Phil Lilley

Saying that Jordan Brown had a good year outdoors is akin to saying the MU Tigers football team had a good season. The only downside to the 14-year-old Cuba, Mo., resident's envy-inspiring string of 2007 successes is that he might never have another year that measures up. Brown's year got off to a good start when he killed a nice gobbler during the spring turkey season. He was excited when the month-long fall turkey season opened Oct. 1, but his wildest dreams fell short of what actually happened. Read more - http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/st...View/sid/26689/

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/r...08/01_31-03/OUT With one just one fish, you might say 26-year-old Justin Riley of Woodbine broke five Maryland bass records. His 11-pound, 2.88-ounce fish taken from the Potomac Saturday is the biggest largemouth taken since records were first kept in the late 1950's. It also ranks tops in both the state's freshwater and Chesapeake Bay divisions, and add to that it's the biggest taken in any tournaments in Maryland - including the BASSMaster's Classic held out of Baltimore 20 years ago. And, though records aren't kept for ice fishing, Justin is surely atop the heap for a bass caught under the ice, which was the way his hog was reeled in from the frozen Potomac at Marshall Hall between Blue Plains an the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Maryland side of the River. It wasn't meant to be that way. Justin was fishing a tournament in the Winter League of Anglers Choice with his dad Edward - and skim ice covered much of the river which of course made it impossible to cast everywhere he wanted. After leaving the docks he sliced through the thin ice with his bass boat's big motor, but once fishing and with not much success, he tried something different. With his bow motor he broke open ice to cast - and as he proceeded, via his electronics, he noted fish under the newly broken ice. He began casting a half-ounce XPS blade bait of a mixture of lime and chartreuse and it wasn't long before the lunker grabbed it, then made a beeline under the ice. The whole scrap of about 10 minutes was fought under the ice. He landed his record at 8:30 a.m. and kept on fishing. By day's end, the father-son team had won the lunker award, most pounds in aggregate (20 pounds 2 ounces) and everything else. Big fish are no strangers to Justin, who at times has fished the BASSMasters circuit. From the mouth of the Mattawoman he has taken a 9-pounder and four more largemouths of 8 pounds or better. The .88 ounce made the difference between the largest tidal water bass and a tie with Rodney Cockrell of Calvert County, who on Oct. 4, 1983 cranked in an 11-pound 2-ouncer from Bowens Pond, a private fishing spot in Calvert County. It tops by a couple of pounds the biggest catch I made on one cast at that pond. About 25 years ago while fishing with Ebbie Smith of Prince Frederick at Bowen's, I cast a large propeller bait into a shady shallows and had a curious strike. There were two jolts within a second, And when I got the fish to the net it turned out to be two bass, twins - each of 5 pounds, one at the forward hook and the other at the tail hook. Bass of 5 pounds or more weren't unusual at Bowen's. For Justin, things aren't that close in the tidewater bass division, the record was a 9-pound, 1-ounce fish taken from the Pocomoke by J. D. Noell on Sept. 13, 1975. Record keeping is curious under DNR's tournament system. Cockrell will keep his record, but Noell has lost his. Fishing In Maryland, a fishing annual which set up the original record system, lumps fresh and tidewater bass together, so Justin's fish rules all for FIM honors. What's the difference; now we all know who caught Maryland's best largemouth. Justin was in the dark for a while. On the boat, his scales, because of the cold weather showed different weights each time he tried to weigh his fish. When he got ashore at the weighing station and he realized he might have a record, the fish was quickly taken to a market to be weighed on certified scales, but it couldn't be put on the scales - sanitary rules nix anything on market scales that are alien to what the store stocks in commercial fish, meat, vegetables and fruit. So he hurried to Bass Pro Shops in Hanover where the fish was weighed and still remains. On the way to Bass Pro, Justin covered the fish's eyes and used a mix of fish preservative to keep it alive, then it was put in a quarantine tub where it was touch and go for a couple of hours. A soon as quarantine time is over, it will join the other fish on display in the big tank at Bass Pro for everyone to admire. It's a legitimate hog and came only three days after another record bass. On the Wednesday of last week, Fred Barnes of Chesapeake, Va., caught a striped bass of 73 pounds at Cape Henry off the mouth of the Chesapeake to set a record for Virginia. Justin's half ounce XPS lure is a look-alike of the popular Silver Buddy, but he did a little tinkering with it. He figured the treble hook was too long so he changed to a shorter one. He says it makes a difference, and who can argue with a man who has the record? The Silver Buddy is among my favorite cold weather bass jigging artificials though I prefer it in silver. I was introduced to it by George H. W. Bush in 1992 when on a frigid and windy March day he pulled one from his tackle box as we were fishing the Potomac several miles upriver from where Justin scored. It didn't catch much that day; what with all the press and security boats around, but the president took a bass of about 9 inches, I got one of 10 inches - and on my wall is an autographed dollar bill.

