Fishing

Catching a big lake trout is one of the greatest challenges in the angling world. For most of the year, these fish live in sparse, constantly roving schools in the deepest, darkest parts of lakes and reservoirs. They’re hard to find, hard to catch, and many anglers go hours and even entire days...

A small fleet of fishing boats ranging from one-person kayaks to low-slung, rocket-propelled bass boats squeezed me from my preferred hole on a recent Sunday while fishing Idaho’s Lake Cascade. Rather than stress and feel aggrieved, I pulled anchor and rowed my cedar-strip rowboat 200 yards...

Large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes, have fairly large populations of mostly stocked steelhead. Unlike their cousins found in western rivers, they tend to be much less picky, and getting a lure in front of them is often the most difficult part of the equation. While steelhead in rivers...

Everyone loves a good fight. From our early days on the playground when we’d gather in a circle around two fledgling combatants chanting, “Fight, fight, fight!” There’s just something about a scrap that mesmerizes us. It’s not about the violence but rather about the idea of a mono-e-mono contest...

On September 22, Dante Piraino of Baldwinsville, New York, was fishing in a B.A.S.S. Nation tournament hosted in Ogdensburg when he reeled in the catch of a lifetime. Fishing in about 30 feet of water in the St. Lawrence River and using a soft plastic lure, Piraino managed to reel in a behemoth nine...

Perch has to be one of the most underrated freshwater fish. They’re widespread across the country, don’t require much gear, are family-friendly, and taste great, too. However, fish are still fish, and they just don’t jump in the boat, so here are factors to consider before your first, or next, perch...

Some fish are just mean. Those species with razor-sharp teeth and bad attitudes that chew the inside of the net, slam around inside the boat, and push your tackle to the limit, fighting for every inch whenever they’re hooked. Pike and muskie, bowfin, gar, and even bass all fall into this category...

I don’t know the secret to creating a hunter or angler, but a key to failing either goal is a mother who won’t drive her kids to the woods or waters, and cook whatever they bring home. Fortunately, my mom praised every stringer of perch, bluegills, crappies or bullheads I brought home from Lake...

Humans have always had an attraction to rarity. Whether you’re a rockhound in search of precious stones, a foodie looking for an exotic dish, or a baseball card collector searching for that rare addition, we all covet what is hard to find and difficult to attain. This is especially true for...

Whether it’s because of their small size or easy-to-catch disposition, panfish are always sort of looked at as the bottom of the barrel in the gamefish hierarchy. Most anglers consider them to be a fish for kids or just an irritating, bait-stealing, bi-catch when hunting more prominent gamefish like...

All fishermen are liars, or so the saying goes. While we all spin a bit of a yarn every now and then, especially when talking about the size of a fish we caught or, better yet—one we lost—the idea that all of us skirt the truth on occasion is just a part of angling culture. After all, without adding...

These days, it feels rare that a fishing record is broken. Most states’ record books are packed with entries from the “good ol’ days,” some dating back over half a century. When records do go down, it’s usually by a couple of ounces—but that wasn’t the case in Idaho recently when Austin Christensen...