Jaunted

Fishing / National Parks / Active Travel / Wyoming Travel / → All Tags

The Ultimate Weekend Fly Fishing Trip In Wyoming

It won’t be long until Jackson Hole is covered in snow, and Dick Cheney is clogging up the town’s main arteries with his entourage. To take advantage of the warm weather and summer scenery, we suggest indulging in a fly fishing trip to the Equality State—ya, that’s actually Wyoming’s official nickname.

It’s prime trout season on the Snake River through October, and the fish are daring you to try and catch them. The Teton Mountain Lodge and Spa has created a Cast Away Fly Fishing Package to allow for the ultimate lazy and active vacation combination. During the day you’ll be learning to fly fish thanks to private lessons. At night you’ll be snoozing away in the comfort of luxury accommodations.

Package rates start at $2,166, which is a little expensive, especially in the current economy. However, you are getting a four-night stay, breakfast every morning, weeklong passes to the national parks, and dinner for two at the lodge’s fancy pants restaurant. You’ll owe a nice dinner to your sweetheart if she tags along; let’s just hope she enjoys “New Western Mountain” cuisine.

Related Stories:
·Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa [Official Site]
·Fresh Air Travel: Cheyenne is America's Cleanest City [Jaunted]
·National Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: timailius]

Deep Sea Fishing / Fishing / Big Island / Hawaii Travel / Events / → All Tags

If You Are Wishing You Were Fishing, Head To The Kona Coast

You’ve done a good job sharing your travel plans this summer. Since one of the best travel deals has been to Hawaii, we’re thinking that you’ll need something to do when you arrive. If the Big Island is in your travel plans, and it should be, then you might want to take the time to check out the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament—t’s their fiftieth anniversary.

The deal is, anglers from around the globe gather on the Kona Coast to head out in search of some huge fish. The biggest and the baddest is usually the Pacific blue marlin, and hooking one of these big guys will definitely provide an afternoon of excitement and exercise. You should probably skip the beer on this fishing trip and ensure that the cooler is stocked with Red Bull.

Things run throughout the week of July 20 and the tournament is open to 50 teams. Even if you don’t want to join a team and compete, you’ll definitely be able to cheer on the teams as they return from their three-hour tours. Best of all, if you’re in the right place at the right time, you’ll be able to snag a picture with a 600-pound fish and Miss Hawaii Billfish 2009. That's a way better picture for Facebook than you holding a Pina Colada with an little umbrella in it.

Related Stories:
·Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament [Official Site]
·Crazy Kiwi Man Teaches Us How To Deep Sea 'Heli-Fish' [Jaunted]
·Fishing coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Official Site]

Alaska Travel / Tours / Fishing / → All Tags

Become An Alaskan Fisherman, At Least For A Few Hours

If your summer vacation plans include a cruise to Alaska with your grandparents, then you might want to seriously start considering some alternate shore excursions. Sure you can wander through some shops and check out the Totem Poles in Ketchikan like everyone else, or you can pretend that you're a true deep sea fisherman fisherperson.

Imagine being on the Deadliest Catch TV show, except not having to lift a finger. On the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen’s Tour, you’ll sit in a heated amphitheater right on the deck where you’ll be free to watch all the action while remaining totally safe. The crew will share some information about the ship, and before long you’ll be watching them haul in rockfish, cod, octopus, and king crab. Too bad they don’t bring drawn butter along.

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Deep Sea Fishing / Animals / Fishing / Extreme Travel / Matt Watson / → All Tags

Crazy Kiwi Man Teaches Us How To Deep Sea 'Heli-Fish'

Nothing is more relaxing than taking a stroll down to the local fishin’ hole. However, fishing does get boring at times, all the waiting, the sitting, and disappointment—hours on a boat with nothing to show for it. That’s why one man has taken a more proactive approach to fishing, and his style is far a cry from those ESPN2 fishing guys on Saturday mornings.

Matt Watson got tired of catching marlin the old fashioned way in his native New Zealand, so he decided to jump in the water after them. This crazy Kiwi hunts fish from the air in the “safety” of a helicopter—and when the moment is just right—he jumps right onto the back of the speared fish. It’s almost like some sort of underwater rodeo. It's definitely not safe and definitely not sane. However, somehow he’s pretty good at it, and makes it look like something anyone can do. He’s already been on Letterman—talk about a stupid human trick.

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Ice Fishing / Active Travel / Dangerous Travel / Fishing / Winter Activities / → All Tags

Lake Erie Anglers Find Themselves Rudderless and Adrift on Renegade Ice Floe

A bunch of ice fishermen got stranded on a 13-kilometer-long ice floe that broke off in Lake Erie yesterday. Some of them freaked out and stampeded to find a nonexistent ice bridge back to the Ohio shoreline. Others kept their cool and played with their fish until help arrived. According to Ottawa County Sheriff Bob Bratton, all of the fishermen made an "idiotic" decision to climb onto the ice floe in the first place.

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Andros Field Trip / Fishing / Islands / → All Tags

The Great Bonefish Debate

Lost Girl Jennifer Baggett continues her Andros Field Trip...

With a little time to kill in the Nassau airport before we hopped a puddle jumper to Andros Island, my travel buddy Mark and I had decided a little "Welcome to the Bahamas" drink was in order. So we pulled up a few bar stools at Marshall's--it's in the domestic terminal--and ordered our first of many island rums. It was Marshall, the delightfully friendly owner, himself who poured our drinks before asking us to fill out his NFL fantasy football card. Since I’m pretty much a college-ball only gal (Go Seminoles!), I can only hope I didn’t lose too much money for poor Marshall that day. But I digress!

