How two Walmart FLW Tour pros prepare for intermittent current flow
Early in his career as a tournament angler, Evinrude pro Dan Morehead became convinced he’d found the winning spot for an upcoming weekend event on Kentucky Lake. His premonition proved to be correct, as his ledge eventually produced 31 pounds of hungry largemouths. But it didn’t happen the way he’d expected.

Mark Rose suggests fish location based on current
Predicting bass location on a ledge based on current is not a sure-fire science. Actually, it’s completely unpredictable most of the time. There are just too many variables.

Spawning baitfish create solid opportunities to target bass. Making the most of them begins with understanding the bait’s spawning behavior and whereabouts.
If you’ve ever toted a plate of cupcakes into a room filled with children, set the cupcakes down and watched what happened next, you can imagine what occurs when the forage species of bass spawn. The bass soon figure out that their favorite foods are congregated and captivated, and they show up for the feast.

Bulge shallow crankbaits at the surface for an explosive springtime bite
Just as the best bass pros are multidimensional, sometimes the best lures are too. Take shallow crankbaits for example. Not only can they dive and deflect off cover; many can also be made to wake the surface. Wakebaiting is a technique that lies somewhere between cranking and topwater fishing, but whatever the definition, it excels when other crankbait patterns flicker in effectiveness.

Logic suggests that locals should dominate tour-level events, but the stats prove otherwise. So we asked several top pros to explain why, and they revealed that fishing “in the moment” always trumps “fishing memories” on the tournament trail.
How is it then that locals get beat so often? How can anglers who have never laid eyes on a lake come in and win tournaments against guys who have years of experience there? The answer, according to a few of today’s top pros, rests in the ability to “fish the moment;” that is, to tap into the current behavior of bass and not what they were doing last year, last week or even yesterday.

Pro Stephen Johnston reveals that not all bass spawn alike
On a dim morning in early February, pro Stephen Johnston and I set out onto Lake Amistad to see if there was anything the Hemphill, Texas, angler might do to catch a respectable stringer after a sharp cold front sent prespawn fish into a frustrating funk.

Once one of the hottest baits, the tube has since been replaced in the minds of many anglers by sleeker, sexier models. But two top tour pros say this classic never lost its luster.
Each year, dozens of new soft-plastic lures hit the market, touting unique profiles and fish-catching features. A few become tackle box mainstays, while most just drift off into the past without leaving a big footprint in bass fishing.

How swimbaits in the cold months can boat you a limit … or the biggest fish of your life
They’re both transplants, and they both hold a secret for winter fishing. National Guard pro Justin Lucas and EverStart Series pro Matt Peters of southernswimbait.com both reside in the southeastern U.S. (Alabama and Arkansas, respectively). They didn’t always, though. At one point in time each called California home.

In the process of this transition, FLW Walleye Fishing will cease publication following the November/December 2012 issue, but that doesn’t mean we want to lose you as a reader.

EverStart pro Randall Tharp is an all-around juggernaut when it comes to power fishing, especially on grass lakes where he can get back to his roots of frogging and flipping for giant bass. Which is why I jumped in the boat with Tharp at Lake Guntersville last fall for a lesson in how to break down matted grass and how to catch big, buried-up largemouths. Trust me, there wasn’t a spinning rod in sight.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the vastness of it all when gazing across an expanse as large as Lake Ontario. Where do you find fish in all this water? EverStart Series Northern Division pro Joe Lucarelli showed me last summer. I watched the New Hampshire angler mentally box off a manageable section of this Great Lake, search a diverse range of habitat and dial in several quality catches through patience and discipline.

A five-step game plan to score big in after-dark tournaments
It’s summertime, which means bass anglers with a taste for competition are probably tossing their weekly allowance – and their pride – into the kitty at jackpot tournaments down at the local res. What is it about fishing for gas money and bragging rights that makes summer night tournaments such an anticipated tradition?

If this had been a fishing charter, I would have demanded my money back. My day on Pickwick Lake and Lake Wilson with Tennessee pro Curt McGuire was a straight-up lesson in looking – that is, preparing to catch fish, but not necessarily catching them.

To enter the house of Western bass, sometimes you have to knock down the barricades first
They might appear as innumerable masses of swaying stalks, but the tules common to Western fisheries such as Clear Lake and the California Delta present multiple opportunities for bass anglers. Moreover, consistent success requires an awareness of multiple strategies and some knowledge of how to break through the tule wall and into the house of the bass that dwell within.