http://www.morrisdailyherald.com/articles/...s/619cloves.txt LOVES PARK, Ill. (AP) _ Marty Dinges broke a promise to himself two years ago when he started collecting fishing lures. Not just any kind of lure, though. Dinges describes Jim Bagley Bait Co. lures with adjectives generally reserved for pieces of art. "These lures are beautiful," said the 54-year-old angler. "I bought them because I had never seen a lure that looked so real." He purchased a few. Then a few more. Now he has 1,200 at his Loves Park home. "It's a hobby that has kind of turned into an obsession. It's funny how it works out that way because I always said I would never collect lures," he said with a chuckle. Now he searches for them on eBay and lure collectors' Web sites and at garage sales. He's also made friends online who help him on his collecting quest, such as Jonathan Manteuffel of Alabama. "He is very instrumental in my passion for Jim Bagley's baits," Dinges said. "Jonathan is a Bagley fanatic and has one of the top Bagley collections. His knowledge is second to none." The lures are considered contemporary collectibles, as the earliest ones only date back to the late 1950s, but their quality attracts collectors. The company's slogan is "The World's Most Treasured Lures." "You try to limit what you pay for them. I've paid premium for a couple of them, but most of the ones I'm getting average about $4 or $5," said Dinges, who has never collected anything else. His Bagley collection includes a "very rare" one-inch small fry smallmouth, double-deep diver, which was a "production error." Only a handful were made and just two still exist, said Dinges, who paid $150 to another collector for the lure. Dinges not only collects Bagleys; he also takes them to the lake. "I was afraid to fish with them at first," he said. "I had them over a year before I fished with one." He got a scare on his first fishing trip with his Bagleys, A toothy, 32-inch muskie followed his perch lure to the boat. "I pulled it out of the water as fast as I could. He would have put teeth marks on it," Dinges said. Now he has a separate group of less-valuable Bagleys just for fishing. "They catch fish, too," he said. While Dinges is a relative newcomer to collecting Bagley lures, Johnny Garland of Johnson City, Tenn., is considered one of the pioneer collectors of the brand. He started in the early 1990s. "I would go to tackle stores and buy every Bagley they had," he said in a phone interview last week. "I would make a deal and buy them for $2 or $2.25 (about half the retail price), and I was buying 200 or 300 at a time or more." Serious collectors will pay plenty for those Bagleys today. In the past few months, three Bagley green frog lures sold for $1,100, $1,525 and $2,180. Garland recently sold a "master" collection of 242 Bagleys for $30,000. "It shocks me," Garland, 62, said of the prices the lures are fetching. "It's almost silly. There's no reason for those baits to bring that much." Garland believes the Bagley market might have peaked. "There are a few (Bagleys) that might go a little higher, but I think there will be several that will go down, too," he said. Dinges still considers it a good investment. "The little amount of money I've got into them, I could put that into a boat or other fishing tackle and not get my money out, but with these I can," he said.

A fisherman from Croatia is selling his pet dog because it kept catching more fish than him. Slobodan Paparella from the Adriatic island of Lastovo said he was fed up with being embarrassed in front of his fishing pals. He said that most days when he went fishing he would catch only the odd fish - but that his Irish setter Lipi would jump into the water and use her jaws to catch dozens of fish. Paparalla said the last straw was when he tried to reel in a 15lb (about 6,8kg) fish but lost it at the last second - only to see Lipi jump in and catch the fish with one bite and bring it back to shore. "The other fishermen were all laughing at me. I have no choice but to sell the dog because it keeps humiliating me," he said. - Ananova.com

