By Ben Romans

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) reintroduced a bill today, that, if signed into law, will allow increased access for hunters and fishermen on federal public lands. The bill directs federal agencies to inventory all public lands larger than 640 acres where hunting and fishing are legal but inaccessible, then work with neighboring landowners to purchase parcels that facilitate access.

Hunt Unrestricted on National Treasures Act (HUNT Act) is Heinrich's second attempt to expand hunting and angling access to public lands by financing adjacent land purchases from willing sellers using a small percentage of monies from the Land and Water Conservation Fund—federal money earmarked for conservation projects across the nation. Heinrich made a similar proposal in 2012 when he was a member of the House of Representatives, but the congressional session ended before legislators voted.

A press release from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership says groups like the National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers applaud the bill.

"The HUNT Act would open millions of acres of landlocked public lands to public access, expanding the opportunity for sportsmen to hunt, fish and otherwise enjoy these uniquely American resources," said Joel Webster, director of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership's Center for Western Lands. "Sportsmen need two things to be able to hunt and fish: access and opportunity. We appreciate Senator Heinrich's leadership in introducing this measure and specifically addressing the very real challenge of diminished public access to our publicly owned lands and waters."

It will be several months before Heinrich's HUNT Act moves through committees and is on the Senate floor for debate, and finally, a vote.

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By Ben Romans

On Monday, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish says is will place roadblocks throughout the during the fall hunting and fishing seasons to collect data and detect wildlife law violations.

A statement released by the department says hunters and anglers should expect conservation officers to check for not only game-law compliance, but adherence to provisions of the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Act and the Aquatic Invasive Species Control Act.

Representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the New Mexico State Police, and various county sheriff's offices will also be on hand to assist conservation officers.

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By Joe Cermele

I love this video because it perfectly captures something that every fisherman has experienced; the unexpected boat-side eat. As you'll see, the angler is chucking a topwater frog against a bank. Just like most of us would do, he zips it back to the boat after nothing strikes close to shore, and just as he lifts the lure out of the water, WHAM-O! If you've always wondered what it sounds like when a true bucketmouth bass eats on top, turn up your speakers. It also makes you wonder if that bass was sitting close to the boat, or swam fast enough from the bank to actually keep up with the lure and nail it at the last second. 

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By Kirk Deeter

I get many questions about how best to pack fishing gear for a flight. After thousands of miles and having gear broken and/or lost, I've come up with these five tips.

1) On the question of how to pack rods... Do you carry them on or check them through?  I don't trust being able to carry them on. I've had some flights where I breeze right through, and other nightmares where I had to adjust at the check-in gate. It's so inconsistent, I check rods through now, but only inside tubes, inside my luggage. I've had too many rods broken trying to pack them in sleeves only.

2) Assume TSA is going to go through your stuff. So don't leave items like pliers or fly boxes laying looses. Put them in your vest or pack, or put them in plastic bags, and then pack them.

3) Assume you will be five pounds heavier coming back than when you leave. If you want to avoid excess baggage fees, don't pack your outbound bag right at the 49-pound limit. When your stuff gets wet, it gets heavier. I always pack at 45 pounds or less on my way to go fish.

4) Buy light gear. For the reason I just mentioned, I usually travel with lighter, crushable rain jackets, and sometimes even lighter waders or boots. I'll trade an extra layer of Gore-Tex for a few pounds, unless I am going to a place where I know it will be dumping rain the whole time. There's a big difference with wading boots. Check before you buy. That extra pound or two won't matter as much in the river as it will at the check-in counter.

5) Check your flies, pliers, knives, etc. I could start a small fly shop with all the gizmos I've had confiscated. Don't try to carry on flies. You're asking for extra inspection, and if the hooks are large enough, they will be confiscated.

