The two sonar units I have on my bass boat—one at the console and one up front—both contain more computing power than the 13-inch television I owned back in college by a factor of a thousand. Truth be told, though, they don’t get nearly as much use. I’m a tidal river rat, where a substantial portion...

In 2001, I fished as a co-angler in a tournament on Toledo Bend Reservoir, a massive body of water that straddles the Texas-Louisiana border and eats lower units for lunch. When they impounded the lake in the 1960s, they left most of the standing timber intact, cutting rudimentary and often poorly...

As an overworked and underpaid individual with family obligations and a budget, I typically get to fish about one day a week. With the occasional missed week and a few fishing-specific vacations, that ends up meaning I’m on the water perhaps 60 days a year. When I get out there, the goal is to catch...

So you want to be a bass pro? Where you live may play a role in your short-term and long-term success. Geography is not destiny, of course. After all, three of the greatest anglers of all time—Kevin VanDam, Mike Iaconelli, and Brandon Palaniuk—come from Michigan, New Jersey, and Idaho, respectively...

Plenty of boats will go 80 miles per hour, even in the hands of a novice. Many go 70 without even opening the sucker up, and just about anything rated for a 150-horsepower will go over 60. That’s all cool, but you typically don’t need a license or even any training to get one. There are no brakes...

As I’ve said before, if you don’t get thrilled by a vicious topwater strike, we probably can’t be friends. I get particularly excited by a big old finned freak of nature coming up through a film of vegetation to explode on a hollow-bodied frog, but I’m not picky—a Whopper Plopper, popper, or Spook...

Michigan bass pro Chad Pipkens will turn 38 later this month, so he’s hardly old, but he’s already endured a lifetime of competitors’ complaints. Most recently, he’s grown sick of the hubbub over a glorified snorkel. Well, not a snorkel exactly. In this case the subject of the dispute is a...

Here is the very epitome of a first-world problem: I cannot find a type of fishing that I do not enjoy. Of course I like some better than others, and will not be exceptionally disappointed if I never go ice fishing or lob giant hunks of plastic for muskies again. Despite the fact that just about any...

The only factor limiting the number of crankbait colors available to crass-consumerist bass anglers is the amount and variety of paints on Earth. The pandemic may have caused supply chain shortages, limiting us to the basic color choices, but that doesn’t bother East Texas pro Keith Combs. “I...

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend more than my fair share of time with fishing outfitters and guides at camps, lodges, and destinations around the world. But, once I'm there, many times I've felt trapped with people I’ve never met before, with whom I have little in common except our choices of...