You think? The folks at invision said they found some problems with the cookie settings and another thing... going to reset it and everything should work much better. I thought some of the problem was the server but I guess not.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...3/SPB9UOP3U.DTL Game wardens trapped, arrested and convicted a Northern California poacher and restaurant owner by using a combination of CSI-style techniques and old-school hide-in-the-bush stakeouts, according to court documents made available last week. The result is one of the landmark wildlife enforcement cases in California history and also one of the craziest fish stories ever told. Like many of the best cases, this saga started with a tip. In the summer, a Bay Area angler called the Department of Fish and Game's poacher hot line, (888) 334-2258, and reported that he'd seen a fisherman "catch at least 30 trout in one day and keep them all" on the Sacramento River in Dunsmuir, according to Fish and Game. In addition, the tipster recognized the over-limit poacher because he'd been to the fellow's restaurant. Game warden Joe Powell, a 15-year veteran with 10 years in the Bay Area, decided to cruise over to the River Cafe in Dunsmuir, arriving incognito in plain clothes, and look the place over. "The menu was taped to the window, and sure enough, there was a rainbow trout dinner for sale for $10.95," Powell said. The rumor was that the owner of River Cafe, Larry Baker Sr., was following the DFG tanker truckers around, and then after trout were planted, would catch the fish before they could get naturalized to their surroundings. Within a week, game wardens John Dawson and Jake Bushy, wearing full camouflage and masks, hid in the bushes near Baker's two favorite fishing spots, "the Wall" and "the I-5 Hole," both well known on the Upper Sacramento River in Dunsmuir. They watched as a DFG tanker truck arrived at about 10 a.m. and each of the spots was planted. <h3 style="" class="subhead">Setting the trap</h3> The "Wall" is in downtown Dunsmuir, where Dawson said he watched Baker arrive within an hour of the plant. Baker placed salmon eggs on his hook, cast out, and one of the freshly-planted trout struck almost immediately, Dawson said. "I just watched him catch a limit in five minutes," Dawson said by radio to Powell, who was stationed nearby at the restaurant. "He'd sling the fish up and snap the neck backwards," Dawson said. "We'd never seen that before," and added it would be another indicator to later identify the fish. The DFG watched Baker for three days. Although the limit is five trout per day, game wardens said they saw him catch 33. In a defining "character moment," Dawson said he also filmed Baker throwing an empty salmon egg jar and a soda can "right into the river." While Dawson hid in bushes for 10 hours at a time, Powell trailed Baker when he left the river. "He'd catch five trout, take them to his restaurant, and then go back and catch five more about an hour later," Powell said. "One time he did that three times. The most we saw him catch in one day was 18." Baker did not know he was being watched. He also didn't know that the DFG's Mark Hampton, an associate biologist with an expertise in marking salmon, had injected a tiny wire with microscopic identification numbers in the tail fins of 300 trout planted at Baker's two favorite fishing spots. Because Powell, Dawson and Bushy are well known in the area, and in fact, have reputations that approach near-legend status across the Western U.S. for past undercover busts involving bear and elk, Powell asked game wardens Yvette Adams and Rich Wharton from out of the area to enjoy a dinner at the River Cafe. <h3 style="" class="subhead">The gotcha moment</h3> The couple, dressed like they were on a date, each ordered the Rainbow Trout special. The undercover agents did not finish their meal and placed the leftovers in a take-home box. Powell, getting more eager by the minute to inspect the tail of the trout, was waiting nearby with what he called "The Magic Wand." This is a $5,000 micro-wire detector. He waved it over the tail of the leftover trout in the take-home boxes and each time, a red indicator lit up and an alarm beep sounded. "Gotcha," Powell said. He then led four game wardens back to the restaurant, search warrant in hand. Baker was not at the restaurant because "he's out fishing again," according to a restaurant employee, Powell said. The game wardens then walked into the kitchen of the restaurant and immediately spotted several trout on a cutting board, Powell said. They inspected one and saw that its neck was snapped backward in a very unusual fashion. Within five minutes, the game wardens found 22 trout, and of those, half were injected with the coded ID wire. Game wardens seized all the dinner receipts for the entire year, after which they estimated that Baker's restaurant had served 60 trout dinners. The case ended in January when Baker pleaded guilty to five counts of violation of the Fish and Game Code, including unlawful take, unlawful sale of trout, illegal fish in an eating establishment and littering, according to the DFG. Baker was ordered to pay $5,323, sentenced to 30 days in jail, placed on three years of probation, and banned from fishing in California or accompanying anybody fishing for three years. In addition, Powell said, Baker sold his restaurant and is moving out of state. There's a moral to this story, Powell said: "You never know who's watching."

