My Take On The Value Of Custom Paint Jobs

If you were to search the Internet back in 2005 through roughly 2008, you would find 150 listings—give or take—for custom painting of hardbaits. Run that same

Poll: What is the Best Paint Color for a Wooden Drift Boat

As you may remember, Ive gotten myself into a hell of a project restoring a totally wooden drift boat given to me by my good friends at Boulder Boat Works. The

Spring Fling: Tying the Clouser Minnow

Photo by Gorman Studio I can feel it coming, like a shad senses spring freshets trickling into the sea. Scientists have a word for this seasonal compulsion: z

How This Winter's Deep Freeze Can Produce Spring Bass Fishing You'll Never Forget

If you live in the northern part of the country from Minnesota across to Maine, you probably haven’t seen open water on your local lakes in many months given th

Bass Bait Test: We Rank 10 Brand-New Bass Lures

Photo illustrations by Bill Cahill You walk into a tackle shop and are immediately drawn to that flashy end cap displaying a brand-new bass bait. You examine

Thoughts on Keeping 'Secret Spots' Secret

One question I often wrestle with is whether or not to name certain places in the stories I write. After all, Im an angler too. I appreciate solitude on a fish

Some Science On How Bass Contract And Fight Colds

Not long ago, I was having a conversation with my friend Jim Burris, who is not only an avid bass fisherman, but a fish biologist at Duke University Medical Cen

Video: Until it's Warm Enough to Fish, Snowboating Will Have to Do

Whew... I thought I had a case of the shack nasties!  Turns out I have nothing to complain about. The folks over at Scumliner Media and Headhunters Fly Shop in

A Jig Trick Sure To Score More Ice-Out Bass

For many bass anglers, ice-off is both cause for celebration and frustration. Yes, you can launch the boat again, but now you’ve got to manipulate bass in frigi

New Trout Fishing Boat: Raft or Drift?

Many of you know that my partner Tim Romano is a rowing fool. He has a handful of boats, from inflatables to an old wooden dory (drift boat) he is restoring. T

Singing Big Mouth Billy Bass Thwarts Robbery

When the singing Big Mouth Billy Bass first popped up on shelves at every Wal-Mart, Target, Bass Pro, K-Mart, truck stop, and Stuckys in America, all I can reme

Possible World-Record Spotted Bass Caught in California

Keith Bryan, owner of Powell Rods, won a team bass-fishing tournament last month on New Melones Lake in California, but even more noteworthy was the fact that

Use A Compass To Catch More Early Spring Bass

When you’ve been cooped up all winter, it’s very easy to get on the water for that first run of these season and start pounding the first bank or piece of struc

How to Catch Trophy Largemouth Bass on Trout Swimbaits

Photo via Tackleexpress.com Before bass nut Matt Peters moved from California to Georgia, he used to fish the San Diego reservoirs with big trout-­imitating s

Bass Fishing: How to Find the Hottest Bite on the Lake

Photo: Eric Engbretson To find the hottest bass bite this month, launch the boat and motor north. “Cold northerly winds blow right across the north shore and

Why Bass Boat Safety Procedures Must Be Automatic

Take a look at the video below. Its a scary scene recently shot by a news chopper on Claremore Lake in Oklahoma. Both anglers in that bass boat were jerked out

Better Bait: How to Keep Crayfish Alive For Weeks

Crayfish are one of my favorite live baits for smallmouth bass in late spring and throughout summer. Rather than catch them as needed, I like to keep a few do

New Hook Shots: Arizona Desert Madness

I swear it feels like I just tucked the cameras away for a long winter nap, and on the road I go again. In an effort to thwart this winter that continues to kee

Diving with Tarpon Can Make You a Better Fly Angler

I am on a family vacation on the island of Bonaire. It’s part of the ABC islands” (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) in the Caribbean, just off the coast of Venezuel

Small-Stream Smallies: How to Catch Monster Bass

Photo by Brent Humphreys In spring and summer, theres nothing I love more than wading for smallmouths. Sure, there are plenty of big, well-known bodies of bas