You’d expect 2006 Forrest Wood Cup champion and National Guard pro Brent Ehrler to unleash a bag of Western swimbait tricks on unsuspecting Southeastern bass occasionally, considering his California pedigree. But when it comes to heavy soft-plastic swimbaits, those rigged with internal lead weights, he’d be the first to admit that he learned a lot of what he knows about them after he came East.

Prespawn bass fishing is widely known as a “zero-or-hero” season for many anglers. While it might be relatively simple to locate fish, it’s not always easy to make them eat. Pop-Tarts pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark., lets us in on the prespawn crankbait arsenal he uses to pry open the lips of tricky prespawn bass.

If you own an Amazon Kindle or a Barnes and Noble Nook and are a fan of FLW, there is now another great way to access all of the compelling content of FLW Bass Fishing magazine. Beginning immediately, the digital version of the FLW Bass Fishing magazine will be available to all Nook and Kindle e-readers as FLW continues to improve and expand upon delivery methods for its online editorial content.

Although they hail from opposite sides of the country, National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of California and Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of North Carolina are both proficient with using jerkbaits in cold climates. Their styles differ, but each has developed tried-and-true wintertime techniques.

Learn to use wind to your advantage and you’ll never dread it again
Here’s a riddle: What do we curse in the spring and fall but wish for in the summer? Answer: wind.

Advice, tackle for rigging soft jerkbaits for any situation
Soft-plastic jerkbaits are old reliables of the fishing world, with roots that trace back to the days of the Lunker City Slug-Go. Nowadays, every soft-plastic manufacturer has a jerkbait. Small wonder; it’s easy to use and effective. You can still fish it the simplest way, which is weightless on a worm hook. Or you can experiment with weighting systems and new hooks designed to amp up performance. Here are some terminal tackle and rigging options to consider ...

A complete guide to the latest, greatest, biggest, baddest, ultimate, coolest, most realistic, tournament-proven, lab-tested, longest-lasting, fish-catchingest new stuff for 2012
A complete guide to the latest, greatest, biggest, baddest, ultimate, coolest, most realistic, tournament-proven, lab-tested, longest-lasting, fish-catchingest new stuff for 2012

Aggressive or subtle, blade baits offer a unique attraction for hard-water walleyes
Walleyes under hard water often go from “just browsing” to lure-smashing in a matter of minutes. A blade bait can be a finesse and power lure, which allows ice anglers to stick walleyes even when they change moods. To ice the cake, blade baits not only trigger neutral and active walleyes, they have the capability to draw fish in to your hole better than other lures.

Pop-Tarts pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark., has enjoyed remarkable success on the Walmart FLW Tour, having scored 13 top-10s. In July, I shared a picturesque summer day with him as he prepared for the EverStart Series Central Division tournament on Detroit River/Lake St. Clair and collected several pointers. Among other things, I also learned that Bohannan isn’t just a threat on the lakes of the Ozarks.

Weed-free and capable of the big bite, the jig just got a little more versatile
Versatility is everything in bass fishing. One-trick ponies, capable of dominating a particular event with a trademark tactic, often turn into one-fish ponies when the conditions or location changes. That’s part of what makes a jig one of bass fishing’s most effective lures. It’s as versatile in its uses as a top pro is in his ability to make multiple presentations work.

The presence of bait is a sign that bass might be in the neighborhood. But too much of it can be a headache rather than a blessing.
Two fall days. Two giant schools of shad. Two completely different outcomes.

When bass get in the middle of the water column, a drop-shot rig can be key
Suspended bass – whether largemouths, smallmouths or spots – are notoriously difficult to catch. They’re among the most finicky and flighty targets an angler can pursue. In fact, confronted with suspended fish as the primary pattern, most anglers punt and look for a secondary pattern. That’s not always the best option; just consider what happened in August 2010.

When walleyes lurk among the weeds, casting and cranking a baitfish-imitating plug is an outstanding way to lure them out
Here’s a simple walleye-fishing fact for you: Walleyes love weeds. Here’s another: Walleyes in weeds love crankbaits.

Tour elites delve into the science, new angling applications regarding these shallow-water hunters
Jacob Powroznik might very well have been the first to coin the term. It was the fall of 2006, and the Gillette/Duracell pro had just hauled in 15 pounds on the third day of the EverStart Series Northern Division tournament at Kerr Lake to finish seventh. When asked about his pattern, the Prince George, Va., pro told media that he had targeted “wolf packs.”