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmas...MASTERHeadlines Big baits for big weights By DAN O'SULLIVAN Swimbaits currently account for two major BASS records. One is Byron Velvick’s winning creel of 83 pounds, 5 ounces at the 2000 California Invitational. The other is Steve Kennedy’s massive 122-pound, 14-ounce total at the Elite Series Golden State Shootout in March 2007. Although both records were set at Clear Lake with jumbo-size swimbaits, these Elite Series anglers use smaller versions to score big on fisheries outside of California. Both anglers utilize palm-size swimbaits as weapons in their fishing arsenal to improve the size of their daily catch. One as an all-day tactic, the other when he feels the fish he’s chasing require a bigger lure profile. But, unlike swimbaits that can measure up to a foot in length, the advantage with smaller versions is that they do not require the purchase of specialized gear. For example, when he’s throwing swimbaits, Kennedy uses a 7-11 Kistler Helium 2 Flipping Stick teamed with a 7.1:1 baitcasting reel spooled with 20- to 30-pound-test P-Line Floroclear. Kennedy believes the reel speed is important for hook setting. “Big fish will eat the bait from behind and push it forward. So you have to catch up to them.” Meanwhile, Velvick throws his smaller swimbaits on his signature 7-9 swimbait rod made by Rogue Rods, which he teams with an Okuma V-200a spooled with 15- to 20-pound-test Berkley Trilene XT. Velvick doesn’t recommend the new high-tech lines when throwing swimbaits, however. “Monofilament is needed to absorb the shock of swimbait hook sets,” he said. Many consider Velvick to be one of the sport’s most recognized swimbait experts, and he has thrown these baits for years on the Tournament Trail. But Kennedy’s first “big bait” experience came at the 2007 Elite Series opener at Lake Amistad, just three weeks before his record-setting performance at Clear Lake. “At Amistad, big female bass were suspended in trees leading into spawning areas on the first day,” Kennedy remembered. “I couldn’t get them to eat a jig or a Kinami Flash, so I went back the next morning throwing a Baby E swimbait [www.californiaswimbabes.com] and caught a 5-pounder.” Since that day on Amistad, Kennedy has used swimbaits across the country. But one that he used at Clear Lake has become his favorite. “I caught my biggest fish at Clear Lake on a Huddleston Trout [www.huddlestondeluxe.com], but I caught 40 fish a day on the 6-inch Basstrix Paddle Tail with a 6/0 Falcon hook,” revealed Kennedy. “It’s a great bait. I can catch fish everywhere on it.” Since setting the all-time record in 2000, Velvick has been extolling the virtues of swimbaits to anglers everywhere, and palm-size baits also serve him well. “I’ve used a 5-inch handmade bait for many years. The profile, weight and action of it are perfect. But as the popularity has grown, I’ve found new models that I like.” Velvick used his homemade version to win Ray Scott’s Light Line Championship in 2002 but has found comparable characteristics in River2Sea’s Live Eye Bottom Walker swimbait [www.river2seausa.com]. “The smaller Bottom Walkers are the perfect profile to mimic baitfish,” Velvick said. “They cast well, and they have great action and a perfect hook for big fish.” Velvick often uses swimbaits all day long. But Kennedy considers them situational tools. “I use them when I find big fish that won’t eat conventional offerings,” Kennedy explained. “Swimbaits have a profile that appeals to bigger fish. In fact, using them around shad spawns helps me get more of the right bites, as opposed to spinnerbaits and crankbaits.” Kennedy and Velvick both say not to let the large size of a swimbait intimidate you. “Big fish want a big meal,” Kennedy remarked. “Swimbaits get their attention.” Velvick agreed. “Four- to 6-inch baitfish are very common around the country. Fish are accustomed to eating prey that size. As anglers, we need to exploit that.” They suggest that fishermen go to their favorite lake and try fishing swimbaits around docks, ledges or submerged grassbeds. Start with a slow retrieve, but experiment to find the right cadence and set the hook hard when strikes occur. They also say that at least 2 feet of visibility in the water is optimal. Finally, Kennedy offered a word of caution to his fellow anglers. “These things are addictive. I’ve spent almost $3,000 on swimbaits since California,” he admitted. “I know I couldn’t have caught them at Clear Lake on anything else, so I’m definitely hooked.” Click here to JOIN BASS!

