Author: BD STAFF

The latest tests and monitoring looking for zebra mussels in North Texas lakes yielded mixed results. While zebra mussel DNA was detected in Lakes Texoma, Ray Roberts, Lewisville, Bridgeport and Bob Sandlin, no zebra mussel populations could be confirmed by physical inspection in Lewisville, Bridgeport and Bob Sandlin. Zebra mussels disrupt ecosystems and damage harbors and waterways, ships and boats, and water treatment and power plants. “We know a zebra mussel population exists in Lakes Texoma and Ray Roberts,” said Brian Van Zee, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s regional director of Inland Fisheries. “Our district biologists have looked for evidence…

California Sailboat Wreck One person is dead and five others were rescued by a San Diego-based Coast Guard aircrew, Saturday, after their boat drifted into the surf and broke apart near San Clemente Island, California, during a sailboat race. The accompanying picture, taken by the Coast Guard with nightvision equipment, shows the disabled boat as it wallowed in the surf. The 30-foot sailboat Uncontrollable Urge crew issued a mayday call and activated their Digital Selective Calling feature on their VHF marine radio around 9:26 p.m., Friday, after the sailboat’s rudder failed and they began drifting toward San Clemente Island during…

Record Striper 70-Pound Caught In Alabama An Alabama angler’s trophy catch could be a new IGFA record for an inland striper. James R. Bramlett, 65, of Dora, Alabama, landed a 70-pound striped bass that shattered a 54-year-old state record and could put him in the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) book of world records for the heaviest striper ever caught in a landlocked fishery. Bramlett caught the fish from the Black Warrior River on Feb. 28. He was fishing near a warm-water outlet from the Gorgas Steam Plant near Parrish, northwest of Birmingham. The potbellied monster, weighed on a certified…

Worried that your grouper sandwich might be tilapia instead? According to a government study, there’s a good chance it is. American fishermen lose money every day as a result of mislabeled seafood, but Congress is renewing its efforts to change that. In a bold step towards creating a national seafood traceability system that could combat rampant seafood mislabeling, a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers Wednesday re-introduced the Safety and Fraud Enforcement for Seafood Act. The House legislation, of which Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) is the lead sponsor, has the potential to lay the groundwork for a national seafood traceability system…

Fred Hall Blair Wiggins The Fred Hall Show, taking place this week in Long Beach, CA, is where it all began for BD Outdoors. So, every year, we embark on the pilgrimage to this fantastic venue and make our presence known. Coming every year at the start of the Southern California fishing season, the FHS show is a welcomed annual ceremony where anglers start thinking about fixing tackle, replacing lost gear and getting ready for the upcoming season. For retailers and manufacturers, the show offers an outstanding platform to launch and showcase new products, promote incredible deals and answer consumer…

Yellowfin Tuna Record Video BD Outdoors has descended upon the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach, CA, and we’ll be publishing updates during the entire event. As many of you probably know, angler Guy Yocom will become the official all-tackle world record holder for his 427-pound yellowfin tuna. Yocom will be honored at a special IGFA presentation at 2pm on Thursday. Yocom caught the huge yellowfin using a Shimano Tiagra reel, and Shimano is taking part in the Fred Hall show to debut their new Stella SW. A short video of the epic catch is available below. Yocom’s world record…

Starting today, March 6, anglers will be limited to one salmon per day in Marine Area 9, the portion of Puget Sound stretching from Seattle to Bremerton. State fishery managers approved the new limit – down from two fish per day – after determining that the number of chinook salmon kept or released has exceeded pre-season projections. “Fishing got off to a fast start last fall, boosting the number of fish kept or released to date,” said Ryan Lothrop, a fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). “After reviewing the catch estimates, it was clear we…

Preliminary results from systematic monitoring of Wisconsin lakes for aquatic invasive species confirm that boaters, not ducks or other birds, are spreading the invaders around, state and University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers say. None of the wilderness lakes surveyed, including those in remote places and easily accessible only to wildlife, had any invasive species present while there was a direct link between the presence of invasive species and boat access from public and private property. Thirty percent of the lakes with boat access, however, had Eurasian water-milfoil, 18 percent of the suitable lakes surveyed with boat access had zebra mussels, and…

