When it comes to NSFW ribald humor, our raucous Australian friends have a leg up on just about every American fishing tackle manufacturer except for Andre Moore. Check out the newest lure scent from Shads Lures — I’m not sure they could get away with that here.

We love catching mahi. Apparently lots of other species like to chase, capture and consume them, too, because the tackle ecosphere is loaded with hyper-realistic trolling lures.

On your next trip to Lake El Salto or Lake Picachos, I’d strongly recommend bringing no fewer than five reels. Chris Martin of Daiwa offered us up information on reels that excel for flipping, cranking and swimbaiting that are also value propositions.

If you’re not careful, the sharp butt of a heavy fishing rod could scar, sterilize or deflower you. That’s why I’m always happy to see a Cush-It when I step onto a boat headed out in search of big fish.

We’re headed back to Grand Lake for the big Oklahoma impoundment’s third time hosting the Bassmaster Classic. The tournament will be a month later. Nevertheless if you need a refresher course on what won the last two times, check out the following lures. No matter where you fish during the prespawn, they might help you sack a few extra bass.

It came from the musky world, but the Whopper Plopper and its progeny have made bass fishing substantially more exciting. Discover the top Plopper and Berkley Choppo colors for bass—2025 tested picks and tips to improve your strike rate and lure selection.

Most travel rods are made to handle a number of circumstances, none of them particularly well. Daiwa wants to change that in their US market, and one clear sign is their new Ardito Muskie Travel Rods. They’re two 8’5”, five-section sticks made of premium components.

Texans are as serious about Rat-L-Traps as they are about barbecue, deer hunting and Friday Night Lights. Veteran pro James Niggemeyer leads us through his “Trap” choices for big bass.

If you’re looking for a big blueback herring imitator — or just a chop-style glide bait that you can fish faster than the others — check out the Clutch Darter. NPFL pro has more experience with it than just about anyone and can fill you in on the details.

Now is the time of year to throw the best cold water crankbait ever made and the winner has been the same for four decades – the Rapala Shad Rap. There may be another choice that does better in limited circumstances, but despite numerous swings at the champ no one has been able to thread the needle and consistently beat it.

I HATE the winter so I spend lots of time dreaming of warm-weather fishing travel — and want to make sure that I’ll be properly outfitted. The AFTCO women angling pros can lead you to the proper choices and colors.

I’m a sucker for new rods, but as my collection has grown to unfathomable numbers, I probably don’t need any more 7’ medium heavy baitcasters or 7’ medium action spinning rods. I’m more interested in specialty rods at the margins or aimed at very narrow purposes.

While I could probably get by with one or two pairs of polarized sunglasses for my varied fishing efforts, as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that there are benefits to having specialized eyewear. I’ve added two more pairs that I have become consistently-chosen options and should continue to be so for the near future.

I continue to search for the best boxer briefs for fishing. It’s not such an easy task. Since last summer I’ve integrated three new winners into the rotation as several decomposing or underperforming options have been sent to the trash heap.

For well over two decades California pro Ish Monroe has epitomized the idea of being a big bass specialist. He loves to wield a flipping stick in and around the heaviest cover possible. He’s won hundreds of thousands of dollars with key Missile Baits in key colors.

Lunker City Fishing of Connecticut is best known for the genre-defining Slug-go, but other lures from their catalog — several of which are still available — have played notable roles in my time on the water.

My lure choices this week are topwaters once again. I just love the thrill of the fish exploding on the lure. I pulled some really odd and interesting looking baits off the shelf and of course Pete had stories about all of them. There’s always a story.

I’m continuing to explore my personal soft plastic archives – they’re like an archeological dig with rings representing different years and eras of my fishing evolution. Here are three worms I rediscovered that represent historical or regional specialties from the memory bank.

The ladies of AFTCO are passionate about their fishing and cold weather won’t keep them off the water. I interviewed four of them from different fisheries and different climates to find out the key gear that keeps them warm when they plunge into a cold weather fishing adventure.

I’ve gone through multiple bags of Zoom Lizards, Baby Brush Hogs and Centipedes each year for the past 25 or so. Over that same time period their catalog has featured some lesser-known products. While reorganizing my garage, here are some of them that I found.