I killed my first longbeard with a borrowed mouth call my uncle had taped together in his garage, and I have been chasing spring turkeys every April since. After more than two decades of slipping through oaks at fly-down and listening to pressured public-land toms hang up just out of range, I have learned one … Read more
Choosing the best fly fishing waders can make the difference between a full day on the river and a miserable, leaky one. After spending weeks wading streams, creeks, and tailwaters across different seasons, our team has narrowed down the eight best fly fishing waders for . From budget-friendly chest waders that punch above their weight … Read more
Choosing the best rod holders for fishing boats is one of those small upgrades that completely changes how a day on the water feels. I started running multiple rods at once the year I added a dedicated trolling rod holder to my bow, and I never went back to wedging rods between my feet again. … Read more
Salmon hold deep. King Chinook stack between 60 and 120 feet in summer water. Coho hover between 40 and 70 feet. Without a downrigger, you are guessing where your lure is running, and guesswork is how you come home with an empty cooler. Our team spent the of chasing salmon from Puget Sound to the … Read more
From the bank, you cannot see depth, drop-offs, weed edges, or submerged structure, so most shore anglers fish blind. A castable fish finder for shore fishing is a small, wireless sonar ball you tie to your line, cast out where you want to scan, and read on a smartphone app that displays depth, bottom contour, … Read more
The best bait tanks for live bait share three traits: tight seals, real aeration, and enough capacity for the species you chase. I’ve spent the last two summers chasing everything from catfish to tarpon with portable buckets, boat livewells, and dock tanks, and I’ve lost more bait to overcrowding and bad pumps than to any … Read more
Our team spent six weeks testing the best fishing rod racks for garages, mounting and unmounting ten different models across two workshop spaces. We loaded each rack with mixed spinning, casting, and fly combos, then measured how easy they were to load, how often rods slipped, and whether the racks fought back against humidity in … Read more
Slipping a rig past the curl of a breaking wave and feeling a striper take it on the retrieve is one of the most satisfying catches in all of fishing. Getting there as a beginner, though, starts with the right rod. Our team spent eight weekends on Atlantic and Gulf beaches casting eight different combos, … Read more
If you have ever tried to land a bass from a bass boat while your kid is bouncing around in the back, you already understand the appeal of the best pontoon boats for lake fishing. A fishing pontoon gives you a flat, stable deck, a swivel chair, a livewell that actually keeps bluegill alive, and … Read more
A jon boat is a flat-bottomed, square-bowed aluminum or polyethylene boat that sits on top of the water instead of slicing through it. That shallow draft is the whole reason jon boats dominate ponds, backwaters, and small lakes where other boats cannot go. After 60+ hours on calm water, comparing six flat-bottom jon boats side … Read more