Operation Shark Fin, a four-day, around-the-clock Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement effort along the lower Texas coast aimed at disrupting trans-national criminal organizations engaged in illegal commercial fishing and other activities in the Gulf of Mexico, the Rio Grande, and Lake Falcon has resulted in the seizure of 17,500 feet of long lines, two vessels and 15 citations or arrests. More than 50 state game wardens and 10 TPWD patrol vessels participated in the intensive operation, which began Monday and concluded at 12 a.m. Friday. “TPWD game wardens are committed to protecting our natural recourses across the state,”…

Red Snapper Louisiana At its February meeting, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council rejected a proposal by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries that would provide harvest accountability and allow Louisiana’s recreational fishermen to choose their own season dates for recreational red snapper. “It’s obvious when looking at recreational landings of red snapper for the Gulf of Mexico,” said head of Fisheries for Louisiana, LDWF Assistant Secretary Randy Pausina, “that the current federal system of controlling recreational harvest isn’t working. For the past six years the recreational quota was exceeded five times. The only year the quota wasn’t…

COBIA When a client yells “shark,” most Florida fishing guides instinctively grab a fishing rod. They know how often the supposed shark cruising around the boat turns out to be a cobia. Like sharks, cobia have long, slender bodies and dark skin that varies from brown to light tan. Smaller cobia tend to have a white stripe running down their sides. These hard-fighting game fish generally show little fear of boats and can often be seen cruising just below the water’s surface, making them excellent targets for sight-fishing. PROLIFIC IN EVERY WAY The range of cobia is virtually worldwide. They…

Jeppesen Navico C Map World navigation expert, Jeppesen, and Navico—parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad Yachting and B&G brands—have teamed up to provide consumers with a new charting option. C-MAP MAX-N now provides boaters and fishermen with an enhanced navigational experience by offering C-MAP by Jeppesen cartography for Lowrance, Simrad Yachting and B&G brand chartplotters and multifunction displays. Having debuted at the recent Miami International Boat Show in which BD Outdoors also took part, C-MAP MAX-N is compatible at launch with Lowrance Elite-7, HDS Gen1, Gen 2 and Gen2 Touch; Simrad NSS, NSE and NSO; as well as B&G Zeus…

Dry Tortugas Violations Two commercial fishermen have been charged with some 1,300 fishery violations after being found inside a no-take zone in the Dry Tortugas, Florida FWC enforcement officers report. Both men were cited last week for harvesting 664 yellowtail snapper – one misdemeanor count for each fish – seized from the commercial boat Candelaria, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Boat owner Evelio Lazar Egusquiza Fornes, 49, of Miami and mate Jorge Nesto Gellart, 49, also were charged with fishing inside the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, a no-fishing zone enacted under the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary,…

Lionfish Invasion In recent years, the waters of the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Florida have experienced an influx of invasive lionfish. Native to the waters of the South Pacific but popular everywhere as an aquarium fish, it is theorized that pet lionfish were released into the Atlantic. Their numbers have quickly ballooned and they are threatening to destroy a variety of fragile ecosystems. Can the invasive lionfish be stopped? Three research projects are underway at Florida Sea Grant to test methods that remove or control this invasive in the south Atlantic and Caribbean. One project is being conducted by REEF,…

Transocean Deepwater Inc. pleaded guilty to a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for its illegal conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and was sentenced to pay $400 million in criminal fines and penalties, Attorney General Holder announced today. In total, the amount of fines and other criminal penalties imposed on Transocean are the second-largest environmental crime recovery in U.S. history – following the historic $4 billion criminal sentence imposed on BP Exploration and Production Inc. in connection with the same disaster. “Transocean’s guilty plea and sentencing are the latest steps in the department’s ongoing efforts to…

Miami Boat Show 2013 – BDoutdoors Every year, BD Outdoors is excited to attend the Miami Boat Show in Miami, Florida with the goal of ensuring that its members are always on the cutting edge of the marine world. The 2013 Miami Boat show was no different. Starting Thursday, February 14, Ali Hussainy, president of BD Outdoors, and Brant Crenshaw, Director of Sales for BD Outdoors, were at the show meeting with top marine industry leaders, gathering the latest news, and checking out new products and technology. “Years ago, many of the industry’s major players didn’t know who we were,”…