The Bassmaster CastingKids events were created to teach children how to flip, pitch and cast and provide them with an activity they can enjoy for a lifetime. Below you'll find a list of upcoming CastingKids events. For more information please contact us at 877-BASS-USA and ask for the BASS Youth Department.Sponsors of the CastingKids program, conducted by BASS are: Toyota, Purolator, Triton Boats, Mercury, MotorGuide, Lowrance, Berkley, Advance Auto Parts, Cabela's and Zebco. Mar. 1 Fayette Bass Club Woods & Water,Tuscaloosa, AL Mar. 1 Fayette Bass Club Southside Baptist Church, Fayette, AL Mar. 29 Gilbertown Bass Club Coffeeville Service Park, Silas, AL Feb. 24 AZ BASS Federation Nation Cabela's, Glendale, AZ Feb.15-17,2008 CT BASS Federation Nation Hartford Convention Center, Hartford June 15, 2008 CT Outdoors Mansfield Hollow, Mansfield, CT June 21, 2008 CT Outdoors Mansfield Hollow, Mansfield, CT Feb. 29-Mar. 2 Florida Trails Bass Club Miller's Boat Show, Ocala, FL Mar. 1 FL BASS Federation Nation State Finals-Okeechobee, FL Mar. 1 & 2 Florida Trail Bassmasters Bass Pro Shops, Orlando, FL Feb. 9-10 Maple Bassmasters of Illinois Tinley Park High School, Tinley Park, IL Feb. 16 Mid Eastern Illinois BM Big R, Danville, IL Mar. 1 Tri County Hawg Hunters Godley Park District, Godley, IL Mar. 15 & 16 Illinois Bass Anglers Bass Pro Shops, Bolingbrook, IL Feb. 15-23 Backyard Bassmasters Boat,Sport & Travel Show, Indianapolis Feb. 9-10 Cedar Rapids Jr. B/M Hawkeye Downs Boat Show, Cedar Rapids Feb. 9-10 Kick Back Bass Club Expo Center, Topeka Feb. 17 Last Cast Bassmasters Pittsburg National Guard Armory, Pittsburg, KS Mar. 8 Olathe Bass Club Bass Pro Shops, Olathe, KS Jan. 26-Feb. 3 Kentucky BASS Federation Nation Louisville Fairgrounds, Louisville,KY Feb. 8-9 KY BASS Federation Nation Internat'l Conv. Ctr, Louisville Feb. 10KY BASS Federation Nation State Finals -Internat'l Conv. Ctrs, Louisville, KY Feb. 16 Blue Grass Bassmasters 4-H Youth Development, Center Square, Lebanon Mar. 14 Blue Grass Bassmasters 1st Baptist Church, Mount Washington, KY Feb. 9 & 10 Southwest Bassmasters Lake Charles Civic Center, Lake Charles, LA Feb. 23 Reel Time Independent Bible Church, Hedgesville, WV Feb. 16 Somerset Bassmasters Skowhegan Recreation Center, Skowhegan, ME Feb. 17 Eagle Bassmasters Deer Pond, Hollis, ME Feb. 29, 2008 Michigan BASS Federation Nation Novi Expo Center-Outdoorama, Novi, MI Mar. 1, 2008 Michigan BASS Federation Nation Novi Expo Center-Outdoorama, Novi, MI Mar. 14 MI BASS Federation Nation Ultimate Fishing Show, Grand Rapids, MI Feb. 16 Granite City Bassmasters Miller Auto Plaza, St. Cloud, MN Feb. 16Minnetonka Classic New Prauge Middle School, New Prauge Feb.. 6-10 St. Louis Area Bassmasters Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO Feb. 10 Hiddenite Bass Anglers Bass Pro Shops, Concord Mar. 1 Triad Bassmasters Farris Park, Mayodan, NC Feb. 23 Hudson Valley Bassmasters Galleria Mall, Poughkeepsie, NY Mar. 2 Westchester Rod & Reel B/M World Fishing & Outdoor Expo, Suffern, NY Mar. 8 Southern Tier Jr. B/MOlean Center Mall, Olean, NY Mar. 28-30 Northern NY Bassmasters II Gold Dome, Ogdensburg, NY Feb. 7-10, 2008 OutCast Bassmasters Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus Feb. 7-10Lake Keystone Bassmasters Green Country Tackle Show, Claremore Feb. 14-17North OKL Bassmasters State Fair Grounds-Tackle Show, OKC Mar. 15 & 16 North OKC Bassmasters Bass Pro Shops, Oklahoma City, OK Feb. 15-18 ONT BASS Federation Nation Toronto Internat'l Center, Mississauga, ON Mar. 8 St. Catharines Bassmasters Pen Centre, St. Catharines, ON Mar. 15 Petawawa Bassmasters Civic Centre, Petawawa, OH Feb. 10 Capitol City Bassmasters Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA Feb. 23, 2008 Susquehanna Bronzebacks Christ Wesleyan Chuch, Milton, PA Feb. 22-24 Carolina Christian B/M BMC-Carolina 1st Center,Greenville, SC Mar. 1 Shaw Bassers 1st Church of the Nazarene, Sumter, SC Feb. 9 Lake Mitchell Bassmasters Cabela's, Mitchell, SD Feb. 9-10 Bad River BassRamkota, Pierre, SD Feb. 11 BM of Cleveland Tennessee Blue Springs School, Cleveland Feb. 16 TN BASS Federation Nation State Finals - Black Fox Elem. School, Cleveland Feb. 23Manfield Bassmasters Cabela's, Ft. Worth, TX Mar. 8 & 9 UT BASS Federation Nation Cabela's, Lehi, UT Mar. 9 UT BASS Federation Nation State Finals - Cabela's, Lehi, UT Mar. 1 & 2 Piedmont VA Bassmasters Orange County Sports Complex, Orange, VA Feb. 16 Fire Creek Bassmasters TRAC, Pasco Feb. 14-17 Northern Illinois Youth BM Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Franklin, WI Mar. 9 Mountainaire Bassmasters Gander Mountain, So. Charlston, WV