Looking for a versatile lure for summertime bass fishing? Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre suggests you take a look at the swim jig.

How to change your rigging system to maximize the deep bite
Nothing is the same 72 feet below the surface. That is, nothing is the same in the deepest depths of walleye country as it is in the 10- to 30-foot range where most walleye anglers fish. In fact, once you cross the 50-foot mark, the thick band of water between the surface and giant bottom-dwelling walleyes calls for an entirely different set of presentation skills, especially when it involves a live-bait rig.

Clean house with this cold-water killer
The mop-style jig notched its first big-money victory at Lake Murray on a chilly day in February 2006. Spring weather had been trying to break out early in the Carolinas that year, and a string of warm days had pulled a lot of fish shallow. Tournament week marked the return of bone-chilling cold, however, and by the time the Walmart FLW Tour event began many bass were retreating back to deeper water.

A review of the top new designs to hit the market in the last two years
Advancement in lure design, crankbaits in particular, is a never-ending game that results in countless new products anglers can try. On one hand, that’s part of the fun of fishing. On the other, it’s expensive to buy new lures every year, especially when they may not produce any better than such tried-and-true stalwarts as Rapala Husky Jerks, Shad Raps and Reef Runners.

Local soft baits hit national scene
Wishing and politics share some similarities. When it comes to elections, all politics are local and only a few select candidates manage to generate the widespread appeal that might elevate them to the national stage.

Lowrance StructureScan isn’t just for deep water. Here’s how it can help you in the shallows
Go to a Walmart FLW Tour event this year and check out the pro’s boats before takeoff. You’ll see proof of the trend that is changing bass fishing. That trend is the ever-expanding use of side-viewing sonar technology such as Lowrance StructureScan.

An in-depth look at the trends and tactics that excelled in 2010
Each year 150 of the world’s best bass anglers suit up to fish the Walmart FLW Tour. To find success on the water each day they reach deep into the wells of their fishing expertise. Along the way, they wring out every last drop of angling innovation to match the challenges posed by a variety of differing lakes and conditions. And the tactics and techniques they apply to catch winning stringers provide information that benefits all bass fishermen, no matter their skill level.

Walleye only regularly published periodical dedicated to walleye fishing
MINNEAPOLIS — FLW Outdoors, the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, has rebranded the walleye edition of FLW Outdoors Magazine to just Walleye. FLW Outdoors produces FLW Outdoors Magazine (bass) and Walleye, each the world’s leading authority on their species.

Electronic edition enhances magazine content
FLW Outdoors Magazine has offered quality information for expert and aspiring anglers – as well as everyone in between – for many years now. Beginning in 2011, the magazine will support an electronic edition with enhanced content and online convenience, and fishing fans can check it all out free of charge for a limited time.

More than 100 products compiled
In years past we’ve done our best to pick out some of the best new products released at ICAST for our Buyer’s Guide. This year, we wanted more. We have compiled more than 100 products for this year’s Buyer’s Guide, making it our most comprehensive guide ever. Don’t worry, we still weeded out the products that should be weeded out, but we’ve included all the new products that we would normally showcase later on in the year, allowing you to see all the newest products in one place. To help you with your holiday wish list, we have also kept up the tradition of spotlighting some of our favorites.

More than 100 products compiled
In years past we’ve done our best to pick out some of the best new products released at ICAST for our Buyer’s Guide. This year, we wanted more. We have compiled more than 100 products for this year’s Buyer’s Guide, making it our most comprehensive guide ever. Don’t worry, we still weeded out the products that should be weeded out, but we’ve included all the new products that we would normally showcase later on in the year, allowing you to see all the newest products in one place. To help you with your holiday wish list, we have also kept up the tradition of spotlighting some of our favorites.

Advanced planer-board tactics
It’s been more than 25 years since Gary Gehrman rocked my trolling world. Prior to that day in the boat, I had always associated planer boards with trolling for Great Lakes trout and salmon. Walleyes, after all, bit on jigs and rigs along the edges of structure and on crankbaits fished in the shallows. After spending a few hours trolling down the middle of the lake with Gehrman, walleye fishing was never the same.

