to untangle the other 3 lines?” “Payden, please do not cast so close to your sister’s ear!” I lost my chance to catch something because of tangles in trees and attention spans shorter than my own fuse. I lost my cool. Ultimately, I lost sight of...

People are discovering antique fishing tackle all the time, in closets and at garage sales, but none of that compares to discoveries made recently by archaeologists at two of the Channel Islands off Southern California. Looking for signs of ancient human settlement, they unearthed meticulously-crafted spearheads and other tools (see photo at right) that date back 12,000 years and provide insight into the lives of a seafaring culture that obtained bounty from the ocean. The astonishing discoveries, at three sites on Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands west of Santa Barbara, strongly support the theory that during an era when...

She's studying at a college in Florida, and like any typical American teenager she loves shopping and hanging out with her friends. But at weekends she is one of the deadliest shots in the brush. Regis Giles, 19, is one of America's hottest hunters - and she's taking the big game world by storm. She's killed buffalo, wild boar, deer and a bear in her hunting career, which began when she was aged just nine. And she's already drawing parallels to Sarah Palin, America's most famous gun-toting wilderness-loving woman. Miss Giles is a lifetime member of the NRA. She was...

"...NOAA and its state partners will ask anglers how long their fishing trips last and how much they spend on bait, boat fuel, ice, charter fees and other expenses. Anglers will also be asked to participate in a follow-up survey that will ask them to estimate what they spend on durable goods such as boats and fishing tackle used for saltwater angling for the previous 12 months. Those who participate in both parts of the survey will help NOAA produce accurate economic information."

A frame from a video of the 327-pound alligator gar recently caught in Vicksburg, Mississippi. What a Valentine's Day catch!  Looking for all the world like the cross between an alligator, a fish and dinosaur, the alligator gar is the largest freshwater fish in America. And with two rows of teeth, the predatory fish is also terrifying. So you can imagine his surprise when Kenny Williams, from Vicksburgh, Miss., stumbled across what is being called the largest one ever caught on February 14. The tremendous fish measured 8 feet, 5 inches long, weighed 327 pounds, and was 48 inches around,...

MONKTON, Md. (AP) -- As an algae with a gross nickname invades pristine trout streams across the U.S., Maryland is about to become the first state to enforce a ban on a type of footgear the organism uses to hitchhike from stream to stream: felt-soled fishing boots. The state Department of Natural Resources plans to prohibit wading with felt soles starting March 21 to curb the spread of invasive organisms that can get trapped in the damp fibers and carried from one body of water to another. Similar bans will take effect April 1 in Vermont and next year in...

Wow!  What a nice job by CBS News, Armen Keteyian, and Katie Couric.  On 16 February, CBS News devoted some four minutes to an investigative piece into the scandal that should have rocked NOAA and the Obama administration last fall.  Our government is driving the fishing industry into oblivion with "unduly complicated" regulations and with federal agents who are "overzealous" and prone to "abusive conduct." The piece opened with Bill Lee, a fisherman from Rockport, MA, who has been forced out of business by the fines levied by NOAA.  Mr. Lee is articulate and the photogenic background of Motif...

On the rare occasion when federal bureaucrats waver in their commitment to expanding their own regulatory power, environmental extremists can always be counted on to look for a sympathetic judge to expand it for them. The latest clever scheme would undermine the right of Americans to hunt and fish, using the judicial branch to implement policies too hot for regulators or lawmakers to touch. Congress needs to step in and disarm this assault on traditional sporting activities. The California-based Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) fired the first shot in August when it asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban...

GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA January 15, 2011 Fishing interests see 'corrupt' regulatory scheme By Richard Gaines Staff Writer NEW BEDFORD — Mayor Scott Lang says the "rule-making" process in the federal fisheries regulatory system is as "corrupt" as its New England law enforcement branch was revealed to be. And he predicted Thursday night that corruption, alleged to emanate from "inside baseball" played by government officials and environmental giants such as the Environmental Defense Fund, will be exposed in "the light of day," targeted in part by a lawsuit filed by the cities of New Bedford and Gloucester and a wide range...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ruling by the Obama administration allowing the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol is running into legal hurdles from trade groups opposing the plan. The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday over the decision to allow the sale of gasoline containing higher blends of corn-based ethanol, the second major group to protest the ruling. The Obama administration said in October that gas stations could start selling the ethanol blend for vehicles built since the 2007 model year, increasing it from the current blend of 10 percent ethanol.