I’ve been fortunate to fish on some of the country’s best waters with some top pros and guides, but I always want more — here are five proven winners and the places I’d like to fish with them.

Danny Kadota is a legendary big bass hunter from Southern California who was on the water 300 days a year during that region’s heyday — but there’s a lot more to his story than that, including his exploits as a saltwater captain. Learn about how that helped his bass fishing.

On her fourth trip to Anglers Inn, Kristine Rygas and I finally got the chance to catch up on some tea and fish together. I won't bore you with our girly talk, although you might find it tantalizing, but I will share the details of our amazing morning on the water. I was thrilled to get her out of her angling comfort zone with new lures and strategies.

What inspires a gringo to move down to a Central American country, start a fishing lodge on a remote island, and build a life of nearly two decades there? Here’s Captain Shane Jarvis in his own words.

Many of the resorts we have fished have outstanding food with the signature touches of their chefs. Secluded on Isla Parida, Chef Eddie of Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, Chef Eddie only has time to do two things: fish and cook. He’s really good at both.

Elliott Stark of FishTravelEat has lived several fishing lifetimes and he’s not even 40 years old. He’s become our all-purpose sounding board for global adventures dealing with billfish, tuna and other mean salty critters.

Ray and Sandee Heredia were part of our six-person team that traveled to Panama. Making it even better not only did we get to travel together, eat and drink together, and laugh way too much, but I also got to fish with them one day, and the three of us tag-teamed a monstrous 130-pound yellowfin.

I first noticed FisheWear’s Groovy Grayling leggings when Pete and I traveled to Alaska last summer. Bear Trail Lodge had some of their colorful products in the gift shop and I became obsessed – to the point that I clicked on the website at least once a week. Here is the story of their creator.

For many serious anglers, exotic fishing travel is primarily about the fishing itself. Yes, we give lip service to the food, culture, scenery and wildlife, but the rest of those factors can’t completely make up for it if you don’t have biting fish. Of course, it helps to have people along with a positive attitude, particularly the person or people with whom you’ll be sharing a boat.

Over the first year of Half Past First Cast’s existence, some of our most popular features have been interviews with the wives of some popular bass pros. They often have a different perspective than their husbands and are willing to give up the juicy details. If you missed those interviews, check them out, and even if you caught them the first time several of them are worth a second read.

Paul Fisler seems to pop up everywhere there is something bass-related going on. There are plenty of people who would like to marshal Elite Series events, attend seminars and mingle with the top pros, but Paul is one of the few who’s actually out there getting it done.

Since meeting Pete back in 2003 my life has changed in so many ways. I never thought my life would be so focused on fishing, or that we’d have met so many incredible people from around the country and around the world. Of course we combined friends initially, but we’ve added hundreds more through our fishing adventures -- some are as close as family.

As one of the wives who is not on the road full-time, a lot of fishing fans probably don’t know much about Jennifer Combs. It’s a good story, and while they’re better together even without Keith in the mix she has a lot to say about the fishing life.

The third member of the Half Past First Cast team takes lots of blame and gets few perks. Rooster doesn’t get to go to Mexico or Alaska or Guatemala, but he does get to go to camp. Then again, why would he need to take a vacation – he’s on PERMANENT vacation.

The only criticism that I might be able to lob at Trey Reid is that his interests and talents are so varied that no single publication or assignment can contain them all. He’s a shining example of a fishing life well-lived.

Pete had caught more bass before I met him than the total number of times I have changed my mind. I knew that I couldn’t catch up to his head start there, but there were other places where we were more equal.

While Salazar’s fishing skills can’t be questioned, what really amazed me was his passion for the sport. He’s seen thousands of billfish come to the boat, and yet he was every bit as excited for each additional one as we were. He’s an exceptional teacher, and coached us through the bait-and-switch with remarkable patience.

When I first joined a bass club in 1995, I was in awe of my new friend Lee Byrd. He’d won the Wrangler Angler title (now the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship) to qualify for the 1990 Bassmaster Classic and had also competed in the Red Man All-American.

This year we finally fully valued our neighbors. That lesson came not through one-on-one contact, or through some shared activity, but rather through the much-maligned platform of Facebook, where we encountered a group known as “Vienna Foodies.”

Clifford is a gentleman and a terrific house guest. Since his first visit he has introduced me to a lot of people in the industry and some of them have become good friends. He seems to know everyone and everyone knows him.