Need five fish when nothing is working? Here are seven lures the pros use
Every tournament fisherman dreams of catching a jaw-dropping sack of bass. The dream is sweetest, of course, when the catch comes on the final day of a major tournament, with hundreds of fans watching and thousands of dollars on the line.

Escape the slow dog days of summer in a lake by making a run upriver
It’s 9 a.m., and the thermometer is already pushing 90 degrees. You slide on your sunglasses because the big fireball in the sky has climbed high enough into the humid air to warrant shade. Immediately, the first sweat of the day forms on your brow and streaks down the inside of your sunglasses.

Using big blades to improve efficiency and quality
In the United States, “bigger is better” isn’t just a saying; it’s a way of life. Trucks, houses, value meals, fish – we want things big. And that thinking is starting to expand into spinner fishing.

Heavy snap weights and superline offer an alternative to lead core
Four crankbaits wobbling on the ends of four long lengths of lead core are effective at seining the depths for deep walleyes. That is, until one of the crankbaits snags a leaf, stick or some other assorted debris. Then it runs sideways. With the other lines nearby crisscrossing in the same water depths, it doesn’t take a fishing genius to know a tangled disaster is in the making. Time to crank in that line – all 150 feet of it.

Just because you can’t see bass on their beds doesn’t mean they aren’t there
It was a bit of a shock for Alvin Shaw to see a group of boats working over his bedding fish. Those fish were supposed to be his backup plan for day one of the 2005 Wheeler Lake FLW Tour event. The State Road, N.C., pro had locked upstream to Lake Guntersville to fish ledges for postspawn bass, but they weren’t biting. So to see a crowd sight-fishing was heartbreaking.

Using ice-fishing lures in open water
Northland Puppet Minnows, Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons, Salmo Chubby Darters and other ice-fishing lures have a stereotype of being solely for the winter months. It is as if the lures only work when there is 18 inches of ice somewhere above them. Thing is, they are still lures that mimic what walleyes want to eat. And anglers like Dusty Minke have taken to never storing their ice boxes.

Slow down with subtle falling lures
Big bass inhaling fast-moving lures. That’s the norm for prespawn giants in east Texas. It has been for years and assuredly will be for years to come. So when the FLW Tour visited Lake Travis in February 2007, anglers no doubt had visions of egg-laden sows gorging on lipless crankbaits.

High water, swift current, soupy mud equals … great springtime fishing?
Ice-fishing is fun and all, but by the end of February, you’re admittedly tired of walking on water and using stunted fishing rods. You’re craving a warm day, the smell of some outboard exhaust, some time watching your graph, pitching a jig to shallow water and feeling the thump of a giant walleye. You’re ready for spring.

Where students don’t fall asleep in class. They get up early to hit the lake
In the spirit of friendly college rivalries, it is time for some college debate aimed specifically at anglers. We surveyed all 2009 National Guard FLW College Fishing anglers in the country on their clubs, their schools, their fishing lifestyles and more, and we scored the results based on the factors we thought most important for a college angler: proximity to bass fisheries, tournament opportunities, club activities, etc.

Testing new tackle is a major task for FLW Outdoors Magazine each year. Relying on tournament pros, field editors and in-house staff, dozens of products hit the water each year, and it all starts following ICAST in summer. As usual, manufacturers didn’t disappoint in producing great new gear for 2010.

Testing new tackle is a major task for FLW Outdoors Magazine each year. Relying on tournament pros, field editors and in-house staff, dozens of products hit the water each year, and it all starts following ICAST in summer. As usual, manufacturers didn’t disappoint in producing great new gear for 2010.

Like the idea of catching 75 or more smallies in a day? Start fishing wing dams
Sunken beneath the expanse that is the Mississippi River, where a turbulent current wages war against chunks of granite, lies angling bliss for anyone venturing to the Midwest.

Crankbait tricks for the nontroller
The back of the package made it sound easy. All it said for instructions for your new crankbait was “dives 7 to 9 feet.” That seemed simple enough. Chuck it out, pull it back on a frozen rope, and the crankbait should attain the described depth, and presumably, bring a fish back with it.

Having a pattern to yourself means finding one that never existed
My earliest memories of a TV include a giant “color television set” that took up half of my parents’ living room and weighed as much as a 150-hp outboard motor. That monstrosity of simulated wood grain and glass received a whopping 13 VHF channels. That’s right, 13 channels. Ironically, the same thing could be said for the way bass anglers described bass fishing patterns back in the days of rabbit-ear antennas, glass tubes and VHF.