Alabama boy and hunt organizers to answer for possible cruelty charges By Rhonda Roland Shearerhttp://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/news/story?id=3220628&campaign=rss&source=OUTDOORSHeadlines Editor's note: Rhonda Shearer is the director of Art Science Research Laboratory, which she founded with her late husband Stephen Jay Gould. The New York-based think tank promotes cross-disciplinary studies and supports a journalism ethics program that publishes StinkyJournalism.org, a site bent on debunking erroneous media. She and her colleagues have put hundreds of hours into investigating the claims around a "monster" pig kill in Alabama last year, which they see as a case study in how to create an international media hoax. Because the investigation involves hunting law and ethics, she has written this report for ESPNOutdoors.com, to be published simultaneously on StinkyJournalism.org. When Jamison Stone shot and killed a massive swine in Alabama last year, the headlines blared: "Boy Bags Monster Pig in 'Bama." An 11-year-old taking down a hog in Dixie was front-page news in Manhattan. "The Today Show" lined him up for an appearance. Quickly, though, as the details of the hunt emerged, the spotlight abandoned Stone. After countless hours of following the story since it broke in May, I've pieced together a far shadier account of events than initially reported. And I've learned that Stone this week will face a secret grand jury in Clay County to answer for possible animal cruelty charges. He and the four adults he trusted — who ultimately tricked him and an overeager press — are all subject to questioning, and possible enforcement. What went wrong? For starters, the grand jury's issue is not with Jamison's father, Mike Stone, and his initial exaggeration of the pig's dimensions. (Check out my investigation "Hog Washed!" on StinkyJournalism.org for a breakdown of how the "hero shots" after the hunt were manipulated.) Instead, it will be investigating the more serious matter of why experienced hunters let the half-ton hog bleed out across a three-hour hunt when they had the opportunity to kill it swiftly and humanely. Stone, now 12, may not have known better. He's the young man you remember holding the .50 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol behind the large, hairy hog he shot at a "hunting preserve" called Lost Creek Plantation in Lineville, Ala., in May. He no doubt had placed trust in his father, Mike Stone, who arranged the hunt with Keith O'Neal and Charles Williams, owners of Southeastern Trophy Hunters. They brokered hunts with Eddy Borden, who owns Lost Creek. Those men assured young Jamison that hog he killed was wild. The truth is, the animal was in fact a docile breeding swine named "Fred." The boy's trust in these four men turned out to be misplaced. O'Neal, a professional hunter, persuaded the father to fork over $1,500 to guide Jamison on the rigged hunt. Their actions that day could lead Jamison to face charges in court. How did three trained hunters and the boy's father lead him around a fenced-in, 150-acre plot for more than three hours, allowing Jamison to repeatedly shoot — but merely wound — a 1,000-pound animal? Not one of them thought to say: "Look, son, you had your chance, but those belly shots have wounded the animal and it is in distress. We have to put the creature out of its misery." Instead, they allowed the hog to bleed out from injury. Mike Stone said during several phone interviews recorded over numerous hours that no kill shot was ever taken. "I regret that it didn't die the first shot," he said on June 5. "But that's all I can say. That's all I'm going to say." The mystery remains: Why did the hunters do nothing? As director of the Art Science Research Laboratory, which runs a media ethics program and a web site called StinkyJournalism.org, I led hundreds of hours of on-the-record interviews and research into the monster pig case (the records of which were subpoenaed by Clay County District Attorney Fred Thompson). The results of that investigation will offer the jury some clues. Here is what we found. Although its web site boasted that the hunting at Lost Creek was "legendary," the hunting operation at the plantation was only four months old at the time of the hunt. Eddy Borden had big plans for developing his canned-hunt operation, the Clay County Times reported shortly before the hunt. Borden, along with O'Neal, hatched a scheme following the blueprint for hype and financial success generated by "Hogzilla," the first famous and controversial monster hog, shot on a hunting plantation in Georgia in 2004. Using buzzwords associated with the Hogzilla hype, O'Neal placed an advertisement on April 28th. It promised a "once in a lifetime" hunt for a "monster" wild boar that they had "trapped" and that was now "roaming the wilds of the Lost Creek Plantation." It turns out that the "monster" boar was in fact plain ol' Fred, a domesticated, part Duroc hog whose original owner, Phil Blissitt, said that Borden and Williams drove their truck to pick up the swine from his farm on April 29th. (Allen Andress, the chief of law enforcement for the Alabama Wildlife and Fisheries Division, confirmed the pickup date in a separate phone interview.) Borden paid Blissitt $250 for the hog, and in that instant Fred went from breeding stock to "wild" beast just four days before the hunt. O'Neal, in charge of selling the hunting escapade, knew full well there was no, "beast roaming Lost Creek." Still, he placed an advertisement on his web site, Southeasterntrophyhunters.com, and sent out a mailing to hype the canned hunt as a safari-like adventure. He may have already had Mike Stone in mind as a prospect. The ad featured Stone himself, who had shot a 627-pound hog at Lost Creek only weeks before. He also mentioned that Borden had just trapped another boar larger than the one Stone had shot. According to Mike Stone, a local news station advised O'Neal that in order for the hunt to become a news story, only the boy — not an adult — could take the shot. The media got what they asked for, and a brave young lad shot and killed a "monster" hog in the wilds of Alabama. Trouble was, it just wasn't true. The Anniston Star newspaper reported on May 30 that hunt organizers O'Neal and Williams said they "knew the harvest of the pig alone would draw some attention but that the addition of Jamison doing the shooting moved the story to a higher level." O'Neal told the paper: "We knew it was going to be something significant because of the sheer size. The fact that an 11-year-old did it with a pistol, that's what perpetuated it and has kept it going." The Star continued: "O'Neal and Williams went on to say that a lot of this skepticism might have never happened. They had invited television stations to come with them on the hunt, but none showed up." It was the Star's May 23, 2007 report that first launched the story into the media; StinkyJournalism.org discovered that it also was invited to attend the hunt, but did not disclose this fact. (We will be writing more later about the media's responsibilities and role in this international fake news story.) We also found out the main independent witness used to verify the hog's size and skull for the Star, taxidermist Jerry Cunningham, had a business relationship with O'Neal for over 16 years. This should have been revealed to the public. Was creating a news story in order to promote a hunting business the primary reason the professional hunters didn't take any shots and went to such lengths to ensure that only the boy took aim? Were the resulting international headlines — "11 Year Old Boy Slays Monster Pig in Alabama'' — worth the cruelty and suffering to the pig? Borden may no longer think so. Instead of creating a booming business, the Hogzilla scheme backfired. It generated bad press and has led to possible charges against Borden as well as the boy. Lost Creek Plantation has apparently since been closed, and realtors have confirmed to Stinkyjournalism.org that it is up for sale. Mike Stone, who was sold a "pig-in-a-poke" by O'Neal, Williams and Borden, should not be charged. These three adults, all professional hunters, are responsible. Jamison and the hog are the victims in this case. Still, Mike Stone is no angel in all of this. He created a web site, Monsterpig.com, filled with celebrity endorsements, posters for sale with Jamison's autograph ($10), and an announcement that Jamison had just received a part in the movie, The Legend of Hogzilla. Mike Stone bragged that Jamison received congratulations from such celebrities as Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd; country star Kenny Chesney; Benelli exhibition marksmen Tom Knapp and Tim Bradley; and Smith & Wesson marksman Jerry Miculek. However, there was no groundswell of support by personalities contacting Jamison. Stone solicited all of these celebrities for their congratulations, and every last one was surprised and dismayed to hear that their names appeared on Jamison's web site. I asked Miculek, the famed sharpshooter and a role model for hunting youth, whether the .50 caliber hand gun was the cause for Jamison having missed so many shots. "You hit poorly because you can't control the recoil on it," Miculek said. What about letting the hog bleed out? Miculek did not flinch. "The idea of the hunt is to make a good one-shot presentation on the animal, so it's over with," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're 12 years old or you're 90 years old. You have to respect what you hunt, and you owe it to the animal as much as you do to yourself to make it a quick and accurate shot, so he [Jamison] did neither." I don't live in Alabama, but I would be willing to wager that most Alabamians know the importance and value of a quick kill when hunting. Not since Neil Young's song "Southern Man" has there been a better time to once again draw the line between what is morally acceptable and what is not. The ugly truth is that a child and his father were duped by three men for financial gain. What happened here is not hunting. As the grand jury deliberates this week, the state needs a Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Sweet Home Alabama" rebuttal. By enforcing its animal cruelty laws, people who criticized the hog's needlessly painful death around the world will learn that a few flim-flammers won't be allowed to tarnish the good name of Alabama — or hunting itself. Who else will join Stinkyjournalism.org to speak out for poor Jamison and hold the real culprits accountable? Might the manner of Fred's death constitute cruelty? And if so, who is at fault: a 12-year-old boy, or scheming adults? It is up to a grand jury in Clay County, Ala., to determine.

