Before there was such gadgetry as fishing poles, reels, lures and hooks, people were fishing the old fashioned way: with their bare hands. One of the oldest forms of fishing is “noodling” also known as “grabbling.” Anglers wade through rivers and lakes, patrolling pockets of water looking for spawning fish that would be sitting atop sacks of eggs. While these fish lay motionless, protecting their young fry, the fish are quick to bite and defend their babies from anything that may come within harms way. These fishermen search for these fish holes often with their fist, anticipating a catfish to strike, so they could then latch onto their gills and pull the fish up from the hole.

Innovator and angling pioneer Richard Simms has captured more than 30 Southern belles that tussle with these finned felines for over 90 minutes on this DVD. Peep a quick behind the scenes of some of the hunt after the jump.

Kyra Gracie – reader submission by Greg Tarino

The only active female member of the Gracie family.
Long live Brazilian Jiu jitsu

New York City friends and fellow derels The Wellington Papers just shot a video from their latest single “Berlin,” based loosely upon their first hand cab experiences throughout their world travels. Shot in Manhattan and featuring cameos from downtown delinquents Team Facelift, The Arab Parrot and The Heart Brake Crew, The Wellington Papers’ tales of excessive wilding out and debauchery pair perfectly against the gritty visual imagery and intermittent nudity from the betty’s in this video.

The band takes cues from the sound of 60s garage rockers and intertwines the music with their own modern day stories of drunken tom foolery for a feel good tune sure to provide the theme song to your own weekend hijinks.

Video and Download Link after the jump.

The Wellington Papers – Berlin

These vintage ammunition boxes have the classic American woodsman design that makes you appreciate the use of great fonts and illustration. Certainly much has been discussed with workwear and hunting gear, but ammunition boxes of yesteryear were so intricately designed from the choices in colors, layout and packaging materials. This great selection of older shotgun cartridges shows the effective use of heavy text in design that has been lost in recent years with many companies opting for the cleaner, minimalist looks. It would be great to see more products make use of such a classic design.

via Reuben Miller

Backpacker Magazine is a publication that is focused on bringing readers tales of the rugged lives of outdoor journeys, analyzing everything from the best freeze dried dinners to the hut people of the White Mountains. I stumbled upon a collection of their vintage issues from the 1970s, which you can view in their entirety on Google Books.

The older issues have some really great photography and advertisements, capturing the essence of the clothing styles and logos that have inspired much of the recent resurgence in hunting and outdoorsman themed collections we have seen from men’s designers across the board. There are decades of these issues available here. A great way to usher in the beginning of fall.

via coldsplinter

As a young angler, my uncle and I would take a short drive to Sausalito and hop on the Salty Lady, for our weekly trips to the Farallon Islands in search of Rock Cod. About 25 miles outside the San Francisco Bay, the first hour would usually involve tussling with people four times my age for a seat in the galley while waiting for our breakfast burritos to finish from the grill. Back then the standard rig would involve some sort of Penn reel and a stocky 6 ft. rod, with everyone fishing a variety of Shrimp Flys or Diamond Bars.

But with the Japanese reinventing the game like they did with watermelons, the Eastern techniques of Veritical Jigging have proven to be wildly successful for bottom fishing for these voracious predators, such as the Ling Cod pictured above.

More after the jump.

When bottom fishing, you simply drop your line straight down until it hits the floor of the sea, and you reel up about 5-10 ft. It might be the perfect way to introduce friends into salt water fishing who have never caught anything larger than a parasite. I’d recommend a half day trip out of Redondo Beach or Long Beach Sportfishing, both offering 6am and noon trips on the weekends.

Vertical Jigging involves the use of a flat jig, like the P-Line Laser Minnow pictured above. These jigs when used correctly produce the effect of a wounded bait fish. Simply raise the tip of your rod and drop it down, and as the jig drops this is usually when you will get your strikes. Highly effective with Rock Cod, so stop by your local Korean sport fishing store and cop a few for your next trip.