2008 Catch & Release Contest Finalists Voting

SuperUser Account — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:04:21 GMT

Fill out my Wufoo form!

2008 Catch & Release Contest Finalists

SuperUser Account — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:08:21 GMT

The NAFC staff has carefully chosen 25 finalists for the 2008 Catch & Release Contest. Now it’s up to you! Vote for the catch you feel is most extraordinary, considering not only the fish’s size, but also the body of water, geographic location and method used. The 10 anglers who receive the most votes will each win a fantastic prize package valued at more than $1,000! Review the finalists and their photos (click on the thumbnail to enlarge), and then cast your vote below. Wade Boyechko 36-inch channel catfish Casting a tiger prawn Red River, Manitoba Edwin Lucas 18-inch crappie Casting a minnow Rockford Lake, Neb. Rusty Miller 45-inch flathead catfish Nightfishing a bullhead Minnesota River, Minn. William McDaniel 47-inch muskie Casting a jig from shore Ottertail River, Minn. Jane Golla 52-inch northern pike Casting a spoon Lac La Martre, NW Territories Chris Nielsen 94-inch sturgeon Bottomfishing Fraser River, British Columbia Dane Solomon 26-inch largemouth bass Flippin' a 10-inch PowerWorm Palm Beach Garden, Fla. Billy Grotton 30 1/2-inch brown trout Fly fishing a wooly bugger Messalonskee Stream, Maine David Harrison 53 1/2-inch blue catfish Bottomfishing cut bream Nickajack Lake, Tenn. Paul Noles 27-inch largemouth bass Casting a Rapala X-Walk Private lake, Tenn. Derek Daniel 45-inch redfish Bottomfishing Atlantic Ocean, N.C. Bill Hegyi 21-inch smallmouth bass Casting a Rebel Pop-R Bearskin Lake, Wisc. James McDonald 52-inch snook Live shrimp Atlantic Ocean; Sebastian, Fla. Joe Stringari 22 1/4-inch smallmouth bass Casting a spinnerbait Umpqua River, Ore. Jeff Bodnar 54 3/8-inch striped bass Surf-fishing a live eel Rhode Island Sound, R.I. Marlin Coulombe 48-inch lake trout Trolling an AC Plug Great Bear Lake, NW Territories Paul Mauchley 40 1/4-inch steelhead Jigging Clearwater River, Idaho Shane Dugger 44-inch striped bass Cutbait Boone Lake, Tenn. Scott Lucia 61-inch lake sturgeon Bottomfishing nightcrawlers Rainy River, Minn. Shannon Leytem 30-inch walleye Nightfishing a Salmo Executor Maquoketa River, Iowa Brett Dunn 30-inch hybrid striped bass Casting a swimbait Susquehanna River, Pa. Bill Schmidt 32-inch walleye Trolling a Bandit crankbait Tongue River, Mont. Randy Beamish 29-inch rainbow trout Fly fishing Lake Superior tributary, Ontario Daniel Mader 23-inch largemouth bass Casting a Rapala DT-6 Cross Creek Lake, Pa. Dennis Musgraves 48-inch chinook salmon Casting a Blue Fox spinner Sheep Creek, Alaska Fill out my Wufoo form!

Air Anywhere

SuperUser Account — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:32:49 GMT

ASME QualityCost compared to performance related to your needs is always a consideration when buying an air compressor. But neither of these factors should override your safety and the quality of the unit’s construction. The only way to guarantee your safety and the quality of workmanship is to purchase an air compressor that is certified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Air compressors certified by the ASME show they have undergone testing for both build quality and safety. If the compressor isn’t ASME-certified, pass.Air Compressor InstallationIf you don’t have space to mount an on-board air system in a tool box or elsewhere in the bed, consider locating the compressor and remote tank under the truck.On full-size pickups and SUVs there’s usually enough space between body/bed and the frame rails to mount the compressor to the driver’s-side frame rail. The air storage tank, if it has one, can then be in close proximity by mounting right to the underside of the bed/floor bed. Drop the mounting bolts from the top, positioned in the low spots of the bed ribs, to secure the tank in place. Such a mounting location keeps the tank both high and secure while keeping the compressor, and air fittings very well protected. (One caution: air compressors don’t like being submerged, so keep this in mind when selecting a mounting location.)Route the air hose from the compressor (or air tank) to the rear of the truck so it is away from exhaust pipes and exits just above or on each side of the license plate. This makes a very convenient location to have the air hose connection fitting.

Fishing Myths Debunked

SuperUser Account — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:29:05 GMT

Have you seen an unbelievable fishing photo or story floating around the Internet? Or maybe it was something you saw passed along in an e-mail chain, or a story of your very own. Well if you do, NAFC wants to hear about it. If you have a fishing story or photo that may be considered an oddity, you can now submit them to FishingClub.com. The NAFC staff will do a bit of digging to verify the story or photo's authenticity, and may even offer some analysis. To submit your fishing myth, e-mail insideline@namginc.com. Here are a couple of Fishing Myths Debunked to get the ideas going: Fishing Myth Debunked: The Basketball CatfishFC Newsletter, October 2008You saw the picture, you knew flatheads were famous for feeding on almost anything, and you shook your head in disbelief. But you never knew the true story behind the photo of the huge cat with a basketball stuck in its mouth, did you?No, it’s not a doctored photo (according to most “e-mail experts”) and there’s no proof that a person stuck the ball in the catfish’s mouth to create the photo op. Sorry, conspiracy theorists.The real story broke on May 30, 2004, when Wichita Eagle reporter Michael Pearce revealed the bizarre scene Bill Driver discovered on Sandalwood Lake, west of Wichita, Kan. After noticing an 8-inch ball bobbing in the one-acre development pond, Driver went to investigate and found that it was stuck in the mouth of a 50-pound flathead. He tried unsuccessfully to yank the ball from the exhausted fish’s mouth, then had his wife bring him a knife to puncture the ball. Once the ball was out, the catfish swam off into deep water, far removed from the things of man.Afterward, Driver mused, “I never considered using a kid’s basketball for bait. Maybe I should have.” Fishing Myth Debunked: The Famous Monster Pike PhotoFC Newsletter, Sept. 10, 20008You studied it. You debated it. You drooled over it. But you never quite believed it, did you? No pike picture in history blazed through the Internet faster or more often than this photo. Most e-mail chains claimed the fish came from Rainy Lake, Ontario, and was caught when it attacked a 36-inch pike that had already been hooked.Wrong.The monster fish, which weighed an amazing 42.9 pounds, was caught in 2004 on a lake in southern Holland by Dutch angler Ewout Blom.He was trolling a perch-patterned Rapala Super Shad Rap when he noticed his rod bend slightly. It straightened, then bent completely. He set the hook and battled for five full minutes, including a few tense moments when the giant thrashed at the surface. The pike measured 50 inches (127 centimeters if you’re Dutch).“The mystery is over,” said NAFC Executive Director Steve Pennaz. “You can tell by its coloring and the shape of its fins that it’s a European pike.”

NAFC 2009 Outstanding Catch Contest Entry Form