Guess how many tuneups it takes to get to a pickup to a million miles? OK, anglers and hunters, shooters and recreationists, we know you've covered a lot of terrain in your trusty pick-'em-up trucks. Over hill, over dale, you've hit the dusty trail all over dirt roads, Jeep trails and the backcountry to get closer to the your safe havens. We also know sportsmen will appreciate the hard work and stick-to-it-iveness of Frank Oresnik. The Medford, Ore., man's 1991 truck has had four radiators, three gas tanks, five transmissions and six water pumps, the Associated Press reports. And with more than 300 tuneups – one every 3,000 miles, like every good vehicle owner should – it all adds up to a very impressive number: 1 million. Yes indeedy, the odometer on Oresnik's 17-year-old Chevy Silverado is about a thousand miles from turning over to seven figures. Yesterday he took his pickup to the Oil Ex-Change Quick Lube in Medford for what he expects will be its last oil change and tuneup before hitting the magic number, according to the AP. "I feel almost like the longtime NFL player as he goes into his last training camp knowing this is the end," Oresnik said. He credits proper maintenance and a good measure of luck for allowing the truck to rack up so many miles; the engine has never been overhauled. The pickup was purchased in June 1996 after the original owner put 41,000 miles on it. Oresnik uses the vehicle to deliver seafood in three states, putting on about 85,000 miles a year, he said. Now therein is the crux, folks. Nearly a million miles hauling fish in a pickup. It's enough to shake the head of any sportsman who's gotten out of a warm cab to the lock the hubs in the mud and the muck and the snow. (You didn't think we'd be relaying a tale like this if it didn't revolve around fish or game, did you?) Frank Oresnik, Backcasts salutes you … and likewise for all others who have put a million miles on their trucks. Nice work. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general...TDOORSHeadlines

