Fishing Gifts for Dad by Budget: Ideas Under $25, $50 and $100
Practical fishing gift ideas for men and dads under $25, $50 and $100, plus what to check before you buy: rod power, line type and hook or lure sizes.
Ice Fishing for Walleye: Structure, Jigging Spoons, Rattle Baits and Tip-Ups
Walleye under the ice follow structure and light. Fish edges and humps at dusk and dawn with a jigging spoon or rattle bait, plus a minnow on a second line.
Fishing Hook Sizes and Types Explained: Size Chart, Worm, EWG, Circle, Treble and Octopus Hooks
Hook sizing runs in two directions and isn't standardized between brands. Here's how to read the numbers, pick a size for your target fish and choose the right hook style.
Fishing Basics
All Fishing Basics
How to Get a Fishing License: Who Needs One, Where to Buy It and Which Stamps You Need
Every state sells its own fishing license, usually online in a few minutes. Here's how age, residency, stamps and free fishing days work before you buy.
How to Clean and Fillet a Bass: Tools, Step-by-Step Cuts, Skinning and Storage
Two clean fillets, no rib bones and no skin, in a few minutes per fish. Here's the tool list, the cuts in order and how to store the meat safely.
Fishing Boat Basics for Beginners: Boat Types, Safety Gear, Registration and Launching
A small aluminum boat is the easiest way onto the water. Here's what to buy, what safety gear the law requires, and how to launch without drama.
Bass Fishing
All Bass Fishing
Largemouth Bass: How to Identify Them, Where They Live and How to Catch Them
The most popular game fish in the US is easy to recognize once you know the jaw and the stripe. Here's where largemouth live, what they eat and how they move through the year.
How to Catch Striped Bass With Live Bait: Best Baits, Rigs, Hooks and Rules
Live bait is the most dependable way to catch stripers in reservoirs and on the coast. Here's how to choose bait, keep it alive, rig it at the right depth and stay legal.
Smallmouth Bass: Identification, Habitat, Diet and How to Catch Them
Bronze, barred and built for current, smallmouth live in clearer, cooler and rockier water than largemouth. Here's how to recognize them and where to look each season.
Techniques & Seasons
All Techniques & Seasons
Winter Bass Fishing in Open Water: Where Bass Go and How to Catch Them
Winter bass fishing is slow, but it is far from hopeless. Here is where bass spend the cold months in open water and how to tempt them.
How to Read a Lake for Bass: Maps, Structure and Cover Explained
Every lake looks like a big, empty sheet of water until you learn to read it. Here is how to use a map and your eyes to narrow it down to the spots that hold bass.
Fishing After a Cold Front: How to Catch Bass Under Bluebird Skies
The day after a cold front, with blue skies and a chilly wind, is one of the toughest days in bass fishing. Here is why, and how to adjust.
Lures & Rigs
All Lures & Rigs
Spinnerbait vs Chatterbait: How They Differ and When to Throw Each
Both lures flash, thump and catch bass in stained water, but they behave very differently around cover. Here's how to choose between them.
Topwater Lures for Bass: Frogs, Poppers, Walking Baits, Buzzbaits and Prop Baits
Topwater bites are the most exciting in bass fishing, and the easiest to miss. Here's which surface lure to throw, when to throw it and how to actually hook the fish.
How to Fish a Ned Rig: Jighead Weights, Baits and the Retrieves That Work
The Ned rig looks too small and too simple to work, which is exactly why it catches bass when bigger lures don't. Here's how to set it up and fish it.
Fishing Gear
All Fishing Gear
Reel Gear Ratio Explained: What 5.4:1, 7.1:1 and 8.1:1 Mean and Which to Choose
The ratio printed on a reel tells you how fast it picks up line, but inches per turn tells the real story. Here's how to read both and match speed to your lures.
Spinning vs Baitcasting Reels: How They Work, Pros and Cons, and Which to Buy First
The two main bass reels work in completely different ways. Here's how each one casts, what line and lures it handles best, and which makes sense as your first reel.
How to Spool a Spinning Reel and a Baitcasting Reel Without Line Twist
Most tangles start at the spool. Here's how to load line onto spinning and baitcasting reels the right way, including backing under braid and how full to fill.
Ice Fishing
All Ice Fishing
Ice Fishing for Beginners: When to Start, What Gear You Need and How to Find Fish
You need less gear than you think: safe ice, a way to make a hole, a short rod, small jigs and the right clothes. Here is how to plan your first day on the ice.
Ice Fishing for Crappie: Find Suspended Schools and Catch Them at Dusk
Winter crappie often hover in the middle of the water column over deeper water. Find the school with electronics, fish just above it, and be ready at dusk.
The Best Time of Day for Ice Fishing, Species by Species
Low-light windows matter most for walleye and crappie, while perch, bluegill and pike are daytime fish. Here is how to plan your hours on the ice.