Internet users who have followed the stunning and sometimes frightening real-time tracking of great white sharks done by research firm OCEARCH now have reason to expect even more sharks to track. Caterpillar Inc. and OCEARCH have agreed to a multi-year partnership that will help propel the OCEARCH organization’s global research on sharks. OCEARCH has led 15 expeditions to safely research the breeding, feeding, migration and birthing patterns of these ocean creatures. Not only will the deal help OCEARCH; the sharks will benefit as well. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has determined that of the shark and ray species…

Boondoggle Merritt Island Kayak anglers are coming together this weekend at KARS Park in Merritt Island, FL, for the third annual Boondoggle, sponsored in part by BD Outdoors. According to Chuck Levi, the organizer of the Boondoggle, the event is “an excuse to bring a whole bunch of kayakers together from all over the country, for kayaking, fishing, hanging out, and networking.” Participants from as far away as Louisiana and New Hampshire will camp at KARS Park in everything from RVs to small tents to take part in the event. A variety of activities are involved, including a raffle with…

With more than 3 million anglers in Florida, the state hopes to encourage even more people to try out the sport. During its Feb. 13 meeting, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) selected Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, Sept. 1 as the 2013 saltwater license-free fishing days. On these days, the requirement to have a recreational fishing license is waived for Florida’s residents and visitors while they are saltwater fishing. The FWC offers four license-free fishing days a year: two saltwater and two freshwater. While the Commission selects new saltwater license-free fishing days on an annual basis, freshwater…

Deep in the African wilderness, a buffalo was caught on video as it tossed an attacking crocodile over its head. An “Africam” camera operator named Penny captured this amazing footage on a live stream from the Scotia Dam Africam camera on January 29, 2013. The resident crocodile clamped onto the lower leg of a bull buffalo and a second bull charged in to rescue his buddy, tossing the crocodile into the air twice. According to the report, the crocodile seemed to be gored quite deeply while the buffalo got away with seemingly mild injuries.

The Florida Everglades, a natural wonderland filled with abundant wildlife, is being taken over by an invasive species: Burmese pythons. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and its partners launched the 2013 Python Challenge to enlist both the general public and python permit holders in a month-long harvest of Burmese pythons. Fifty harvested Burmese pythons were received by the University of Florida as of Friday, February 8. The pythons are being processed and logged by UF for the 2013 Python Challenge. Final results of the 2013 Python Challenge™ will be announced on Saturday, February 16. The 2013 Python…

Soft plastic lures are on the government’s chopping block in the state of Maine. On Jan. 17, state Representative Paul Davis introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of all “rubber” lures. The bill does not define “rubber,” which is not a standard material for soft baits, so it leaves it open the possibility that all soft artificial baits would be prohibited if the bill is passed. Tomorrow, the state’s Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will hold a public hearing on this bill. KeepAmericaFishing officials released a statement last week, noting that it is not aware…

As of March 1, 2013, anglers will have more opportunities to get their names in the coveted IGFA World Record Game Fishes book. The IGFA, sport fishing’s world record keeper, has added eight species to its All-Tackle Length record program and made a few new additions to the Slam and Trophy Clubs as well. This means a great shot at a record for enterprising anglers, and more opportunities for Slam and Trophy fish seekers worldwide. Now two years old, the IGFA’s All-Tackle Length record program recognizes great catches based on length rather than weight and requires that fish be released…

In an effort to raise funds for US veterans, the Booby Trap Fishing Team will hold its third annual “Get Tight Sucka” Texas Swordfish Seminar on March 23rd. The event runs from 10 AM to 10 PM at Surfside Marina, and tickets are $20 at the gate. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy food, drink, music and fishing-related fun for the entire family. The heart of the event will be a series of swordfish seminars, breakout sessions on rigging a variety of effective baits and tackle, a live auction and some valuable raffles. The Grand Door Prize will be…