Just tried too- his site or the server he's on is down. Just talked to a friend who talked to the owner at Newland's- he indicated there's shad when the water is running and fishing is awesome- big fish! I'm just surprised there wasn't anything on John's forum to the fact, if the story is true. I have an invite to fish down there Friday- I may take them up on it.

It's doing that to me too. Frustrating. I'll look into it.

Just made a quick run over to John Wilson's site and it looked like not a whole lot of news from below BSD... http://p088.ezboard.com/bflyfishingarkansasandmissouri

I carry them in my shop or online at http://www.lilleystacklestore.com/xcart/home.php http://www.lilleystacklestore.com/xcart/pr...=287&page=1

Curious... what skin is everyone looking at? I have the default set on the pro skin. The old skin I used to use doesn't comply with the new updated version and the regular default skin is ugly... I'm looking into buying a new skin for this version of the forum. Once you get into some of the old skins, they don't allow an option to change back to another skin.

There's a similar occurrence on Bull Shoals... decline in shad. But I don't think you can blame that on brown trout can you? Since the lakes are so closely connected, the cause could be the same, could it not? By the way, MDC doesn't know the reason for the decline (BS), only that it may be a natural progression of an aging, man-made lake... ie. freshwater shrimp/Lake Taneycomo.

We just got 2 new G3 Eagles... 90 hp Yamahas I really like them!!

Note: We had 41 boats in the tournament yesterday. From experience, the boat count was way less than I expected. 13 boats between Short and Fall is nothing for a Saturday. Five above Fall Creek- super light but not as unusual as 13 below. We'll see what the count is next Saturday.

Fish finders server little purpose on the upper lake.

Trav, I'd ask for a link to any studies you would refer to in your opening statement, if nothing else, to give credence to your arguments. Is there any studies referring to your statement about browns eating "everything"?

This may be taken as a post to prove my point about tournaments... it really isn't. I wanted to see for myself how crowded the boats were at least above our place on a tournament day. From Lilleys to Short Creek - 5 boats Short to Fall Creek - 13 boats Fall Creek to Lookout - 5 boats Count was taken about 1 p.m. Will take a count for the next couple of Saturdays and see what the difference is, if any. Two weeks from today, though, is a holiday weekend.

Ahhh... you're watching Verses too!!

I thought it was the casting... and I agree with you in that sense. But I like to catch fish too. We had a client in Alaska last season who would not use the c-n-d method and subsequently did not catch a fraction of the fish we did... but it really was ok with him. He had a great time as well. Oh yea- welcome to OAF!!

I think you can say the same for any other "groups" of people... race car enthusiasts and their favorite class of racing, guys and their make of cars, even beer drinkers slam each other over "more taste, less filling". Republicans and Democrats... guys and gals... the list goes on. People and people, regardless of likes and dislikes and they all interact differently. We try to get along but and most of the time we do. But sometimes we just love being grumpy... we feel we have the right to be I guess.

Interesting you mentioned chuck-n-duck. Not many people know the term more or less have used it, or tried it. In Michigan and Alaska where I use the technique, the only alternative is fishing with a float with weight to get and keep the fly on the bottom. I tried to out fish Jim in Alaska using a float and he beat me 8 to 1. But he usually beats me 3 to 1 when both of us are using the c-n-d method. I see why some don't like it. But it's very efficient at catching fish in certain conditions.