Fishing

There are a heck of a lot of things to love about autumn. Whether you’re into carving pumpkins, getting out after some early-season waterfowl, or chasing bugling bull elk through the mountains, fall is a time of plenty for every type of outdoors person in the country, especially anglers. The cooler...

Drifting on a capsized skiff, an Alaskan teenager was pulled to safety after multiple days in the Bering Sea. Kneeling on the overturned boat with his head down, the 15-year-old held the line that would haul him to shelter. The rescue followed a fishing trip by two brothers and a cousin from the...

Two is always better than one. This is true whether you’re talking about scoops of ice cream and, especially, fishing bait. Where it’s legal, using two baits, lures, or flies at once can, theoretically, double your catch rate. Fishing two baits at two different water depths allows you to quickly...

It sometimes feels like being a successful fly angler comes down to having “the right stuff.” From waders and boots to lines and reels to the endless multitude of gadgets, gizmos, and fly patterns, every angler has an opinion about the fly fishing equipment that’s “absolutely necessary” to catch...

Ask any angler about their favorite lures, and most of them will have a jerkbait at the top of their list. These versatile lures work for everything from panfish to muskie. Jerkbaits rose to prominence after anglers realized these lures could consistently outperform live bait, completely changing...

Being a good angler means finding and catching fish in a variety of conditions. From high and murky to muddy and weedy to icy and freezing cold, we find pride in adapting and overcoming what the water throws at us. No matter how good of an angler you are, there’s nothing more challenging or...

Ten yards down the beach, two kids build a sandcastle while their mom watches through sunglasses from a stretched-out beach towel. Some teenagers shove each other as they walk past me and head down the beach, and a couple of guys toss football near the dunes. And I’m knee-deep in the Atlantic, two...

I’ve always found it odd that some fish are more popular than others. Like a high school hierarchy, some are in the cool crowd while others get overlooked. These species might lack the size or flare of other popular gamefish, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make for a good time on the water. In...

I’m a complete topwater junkie. Whether I’m casting dry flies for trout, chucking frogs for bass, or chugging big prop baits for pike, muskie, and even tarpon, I can’t get enough of watching fish explode on baits floating on the surface of the water. Many of my angling friends question my addiction...

Growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, I never realized seafood dinners could be considered fancy. I didn’t know that people paid good money for lump crab meat with melted butter. To me, a crab feast meant wet hands, the smell of salt marsh mud, and an afternoon baking in the hot summer sun. I was barely...

During the summer, anglers are completely unleashed. The long days and warm, comfortable nights allow for plenty of fishing time, and most of us practically sprint down to the water any chance we get. It can be a time of plenty. Nearly every fish species, from panfish and bass to trout and walleye...

Fishing a nymph beneath an indicator or stripping a streamer can be an effective way to catch trout, but fishing dry flies during a hatch presents a whole other challenge. For many new fly anglers, trying to “match the hatch” might just make you want to throw your fly rod away and take up golf, but...