Just Like Water: The Case for Bad Beer
One of my most beloved angling traditions is the lunchtime beer. The midpoint of a float trip is largely an excuse to open a can of Miller Lite. If the morning has been a good one, then it’s a well-earned celebration. If the fishing has been off, then it’s a commiseration with your own bad luck–and just as well-deserved.
Wrecking Ball White Bass
I wish I could say this “wrecking ball” discovery was the result of testing a cutting-edge angling hypothesis. In truth, it came about by happenstance. It was fortunate that I had enough fishing sense to see value when value presented itself.
The Worst (Funniest) Hunting Products Ever Seen
If I were in a more curmudgeonly frame of mind, I could name anything that makes hunting easier or is higher tech that didn’t exist when I was younger: ATVs, trail cameras, cell phones, for instance. But, I can see how ATVs are a godsend to deer hunters; that trail cameras must be a lot of fun; and personally, since I am as bad as any teenager with my phone in the field, who am I to criticize them? Cell phones are a blessing for those of us with short attention spans when we have to sit patiently and wait for game. I know I used to do it before cell phones, but it was really boring.
Visions of an Angling Artist
A few years ago, we featured the artwork of Sarah Lauridsen, a Vermonter who is both an avid fly-fisher and artist. Today, out of the blue, she emailed me the brook-trout painting above, which blew me away. This time of year, the brookies are decked out in their spawning finery, and Sarah’s painting nails the colors. As you can see from the paintings below, she’s a master of colors and texture.
Bass Fishing Myths
The late Al Houser, former director of the Oklahoma Fisheries Research Lab, made a comment that’s stuck in my head for 30 years. “The problem isn’t that anglers are ignorant,” he lamented, “it’s that they know so many things that just ain’t so.”
Multispecies Systems That Catch Fall Pike
Even when I drive to a pike heaven like Rainy Lake, a Canadian Shield lake on the Minnesota-Northwest Ontario border, I usually begin with tactics that allow me to test the waters for the happening fish of the moment. Could be pike, but could also be walleyes, and at times smallmouth bass. Then I tinker from there, switching tactics to more accurately target whichever species is hot and happening.
When (and How) to Introduce Your Kid to Outdoor Sports
Kids also do best when they’re allowed to explore, instead of being cajoled into ever more challenging situations. “Too many parents approach sports with a fixed mindset, saying, We’ve got to get to the end of this trail,’” says Paul Dreyer, CEO of Avid4 Adventure, which instructs kids ages three and up at camps in Colorado and California.
Top Five Fly-Casting Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Fly-casting is not easy. Like any skill worth knowing, casting expertise takes a long time to develop—in some cases years. The good news is that anglers pretty much make the same mistakes, and that means your casting flaws have probably already been tackled by someone before.