How to quickly find and slowly pluck walleyes from weeds
“Find one piece of fruit and it can expose the entire tree.” It’s quotes like this one that make me think Berkley pro Tommy Skarlis needs to come with a disclaimer.

Forrest Wood Cup, Walleye Tour Angler of the Year issues great for collectors
The Forrest Wood Cup edition of FLW Outdoors Magazine has left the printers and should have been mailed to mailboxes and newsstands near you.

Take advantage of the early morning bite all season
Nothing compares to the sense of urgency that overwhelms a tournament angler at daybreak. Last-minute nerves and a recheck of the game plan has the mind pulled in every direction while jockeying for position among a flotilla of bass boats. But the thing that really accelerates the anticipation is the itch to make the most of the morning bite.

When it comes to live-bait fishing, few things inspire more confidence than a wiggling leech
On the totem pole of respect, not many of Mother Nature’s creatures rank lower than leeches. These invertebrates live their lives under logs and rocks and carry the stigma of being parasitic bloodsuckers, although some scavenge and eat invertebrates even farther down the totem pole than themselves.

The first step toward becoming a crankbait master is learning how every variable affects the system
I have a favorite crankbait. It dives to about 10 feet, has a green-and-white shad pattern with iridescent sides, and I’ve seen some good fish eat it on nearby Kentucky Lake.

Formulating success with four jig techniques
They’re as simple as fishing lures get. Yet, there’s nothing simple about them.

Lessons help overcome troublesome water clarity
Fish long enough and it’s bound to happen. The perfect trip goes awry with the inflow of sediment into an otherwise pristine paradise. Chocolate milk, brown gravy and molasses are all fine on the breakfast table, but they can turn an angler’s stomach when describing his favorite fishing spot being overrun with dirty water. During spring, rainy tournaments can go from a blowout to a washout in one evening.

Overlooked holding areas for river walleyes
There are several key differences among obvious fishing spots, subtle holding areas and dead water. Obvious fishing spots attract both fish and fishermen; dead water draws neither; and subtle holding areas draw fish but few anglers. The latter go overlooked because such areas are often indistinct or lie within the no man’s land between obvious fishing spots.

Fish softly but still carry your big stick
The worm and weight spiraled end over end between the tules like a South American bola on its way to snare wild game. The rapid pitch-and-twirl combo hit the water with a near-silent entry, and the dark corner of the reed clump was motionless. Professional angler Michael Rooke of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., stood statuesque, peering into the water for what seemed like an eternity. Slowly, he raised the tip of his rod.

Go against the norm and put weary walleyes in the boat
The cameras rolled as waves and wind gently bucked the angler up and down in the chop while he explained the nuances of his new weapons. It wasn’t difficult to explain how pulling different crankbaits than the norm can be effective. However, pro angler Jason Kerr of Holly, Mich., had limited experience trolling the new Z-Man ChatterSticks on Lake Erie.

Seven must-have colors for every tackle box
We’ve all been there. Standing in an aisle, surrounded by adjectives like “hot,” “bleeding,” “sparkle” and “tiger,” an angler’s eyes detect a foreign color. Instantly, his mind is triggered, bringing an entire lure inventory to the forefront of consciousness for analyzing. Like a supercomputer crunching data, his mind begins scrolling through boxes of lures in an attempt to identify the hue somewhere in the collection.

Get ready for an incredible $10 million season
Every sport is defined by its athletes. Most team sports are defined by positions and the standouts in those positions. In fishing, it’s a little different. Namely because anglers compete against variables they can’t control (the bass, the weather, etc.) no matter how much they train. However, this sport is often defined by the techniques, and certain pros are considered the best at those techniques.

FLW Outdoors Magazine editors give their product picks for the coming year, highlighting what’s in store for bass anglers.

FLW Outdoors Magazine editors give their product picks for the coming year, highlighting what’s in store for walleye anglers.

Scouting tactics for ice fishing during open water
A typical fall ice fishing primer is all about getting anglers excited about new products and developments in ice fishing technology. They’re great stories for anglers who like to spend more time organizing their gear than actually straddling a slushy hole.

Bennett breaks the bank and the records
If what is junk to one man is treasure to another, Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif., found a virtual scrapyard of finny riches roaming the shallows of South Carolina’s Lake Murray during the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol.

