BALTIMORE — Derrick “Rick” Jones can’t remember a time when he didn’t love catfish — the moist, tender flesh when it’s cooked right, the mild, slightly sweet flavor and the crunch of a proper cornmeal crust when it’s fried.

Such sensations have given Jones, a Costco employee and part-time real estate agent, little tastes of ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — When Bailey Sandmeyer saw a black bear saunter toward her bait, her left hand tightened the grip of her bow. Drawing back her bowstring, she thought she had a shot — but just for an instant.

As quickly, she reconsidered and returned the string to its resting position.

This was in the deep woods of northeast Minnesota, and her...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Statewide Minnesota roadside pheasant counts are up almost 20% from a year ago, according to information released last Tuesday by the Department of Natural Resources.

The population bounce builds on a nearly 50% statewide pheasant buildup recorded in 2025 from 2024. Favorable spring nesting conditions that followed a mild winter...Read more

SAN DIEGO — For most of his young life, Merrick Meyers and his dad would drive to tackle shops 15 miles north or 25 miles south of Encinitas to gear up for their fishing trips. One day last fall, Meyers’ dad asked him what he thought about opening a tackle shop of their own, closer to home.

Meyers laughed it off.

“It was like, that would...Read more

HILTON HEAD, S.C. — Pro and amateur anglers will compete next weekend to see who can catch the heaviest Redfish from Port Royal’s waters.

The Southern Redfish Cup is coming to Port Royal on Saturday, Sep. 12 for the second stop in its 2026 tournament series. The annual tournament welcomes both professional and amateur anglers to compete for...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The other day, I planned a hunting trip for the third week of October and thought briefly, then dismissed, the idea of booking a motel room.

This would be for pheasants, or maybe I would divert for grouse and woodcock. Either way, the motel in question would be a dump, or what the kids call sketchy. I’d rather sleep with my ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Department of Natural Resources fisheries section chief Brad Parsons grew up in southeast Wisconsin. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, he studied Kokanee salmon as a University of Wyoming graduate student.

Hired in 1986 by the Minnesota DNR as a research scientist, he worked briefly in Waterville ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Black bears near Dennis Udovich’s northeast Minnesota home are in a feeding frenzy, chomping berries, plums and whatever else they can find to gain as much as 30 pounds a week.

Winter is coming, and they need all the fat they can get.

In his 47th year as a bear hunting guide, Udovich is similarly obsessed. In the woods every ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is going on a bear hunt again this year.

The state Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission recently announced there will be a new bear hunting season that begins Dec. 5 and ends Dec. 28, the second in as many years.

The agency will open the hunting permit portal Sept. 11 to those who want to apply for a permit to “...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A fish, game and wildlife management revolution might be underway in Minnesota, as support for a Citizens Conservation Advisory Council gained widespread backing at Game Fair, which recently concluded its six-day run in Ramsey.

Gubernatorial candidates Amy Klobuchar and Lisa Demuth said at the fair that they are open to the ...Read more

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.J. — Taxidermy and weathered photos line the walls at Higbee’s Bait and Tackle in Fortescue, artifacts from bygone days when the sleepy Delaware Bay town was truly the “weakfish capital of the world.”

The taxidermy is a dusty, 12-pound “tide runner,” the nickname fishermen bestow on the biggest, trophy weakfish,...Read more

DETROIT — The Great Lakes may be home to some fish that were alive around the turn of the century.

The 16th century.

Findings by a team of researchers from Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, and Michigan's and Wisconsin's respective departments of natural resources suggest that female lake sturgeon can live up to ...Read more

SEATTLE — Several shiny black fins emerged from the water near the Ballard Locks just after 5 p.m. last Monday, as onlookers snapped photos and videos. They belonged to transient orcas, or Bigg’s killer whales, one of two types of orcas that frequent the Salish Sea.

Scientists said the killer whales were likely attempting to hunt seals and ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The other day at Game Fair, Danny Suggs was spinning tales about river fishing. Expert in the pursuit of smallmouth bass, he knows where these fish hang out as water spills and bends downstream, congealing in riffles and pools, seams and eddies.

That Suggs is a Black man was considered a nonfactor by the dozen or so attendees of...Read more

TACOMA, Wash. — “Eat crow,” a popular saying goes.

Crow, being a similar delicacy to “humble pie,” is the suggestion there. A food one is forced to eat when humiliated or proved wrong. Certain cultures have eaten crow, simply because they’re hungry. Though it’s not usually anyone’s first choice on a menu, no matter the era or ...Read more