Kayak catfishing grows in popularity
Justin Johnson never goes fishing intending to develop a hernia. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Blame it on a change of heart and a change in equipment that followed. Johnson, an East Tennessee native, was a bass fisherman. Then, one day in a tackle shop, he...
Release of chronic wasting disease plan delayed; outreach continues
It’s all about speed when it comes to controlling chronic wasting disease. And yet, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is delaying release of its disease management plan. That’s by design, said Bryan Burhans, executive director of the agency. The new plan was due this month, but he didn’t feel like it...
Outdoors extras, including a blueberry recipe
Gear of the week Gear name: Select S1 Company: Sawyer (everybodyshops.com/sawyer-select-s1-filter-system.html) Gear type: Water filter Product description: Staying properly hydrated is hugely important in the backcountry or even when just out on a day hike in a local park or forest. So it’s critical to be able to make whatever...
Avoid strainers to stay safe, alive this boating season
Don’t become spaghetti. When I and some others used to teach boating safety to our troop of Scouts, and talk turned to hazards on the water, we offered that as one piece of advice. The initial look we got was usually one of confusion. But we explained it like this....
Outdoor extras, including a Plan B for camp cooking
Lure of the week Lure name: Water Dragon Company: Culprit Lures (culprit.com) Lure type: Soft plastic lizard Sizes and colors: Available a 7-inch model in 12 colors, including Bama bug, black neon, swamp juice, green pumpkin, watermelon red and sapphire blue. Target species: Largemouth and smallmouth bass. Technique: There are...
Fun times camping sometimes born of chaos
There was giggling amid the chaos. That’s always a good sign. We had spent the morning hiking, the afternoon swimming and the first part of evening eating ice cream. We followed that with a dinner of simple but delicious pizza mountain pies. The next morning promised a guided striped bass...
Grant Woods offers advice on hunting mature bucks
It’s a different world deer hunters live in these days. That’s what Grant Woods believes, in at least one sense. Creator of GrowingDeerTV.com, Woods hunts all over the country. One change is evident everywhere he goes. “When I was a boy, growing up in Missouri, the only food plot was...
Auditor general releases look at Game Commission finances
Lack of oversight is the biggest problem with how the Pennsylvania Game Commission handles its money. So says Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. His office audited the commission, looking at the years from July 2014 through June 2017. It released its report on May 30. The audit outlined 11 findings...
Appreciate slow-growing fish in all sizes
That 11-inch largemouth bass, the one you dismissively threw back into the water, labeling it a dink? Give it a little love. It has been through more than you think. Bass — and all fish, really, from bluegills to muskies — are slow growing. It takes them longer than some...
Outdoor extras, including a fried catfish recipe
Gear of the week Gear name: Nitro 1800 Company: Bushnell (bushnell.com) Gear type: Laser rangefinder Product description: The Nitro 1800 is a rangefinder meant for both hunting and competition. It will range nonreflective targets — such as deer and elk — out to 800 yards and reflective targets out to...
Great blue herons common, interesting birds
Imagine a prince, tall and angular, or a princess, long and curvy. Either with a rakish bit of long, flowing hair, dark, piercing eyes and a regal way of moving. They seem all grace and refinement. Royal, almost. And then … “SQUAAAAWK!” They open their mouth and the noise that...
‘Fish with a WCO’ events on tap around Pennsylvania
The weather might be — even should be — better this time around. Shoot, it can’t be much worse. Last September, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission waterways conservation officers in the southwest corner of the state held their inaugural “Fish with a WCO” event for children. It took place at...
Outdoor extras, including a new premium vibrating jig
Lure of the Week Lure name: Thunder Cricket Company: Strike King (strikeking.com) Lure type: Vibrating jig Sizes and colors: Available four sizes — 3/8-, ½-, 5/8- and ¾-ounces — in 10 colors, including, black/blue, white/chartreuse, Falcon Lake craw, bluegill, bruiser and red/yellow/pink/green. Target species: Largemouth and smallmouth bass. Technique: Brand...