This category of soft baits may be the most versatile of all
The topic of naming and classifying fishing lures is a large one. Bass have been caught on thousands of variations of hundreds of designs, especially in the soft-plastic arena. Every year, however, anglers scramble around, searching for something new and something different in the never-ending quest to outsmart ever-smarter bass.

Transmitting bottom contours through lead and line
It’s no secret, walleye anglers have embraced technology. Large-megapixel sonar displays, GPS mapping and other electronics have some anglers’ boats rivaling NASA space stations in terms of electronics. And while many of those nifty gadgets were originally developed for a different industry, leave it to walleye anglers to pick up these tools and run wild with them.

Practice silence and stealth when they matter most
Two things help Captain Rob Gorta produce redfish in skinny water for his clients on a daily basis. For Gorta, silence is golden. His approach traces one of stealth, during which he avoids noise of any type. Gorta will even slip an anchor over the side without a ripple rather than try to ram a push-pole tip into the bottom of the flat and create sound waves fish can hear.

A straight-down lesson in deep-water trolling
Downriggers get lures deep, and they keep lures at precise depths. While trolling 60 to 100 feet (or more) deep, like salmon or salt anglers, may be a rare stretch for walleye anglers, hitting the 45-foot mark is not when on big water.

Apply big-water tactics to little locales
At one point, top professional anglers in competitive fishing were just weekend anglers with aspirations of going pro. They spent time learning to catch bigger bass more efficiently on smaller bodies of water before applying their experiences to larger lakes and rivers. Now, they can travel to lakes all over the country and piece together limits of keeper bass, falling back on their years of fishing small lakes.

Work the water column for bigger bags
By fishing at different depths in the water column, it quickly becomes possible to go from catching a couple of fish to a limit of fish. And by understanding what factors are likely to move fish throughout the water column, anglers can better learn to work different depth zones to be effective catching bass above and below.

Become a master troller with planer boards
Some of the most feared pro walleye anglers on the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour often share one common denominator – they have mastered the art of trolling. More often than not, tournaments held on the Great Lakes are won by trolling. The Great Lakes, however, aren’t the only places where savvy trollers can steal the show.

Catch redfish on a drop-shot rig
In October 2005, fishing pros Andre Moore and Kim Bain – both of Alabaster, Ala., and both of whom fish the Wal-Mart FLW Tour bass circuit – arrived in Orange Beach, Ala., for the annual Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship.

Ledges offer year-round untapped fishing for inshore anglers
The notion that ledges are fish havens is nothing new. In fact, offshore anglers targeting grouper, snapper, kingfish, and even billfish and tuna have successfully fished them for decades. Knowledgeable inshore fishermen have long scored on ledges as well. But often there are small, overlooked, fish-filled ledges that many inshore anglers fail to notice.

Using lead-core line to troll for ’eyes
Some anglers never get the lead out. They’d rather use standard trolling tools like monofilament line and snap weights than learn something new. Others prefer lead-core line over anything else.

Family values turned family boat business into pioneering leader in the industry
A walk through a museum says a lot about the history of things. In the small town of Flippin, Ark., a unique museum, the Forrest L. Wood Outdoor Sports Gallery, tells the history and tale of hard work and family.

Going deep with big swimbaits
Many anglers think swimbaits are only topwater lures. Sure, that’s the most exhilarating way to catch them. But for some reason, they only envision it on lakes in California, Texas and Mexico. Yet, there are lakes nationwide that have been hiding big fish because no one has ever tempted them with truly oversized offerings.

Redfish pros spill their secrets on fishing lipless crankbaits
As dawn broke at the day-one launch of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series event in Fernandina Beach, Fla., last May, I began to busily nose my way through the lures redfish pros had tied to their rods. I quickly fumbled for my notepad like an overzealous law officer who had witnessed a minor traffic violation. I frantically scribbled: Rat-L-Trap – McKenzie-Bertha.

Lake Erie walleyes can be caught in more than just the middle of the water column
Things sure seem to change awfully fast. Back in the late 1990s, most of the guys in the know on the Great Lakes trolled their lures in the middle of the water column and had success catching large walleyes. Fast-forward a decade or so, and the number of Shad Raps I run in the middle of the column (15 to 17 feet) is equal to the number of times I’ve been to the moon.

Walleye hot spots to consider in 2008
There’s one common thread to most of walleye country this time of year – it’s really, really cold. But, is there a better time to be thinking of getting on the water than late winter and early spring while gathered around a warm fireplace?

