I am a surface lure fanatic, and for years I only trusted my topwater game to a trio of players—a popper, a walking bait, and a buzzbait. Groups of three are not new to many of you. If you attended Catholic school, then you know all about the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If...

It twitches a little, then throbs a little more. You manipulate it gently, but firmly, building a consistent rhythm. The pressure builds up. And then it builds some more. It’s almost unbearable. Finally, an explosion, liquids flying everywhere, and a simultaneous feeling of release and excitement...

Pete Robbins is a veteran writer who’s covered the bass world with a discerning eye for more than a decade. His work has appeared in many publications, including Bassmaster, Field & Stream, and Western Bass. He blogs regularly at Yamamoto’s Inside Line, and he’s covered more than a dozen Bassmaster...

Former Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange published a book called “Too Fat to Fish.” In my opinion, there’s no such thing. Years ago, I learned from my fishing mentor Bill Roberts that, “fat guys make the best jig fishermen—they’re slow, they’re deliberate, they take their time and that’s why they’re...

In 1988, Guido Hibdon won the Bassmaster Classic on Virginia’s James River flipping a jig tipped with a “Guido Bug.” That trailer—Hibdon’s secret weapon—was a soft plastic crawfish designed by his son, Dion, as part of a school science project a decade earlier. The kid had taken a freshly procured...

Throughout most of the 1990s, Kevin VanDam, the greatest tournament angler who’s ever lived, glued a spinnerbait rod to his hand and commenced taking other anglers’ lunch money. It didn’t matter if it was smallmouths in New York or Michigan, or largemouths on the tidal Potomac or in the buck brush...

In 2016, Bentley’s custom shop offered a luxury fly fishing SUV called the Bentayga Fly Fishing by Mulliner. It’s not as big as my Suburban, not as powerful as the diesel truck I hope to buy in the future, and therefore its “Burr walnut veneered master tackle unit” doesn’t really fit my needs. Oh...

Assume for a moment that you live in Ohio or Maine or Wyoming or some other place where largemouth bass typically don’t grow huge. I’m guessing that’s actually a fair amount of you. I fall into this category as well. Now imagine you’re finally heading someplace where big ol’ pigs are consistently a...

You can cast a Rapala Shad Rap about as easily as throwing half a potato chip. If you launch it into the wind, you might end up with negative yardage on the play. It’s not particularly snag-proof, either. Bank on sacrificing one or two in the course of a day. Even if you don’t, you’re going to spend...

There is a scene in “Jerry Maguire” where talk show host Roy Firestone is interviewing football player Rod Tidwell. The dialogue goes like this: Firestone: “Your father leaves on Christmas Eve and leaves your family all alone. Your mother had to sweep out the steps of the prison just to earn enough...