Bikepacking surges in popularity as way to explore outdoors
To call it an entirely new thing would be to insult every Bohemian gypsy who ever has pedaled around the countryside. But it’s definitely a modern tweak on an ancient idea. And it suddenly has gone mainstream. Bikepacking — basically backpacking by bicycle — is surging in popularity as more...
Tough times for waterfowl, hunters in Atlantic Flyway
Waterfowl biologists up and down the East Coast warned a year ago about this coming. And so it has. Hunters are only going to be able to take half as many mallards per day in the Atlantic Flyway this year as last — and for the better part of the...
As boating season heats up, some tips on paddling safety
Fewer than half a dozen steps into the big box sporting goods store, and it was crystal clear. There, front and center, stood two stacks of kayaks each piled four wide and three high in an alternating pattern. Along the wall to the left at least three dozen more boats...
Outdoor extras, including a tip on making your pack trail-ready
Gear of the week Gear name: Lucky 7 Company: Tri-State Bait (everybodyshops.com/lucky7-dough-ball-fishing-carp-catfish-bait.html) Gear type: Flavored dough bait Product description: Dough baits are a classic for targeting channel catfish and common carp. And they do catch fish. Lucky 7 baits in particular work because they’re scented, something that really appeals to...
Leave wildlife babies in wild this spring
The reaction was as well intentioned as it was predictable. A friend called last spring. Hiking, not deep in the woods, but close to home, he and his wife came across a fawn. It was seemingly alone. There was no mother close by, so far as they could tell. Their...
Emergence of cicadas should produce fantastic fishing
They will fascinate some and annoy, likely even creep out, others. That’s just how it is with bugs and people. So it will be with periodical cicadas. Fish will love them, though. And so, too, will smart anglers. For both, the mass emergence of the insects — something that’s going...
Outdoors Xtras, including a Frogwalker, tarp talk and camp breakfast
Lure of the week Lure name: J.R.’s Frogwalker Company: Reno Bait Co. (renobaitcompany.com) Lure type: Topwater Sizes and colors: Available a 5-inch model in five colors: green white belly, green orange belly, chartreuse white belly, brown chartreuse belly and black orange belly. Target species: Largemouth and smallmouth bass and northern...
Vernal pools a source of unique, varied life in spring
It was further proof life often bursts forth in the unlikeliest of places. I was at a close-to-home shooting range, tacking up targets. Someone else’s was lying on the ground behind the backstop. It was discolored and degraded from soaking up water in what appeared to be a puddle. Retrieving...
Outdoors Xtras: Subtle plastic worm advice, stuffed morels and more
Gear of the week Gear name: Tournament Touch Screen Company: Rapala ( Gear type: Scale Product description: Maybe you’re a tournament fisherman. Maybe you’re just someone who likes to know the specifics of the fish you catch. In either case, the Rapala touch screen tourney scale is a nice tool...
Fate of wild pheasant areas might not be settled after all
There’s a reason they call these decisions preliminary. Pennsylvania Game Commissioners voted at their April meeting to shrink the size of two of their remaining three wild pheasant recovery areas. They also voted to close another. Or, more accurately, deadlocked 4-4 on an attempt to reject a staff recommendation to...
Catching hybrid striped bass on the fly
They are not subtle, these bruising brawlers. Some fish have the reputation of being almost refined. Angling literature, for example, mythologizes brown trout for the way they selectively and daintily sip dry flies perfectly presented by the most reverential fishermen pure of heart. Sleek, athletic, strong, they fight hard when...
Nate Hosie talks when, where and how of turkey decoys
They’re twin tools of deception, turkey decoys and turkey calls, meant to fool lusty gobblers. Nate Hosie uses both. That’s not how things always were, though. When the host of “Headhunters TV” was a high schooler in Montdale, killing birds frequently enough to be known as “The Turkey Slayer,” he...