In recent months, the editors of FLW Outdoors Magazine discovered bass anglers in Texas, Southern California and the Great Lakes region may be the luckiest folks in the fishing world. During that time, we assembled our list of the top bass-fishing destinations for 2008, and those regions of the country stole the show.

FLW Outdoors Magazine editors give holiday buyers a leg up on list making
That little span between the end of fall fishing and the beginning of spring fishing could be a depressing period of time if not for the winter holidays. Not only is Christmas a time to rejoice and celebrate with family and friends – it’s a time to rack up on great new fishing gear.

Where and how to catch trophy walleyes in the fall
Nothing makes the heart beat faster than the feel of a trophy walleye vibrating through a rod. A 10-pound walleye thrashing in the net is usually the result of good research and planning as much as it is fishing technique. Whether river, lake or reservoir, the key is to be on spots that host high concentrations of trophy fish at the times they are most apt to be there.

Suspended summer bass make $1 million payday
Earning a membership to the posh brotherhood of million-dollar anglers is a career goal only a handful of professional bass anglers have been fortunate enough to achieve. Some pros have been knocking at the golden gate for decades but have never managed to crack the code to open it.

Diving deep for walleyes
Some may wonder why anyone would bother using a diver. The answer is simple: to run your lures deeper than they are able to dive on their own. The advanced answer is some divers run your baits out to the side, float at rest, trip their triggers on demand to rise toward the surface, and perform a few other maneuvers. They don’t just dive; they thrive in the wide-open spaces of offshore walleye-trolling adventures.

Banging bottom is not just a largemouth technique anymore
Rock ’n’ roll fans always want to “crank up” the music. NASCAR drivers are always telling their mechanics to “crank up” the power in their cars. But “cranking up” bass means something entirely different in fishing circles.

Lace up the wading boots during this special September season
Captain Larry Miniard stood, a slight bend in his knees, on the casting platform of his Ranger Ghost, eyeing new water trickling into the spartina grass flat. His hand blocked the last of the day’s glare creeping through the corner of his glasses as the St. Augustine sun dipped below the treeline on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) behind us. “It’s just about getting right,” Miniard said. “Just a little higher.”

Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division, California Delta
When you’re hot, you’re hot. Two tournament wins in the Stren Series Western Division in 2006, along with fifth- and 14th-place finishes led to Jimmy Reese handedly winning the division points title.

How to succeed in the toughest walleye weather
Chevy pro Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis., the 2006 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year on the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, heard all kinds of stories when he was growing up as to why anglers in the old days thought walleye fishing got tough in summer.

A fish with a bad reputation is a good fish to chase
Toothy loners, wahoo spend most of their days miles offshore in blue water, cruising around with a mind full of anger, just waiting to ravage an unsuspecting baitfish and strip some gears from a fine new fishing reel. They’re also incredibly fast, strong creatures, and they require a generous increase in the beefiness of a trolling spread. When it comes to beating man at the angling game, the odds are stacked in a wahoo’s favor.

Secrets for lure selection and boat control on the Great Lakes
What looks like a Mardi Gras necklace, is really sharp and has a little vibration and flash mixed in? Why, only the deadliest walleye bait on the market right now – a spinner!

How pros catch bass swimming metal
Though swimming a spoon through grass has been catching bass for generations, it has taken a backseat to new lures and techniques. But, spoon swimming is making a comeback thanks to new models introduced by Stanley and Berkley that mold a jighead to a spoon blade.

Trolling slack river pools can pay big in the spring
Current, as every good angler knows, plays a strong hand in how walleyes set up on cover and structure to rest and feed. In a large river system, such as the Mississippi River, anglers deal with an array of variables, from weather conditions to angling pressure, each time they hit the water. Current, however, is one of the few constants.

With so many to choose from and so many applications, you can’t go wrong
Occasionally, a bass lure comes along that is hard to describe without sounding like a late-night TV ad: A lure so effective it knows no regional or seasonal boundaries … so effective it catches not only largemouth bass, but spotted bass and smallmouths as well … but wait, there’s more …

Finding redfish opportunities in slack water
Redfish populations that are strongly influenced by tides know what the dinner bell at the local diner sounds like – it’s the sound of moving water. Whether the tide is filling a grass flat with new water, ripping out of a tidal creek, flooding a shoreline or hustling out of a pass, tidal redfish are all about water movement.