Almost every angler’s first fish story involves a bluegill, a bobber, and a worm — and there’s nothing wrong with that. But write bluegill off as “just a kid’s fish” and you’ll miss out on genuine slab fisheries where these scrappy panfish push past a pound and put a serious bend in ultralight gear. For…
The right bait can create a legendary fishing tale while the wrong bait will just sit unused in a tackle box. Most tackle boxes are filled with baits that go ignored. This list contains proven fishing baits and lures that will actually catch fish, ranked based on their sales data and reflecting the choices anglers…
Ask ten anglers what species hooked them on fishing, and a solid majority will mention largemouth bass. It’s the fish on bass boat decals, the centerpiece of Bassmaster coverage, and for many people, the first fish they ever caught off a dock with a worm and bobber. There’s a reason it dominates American freshwater fishing…
Not talking about fishing in West Virginia when discussing excellent fishing states is a mistake. The Mountain State has incredible fishing opportunities that deserve far more attention. Trophy smallmouth bass in the New River, record-setting catfish from the Kanawha, the state record muskie from Stonecoal Lake at 52.7 inches, wild brook trout in the mountain…
Nobody signed up for this. At some point in the last few decades, while the world was wrapping everything in plastic for convenience, microplastics started showing up in things we eat every day and most people have no idea. Microplastics are fragments smaller than 5 millimeters, often far smaller, that come from the breakdown of…
Most freshwater anglers can name their personal-best bass down to the ounce. Ask about their biggest catfish, and the number often gets a lot bigger — and a lot vaguer, usually followed by a story about a rod nearly going into the river. Catfish produce some of the heaviest freshwater fish caught in North America,…