Enter your big fish pix in the Hawg of the Month Contest!!

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Don’t forget to send us your pics of all those big fish you’ve caught lately. There’s still time to enter the May Hawg of the Month photo contest…

Monthly winners get a prize pack from Yakima Bait and are also entered into our year-end Hawg Bowl Playoffs!

So, if you’ve landed a Hawg this month, click on the “contact” button in the nav bar and tell us about it.

A Darwin Award waiting to happen…


We’ve all seen the crazy videos of Asian carp jumping into boats, but this one was shot on a really small creek, where it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody soon wins a Darwin Award by getting permanently taken out of the gene pool by taking a flying fish to the noggin…

White Sea Bass South African Style: Using the “trusted Pull, Tweak and Drop technique” for Big Kob!

Pull, tweak and drop on my friends!! Everybody’s doing it…

42-Pound, 1-oz Brown Trout is a potential All Tackle World Record!

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Okay, people…next time you catch a record fish, be sure to get a good photo of it, would ya?? While the picture doesn’t do Otwin Kandoff’s massive brown trout justice, at 42 pounds, 1 ounce, it could be soon recognized as the largest of its species ever taken on rod and reel.

The world record application has been submitted to the IGFA, and an official ruling on the catch should come soon.

Kandoff used a sliver spoon in New Zealand’s Ohau Canal which is a man-made waterway that connects a few lakes. Impressibly, the fish was taken on 8-pound test!

Friday Night Tunes: Somebody That I Used To Know (cover)


A very interesting cover of the popular Gotye hit by Walk off the Earth…5 people playing 1 guitar. Love the guy on the right who just occasionally chimes the strings above the nut…

Downtown Sacramento…

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Seems like I’m seeing more and more of these guys every year. These two (actually, there were four in this group) were hanging out on the docks near the old Jammin’ Salmon restaurant in the heart of Sacramento the other day.

I’m just saying…

Tuesday’s Striper (May Hawg of the Month Contest entry)

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Roxy “Tuesday” Kessler caught this nice striped bass on the California Delta while tossing a white Herbert signature series swimbait.

You can vote for Roxy and other May entries at the end of the month. Monthly winners get a prize pack from Yakima Bait and also advance to the Hawg Bowl playoffs.

Breaking News: Licensed CA guides may fillet salmon & steelhead in inland waters in 2013

fillet knifeI just received word from Stafford Lehr, California Fish & Wildlife’s Inland and Anadromous Fisheries Branch Chief, that the Department has decided to allow for the filleting of salmon and steelhead on inland waters by licensed guides.

With the new “no fillet” rule as it was being called, the guiding community was concerned that the regulation, which says these fish “must be kept in such a condition that species and size can be determined until placed at the anglers permanent residence, a commercial preservation facility or being prepared for immediate consumption…” would make it difficult on clients — particularily ones that travel long distances to fish. They’d have to haul around large coolers for their whole fish and then figure out how to clean them upon arrival home.

Guided anglers are responsible for the capture of thousands of salmonids each season and guides were also concerned that the nutrients from those fish would not be returned to the system if the fish were to be taken home whole.

The DFW listened to these concerns and came up with a possible solution earlier in the week, which they aired to me. In section 1.45 quoted above, you’ll notice the bit about “commercial preservation facility.” The proposed solution involved including licensed fishing guides of the state under that description. I thought that it was quite reasonable and appreciated the fact that they were willing to work with us. The proposal was then put to top enforcement officials for feedback. The wardens were okay with it as well and so here we are.

The Deal

As it stands now, licensed guides will be able to fillet their catch for clients but the DFW recommends that they provide each client with a receipt that includes the following: The date of capture, river caught on, the client’s name and Species Information (type of fish, length, number filleted). Then a signature of the guide competes the receipt. With this proof, clients are then covered if they were to be stopped on the way home.

Lehr suggested using the back of the guide’s business card, but 3×5 index cards or pages from receipt book will also work.

There will be an official press release regarding this new change soon, so check the www.dfg,ca.gov for more details

thesportfisher