Bass fishing from pontoon boat platforms is more practical than many anglers assume. A pontoon may not turn, accelerate or hold a tight shoreline as easily as a dedicated bass boat, but it gives you a stable platform, plenty of casting space and access to water that shore anglers cannot reach. The biggest challenge is…
Good fishing tips for bass should help you answer three questions before you make a cast: where are the fish likely to be, what presentation can reach them effectively, and what should you change if they do not respond? Bass fishing can become unnecessarily complicated because there are hundreds of lures, specialized rods, seasonal patterns…
Catfishing with shrimp is a simple way to turn an ordinary grocery-store bait into a legitimate catfish offering. Raw shrimp can be fished whole or cut into smaller pieces, works well on basic bottom rigs, and is especially useful when channel catfish are the target. You do not need live shrimp, an elaborate marinade, or…
Bass fishing from shore does not mean settling for whatever fish happen to swim within casting distance. In many lakes, ponds and rivers, some of the most useful bass habitat is right beside the bank. The challenge is approaching it correctly. Shore anglers often make their first mistake before the lure even hits the water:…
A baitcaster can be an excellent reel for catfishing, especially when heavy rigs, strong line and larger fish are involved. Here is how to choose, set up and fish one properly.
Good fishing tips for catfish should help you make a few decisions before the bait ever enters the water: which catfish you are targeting, where that fish is likely to be, what it is likely to eat, and how to present the bait effectively. That matters because channel catfish, blue catfish and flathead catfish do…
Catfishing with stink bait is one of the simplest ways to target channel catfish, but the bait only works well if it actually stays on the rig long enough to release scent into the water. The biggest difference between a frustrating session and an effective one is often not the brand of bait—it is matching…
Night carp fishing can turn a quiet evening into the most productive part of a carp session, but darkness also makes simple mistakes much harder to fix. Casting, baiting, landing fish, finding equipment, and even walking around the swim become more difficult once you can no longer see clearly. The solution is not a special…
Do pike have teeth? Absolutely. Northern pike have an impressive collection of sharp teeth designed to grab slippery prey and keep it from escaping. Some are large and obvious along the jaws, while many smaller teeth are found farther inside the mouth. For anglers, those teeth matter for more than appearance. They can damage fishing…
The pickerel vs pike question sounds simple until a long, toothy green fish comes over the side of the boat. Chain pickerel and northern pike have the same general body shape, belong to the same fish family and can look surprisingly similar at a glance. Fortunately, several features separate them reliably — and you do…