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By Joe Cermele

Upon initial inspection, you might be inclined to think the fish cupped gently in the hands of angler Richard Brackett is a baby sailfish. At least that's what I thought. But it turns out the The Billfish Foundation has confirmed that Brackett's recent "catch" is, in fact, a baby blue marlin. Per the story and illustrations on the organization's website, juvenile marlin start life with no bill, and a "sail" that later develops into a more slender, curved dorsal fin of a mature marlin. What's most interesting about this story to me is that in your lifetime, it's more likely that you'll catch a 1,000-pound blue marlin than hold one this size in the palm of your hand.

Here's the account from Brackett: My boss, Joey Cagle and I decided to run out to swordfish for a couple hours (off of Charleston, SC), so we left about noon and trolled from 200’ straight out to the deep just to see what we came across on the way. We had a pretty good day and ended going 1-2 pm sails and had a couple other bites. Once the sun started to set we set up for a drift. After an hour or so, I saw what we thought to be a juvenile sailfish in the transom lights. Being such a last minute trip, I forgot the dip net so I had to resort to option two. I filled the bucket with water, opened the transom door and scooped him up with my hands and set him in the bucket. I have to say even at this small size they are crazy aggressive. I got him in my hands in the bucket to try and we snapped a quick picture so we could release it as quickly as possible.

Anglers in general, I'd say, don't give too much thought to little versions of big fish and where they live, but you do come across them from time to time. The first pike I ever caught measured about 6 inches and ate a worm under a bobber I was fishing for bluegills. I also hooked into an 8-inch barracuda at the Jersey Shore years ago casting a metal at small bluefish. You ever landed any odd babies?

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By Dave Wolak

To kick this off, I'd like everyone to take look at the video below. It is a great example of how a fun outdoor outing can quickly turn into an indoor hospital visit. About the only things the driver of this bass boat did right were wear a life jacket and keep the kill switch connected to himself. Otherwise, he made one of the biggest mistakes possible...jumping a wake at high speed. I thought this video was a sobering jumping off point to talk about proper bass boat handling. Granted, it's not a super "fishy" topic, but you can't catch bass if you're dead.

Bass boats are fast, and bass fishermen like to get to the next spot fast. But you have to know the capabilities of your vessel. Start off slow and only work in the higher ranges of speeds when the conditions are ideal. Over the years, I've met too many bass boaters that know no speeds between full throttle and idle. They pose a danger to themselves, their passengers, and other boaters. Part of being a good driver at high speed is simply knowing when you can open up, and calculating the best route to your next spot. Yes, the shortest distance is a straight line, but not if the water between point A and B is rough. Wind or boat traffic can easily make the shortest route hazardous. So you have to either find a safer, albeit more circuitous route to your spot if you insist on going full-throttle, or you have to learn to limit your speed.

Stay clear of other boats whenever possible, not only because you want to avoid launching boat wakes like the guy in the video, but because you don't know if the people on the other boats are safer drivers or morons, and you don't want to get hurt or damage your boat because of their mistakes. It's just like driving a car cautiously on high-traffic roads.

This may seem minor, but remember to wear adequate eye protection. I always wear sunglasses when driving, but if I'm fishing a tourney where I know I'll be moving fast to cover water, I'll actually wear a snowmobile helmet with sunglasses underneath. The helmet is not protection for possible impact, but to reduce wind resistance as much as possible, because the less wind hitting your face, the better you can see. If you're going to run at 70+mph, you need clear vision in order to react properly.

Finally, wear your kill switch. This is not a preemptive measure because a crash is inevitable. This is for the absolute worst-case scenario. The kill switch does not save your life; driving the boat safely does. 

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By Joe Cermele

Yeah, so here's a short snippet of something that will likely never happen to you, or in the case of these two fellers, will only happen once in their lives. I'm happy if I catch two 5-pound bass per season. I've caught two bass at once, but never this big. Have a great weekend.

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By Tim Romano

Have you ever seen $50,000 worth of graphite in a freezer?

Me neither. Until two weeks ago, when Kirk and I got a tour of the Orvis Rod factory.

