Late Season Catfish
Fifty-degrees Fahrenheit. That’s the magic number for channel catfish anglers in the fall. Above 50, catch rates can be fantastic, possibly the best of the year. Below 50, success depends on a lot of variables, but catch rates can still be good.
Tactics For Hunting Locked-Down Bucks
In early November deer hunting, those just-out-of-bow-range bucks seem to be everywhere—and you just know you’re going to kill one as soon as you can carry a gun to your stand. Then dawn breaks on opening day of firearms season, and you can’t spot a rutting buck to save your life.
The Search for Giant Perch
Yellow perch hold a special place in the hearts of hardcore panfish anglers. Seasoned anglers can recount the precise details surrounding the capture of their biggest yellow perch from decades past as though it was yesterday. Others spin tales of the day they got into a mother lode of jumbos and filled a fish basket too heavy to lift.
Fishing the Edges for Fall Pike
Fishing northern pike are cunning predators adept at feeding in packs, while also solitary assassins. In addition to their keen senses of sight, smell, feel (vibration), and hearing, they possess stealth, speed, and agility.
How to Buy a New Fly Rod on Any Budget
Walk into any fly shop from the Rockies to the Catskills and you’ll see a wall or two full of trout rods. Most shops carry a half-dozen brands at least, and the prices range from the bare-bones value of rods like the ECHO Base, all the way to the pricey G. Loomis Asquith. I’ve spent my entire life chasing trout in the American West, and I’d like to think I know a thing or two about “good” trout rods.
When (and How) to Use a Bleat Call to Stop a Buck
Sometimes bleating to stop a moving deer can actually be disastrous, turning a makeable shot opportunity into a spooked buck bounding out of your life forever. Nobody is saying you should abandon the bleat call altogether, but you do need to learn to use it wisely.
After the Shot. How to Keep the Meat Fresh
I love oversized antlers. And big bucks in general. All of that. But as I grow older, the most satisfaction I get from any hunt that comes in a tangible, touchable form is the meat. There is something about peering into my chest freezer and seeing dozens of pounds of meat that makes me feel like things are alright.
Vertical Fishing for Walleyes
Walleyes seem genetically programmed to react to rising and falling prey. One of the easiest meals for any predatory fish is crippled or dying baitfish. They often dart upward erratically, only to lose momentum and drift downward. This up-and-down movement draws attention. For this reason, vertical lure motion is fundamental to walleye fishing.