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Snakehead Fish / Fishing / Animals / When Animals Attack / Google Maps / → All Tags

Daily Animal Terror Travel: This Time, It's Snakehead Fish!

The super-scary, walks-on-land, razor-toothed snakehead fish--that's so frightening that even a dead one threw Lincolnshire, England into a panic in February--has once again washed up on American shores. And it's coming to get you, bedroom communities of Upstate New York!

In Wawayanda, just south of Catskill Park, officials have ordered that any snakeheads must be shot or otherwise killed on sight to keep them from infesting the Hudson downstream. (Once the ferocious fish invade an ecosystem, it's next to impossible to clear 'em out.) The state Department of Environmental Conservation is using designer pesticides to poison the baddies in local waters while residents are poaching them with .22s from golf carts. Seriously.

While the killing may seem like swatting flies with a cruise missile, you don't mess around with these terrors. To wit:

Gale A. Norton, United States secretary of the interior when snakeheads were discovered in Maryland in 2002, called them "something from a bad horror movie" before ordering a federal ban. Since then the fish have spawned not one but two bad horror movies, "Snakehead Terror" and "Frankenfish."

Related Stories:
· A Potion to Beat Back "Frankenfish" [NYT]
· Snakehead Fish Caught In Lincolnshire [Jaunted]

Celeb Travel / Ashley Tisdale / High School Musical / Maui Travel / Fishing / → All Tags

Ashley Tisdale Fishes for Family Memories

It's good to know that despite her "High School Musical" fame, Ashley Tisdale is still happy to go on family outings. She must've been glad to be there this weekend when father Mike Tisdale caught a 480-pound marlin off the coast of Maui last week.

Tisdale wasn't on the boat with her dad when he caught the fish, but she posed for a picture for the Lahaina News with the big catch. After the jump, the incriminating family photo that shows what Papa Tisdale caught off KuiKui Point.

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Sharks / Fishing / Deep Sea Fishing / Long Island Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags

Revenge Travel: Man Attacks Shark

With all the shark attacks we've already heard about this year, it's only natural that some of us will start asking, "But how can I catch a shark?"

It's easier than you might think. You don't even have to head to Florida or Mexico. Deep sea shark fishing is available in on the Eastern tip of Long Island.

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Japan Travel / Restaurants / Fishing / → All Tags

Japan Travel: Want Fresh Fish? Catch Your Own at Zauo

Dedicated fishermen would surely say that nothing tastes better than food that you've caught yourself. Obviously the Japanese know that and that's why the Zauo: The Fishing Boat Café chain exists.

Like so many things in Japan, Zauo is unique, a little zany and something we just can't wait to do. These are large restaurants with a boat in the middle of a lot of water, and you can either order your food straight away (boring!) or order a fishing rod and catch your own.

Obviously there's a huge seafood bias to the Zauo menu, and it all sounds delicious. If you're on a budget, then definitely opt to catch your own. For example, the lobster usually costs ¥3,600 ($35), but you only have to pay ¥2,600 ($25) if you pull it out of the water yourself. Oh, and if you fail to catch anything, it doesn't really matter. They won't let you leave hungry.

Related Stories:
· Catching Our Own Dinner [The Loulogue]
· Zauo The Fishing Boat Café [Official Site]
· Japan Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ampontour]

Dangerous Travel / Oman / Mancations / Dick Cheney / Fishing / → All Tags

Dangerous Mancations: Fishing with Cheney in Oman

We told you Oman would go mainstream, but we didn't know it would go right-wing. As part of a 10-day tour in the Middle East, Vice President Dick Cheney took some time in the gulf state to rant about Iran and the nuclear threat--and then borrowed the sultan's 60-foot yacht to go fishing.

A fishing trip with the VP sounds a bit safer than, say, going on a hunt--just mind all those hooks. Cheney's wife and daughter, who accompanied him on the outing, came back without suffering any impalements. Sultan Qaboos bin Said, however, apparently thought better of it and didn't go.

Too bad Cheney didn't have time to do any shark fishing before heading back to the States!

Related Stories:
· VP talks about nukes in Oman [WaPo]
· Oman coverage [Jaunted]
· Mancations coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Mathias M]

Mancations / Fishing / Sailing / Patagonia Travel / → All Tags

Post V-Day Travel: Mancations in Patagonia

So you were smart enough not to spend all your money on jewelry this Valentine's Day. And after all that romance, you've got an itch to angle in some of South America's most secluded spots on the ultimate mancation? Andrés Ergas is your man.

The Chilean millionaire's company, Nomads of the Seas, will helicopter you to prime fly-fishing spots throughout Patagonia, treat you to gourmet picnics and keep your glass full as you unwind on a 150-foot boat.

Ergas' ship is the Atmosphere, which in addition to holding a crew of 32 that caters to just 28 passengers, also accommodates a Bell 407 helicopter and several custom Zodiac jet boats. To the dedicated angler the real hook is the chance to cast a line in virtually untouched spots--Nomads doesn't even issue maps to its guests and supposedly keeps the locations of fishing excursions tightly under wraps.

If fishing isn't your thing, wildlife packages are also available. You can try your hand at nature photography or scout out rare and endemic birds. Whichever options you choose, be prepared to pay pretty-penny for your week-long journey: packages start at about $12,000. Good thing you didn't get her those diamonds!

Related Stories:
· Adventure a la Carte [SMH]
· Nomads of the Seas [Official Site]
· Mancations coverage [Jaunted]