What you're looking at is rolls and rolls of raw sheet graphite, destined for future fly rods.  After asking three different shop employees how much this pile was worth I heard three different answers. I honestly don't know whether this is $20K, $30k, or $100K worth of graphite in a freezer. I think they were being squirlly on purpose about the answer, but my gut tells me that the right one leans toward the higher amount. Regardless, it was impressive to see this much raw graphite, especially considering this was one of two walk-in freezers loaded with the stuff.

Raw graphite must be kept cool, because the resin that holds it together is heat sensitive. Even bringing it into room temperatures causes the resin to activate, making it slightly tacky to the touch. This is how rod blanks are held together at the molecular level.  Of course there's the painting and epoxy, but it's the impregnated resin that does the real work when rolled on a mandrel. Rolling graphite on a mandrel (then throwing it in an oven to bake) is what I'm doing in the image below. When that resin reaches a certain temp it hardens, keeping the graphite hollow and hard and allowing the rest of the rod building process to take place. So, while we'll never know how many future rods were in that freezer or how much that graphite was worth I will tell you you that walking through the Orvis rod factory gave me a much greater appreciation for how fly rods are built and why they can be pretty darn expensive. The steps involved are dozens more than you would ever imagine and the procedures taken to ensure the components are first class and well taken care of were unbelievable to witness first hand.

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By Tim Romano

Once a year a group of my friends like to get together over beers, look at maps, and plan some masochistic backpacking trip somewhere high in a wilderness area of Colorado. We pick locations based on names, geography, and basically what ''looks" like fun.  Of course fish have to factor in there somehow, but that part is a bit of a gamble as many of these locales are spots that very few people visit. This years trip was two weekends ago and turned out to be epic as usual, but with a bit more rain than we were hoping for.  

Little did we know how much rain we were in for when we returned home to the front range of Colorado after our trip. As I'm sure many of you have seen on the national news my town and many others have been devastated by flooding this past week. Almost everyone I know has been affected in some way.  Many with unimaginable damage to their homes and businesses. My family personally is okay, but it's been a rough go the last 7 days.  While somewhat trivial compared to loss of life and homes I can't help but wonder how my local trout spots west of here fared. Time will tell and trout are hardy creatures, but it's certainly got me worried. Frankly, those wounds are too fresh to cover here and now, but I'll get you all the inside story as it unfolds in the coming days, weeks, and months on what exactly 100 year floods do to small trout creeks and how they recover.

For the time being enjoy the show.

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By Joe Cermele

This week in our vintage tackle contest we've got an oddity that looks kind of like some old-time torture device or wild west dentist's tool. But fear not, it's only a wacky fish hook submitted by Ron Binger. Ron bought it from his neighbor who didn't have any information about it, but Dr. Todd Larson of The Whitefish Press and "Fishing For History" blog had no trouble tracing the backstory of this unique piece.

Dr. Todd says:

"When it comes to fish hooks, it would seem almost every inventive angler felt they could build a better mousetrap, so to speak. Only in this way can we can explain the thousands of patents issued over the years for different styles of fish hooks. You have one of the most ingenious. Patented in 1955 (#2,719,379) by Vincent Fritts of Dover, New Jersey, this interesting hook clamped a minnow or eel using a spring device. My friend Jeff Kieny, author of the book Patented Hooks, Harnesses and Bait Holders, wrote 'This neat gizmo was like a spring loaded garage door…' He also notes that it is a very rare hook. Considering this, I would value this hook at $75-$100 and likely more, if two hook collectors butted heads at an auction. It's a terrific example of American fishing ingenuity."

That's not a bad price for an old piece of metal, Ron! Great find, though as far as fishing is concerned, I'd think that thing would make a live bait look so unnatural, you'd never get a strike. Thanks for sending, and keep an eye on your mailbox, because there's a set of Berkley Aluminum Pliers headed your way.

If you've already sent me photos of your vintage tackle, keep checking every Thursday to see if I chose it for an appraisal by Dr. Todd. If you haven't and want to enter the contest, email photos of your old tackle to fstackle@gmail.com, along with your name, mailing address, and story of how you acquired the gear. If I use it in a Thursday post, you get a pair of Berkley Aluminum Pliers (above) worth $50.

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