I'll never forget the sinking feeling when I spotted a 3-inch tear in my favorite PFD during a pre-launch inspection at Lake Travis. After 5 years of faithful service, that Astral V-Eight had finally given up the ghost. Standing there at the boat ramp with my kayak already loaded, I had to make a quick […]

I'll never forget the morning I watched my buddy land three hefty largemouth while I sat there fishless, throwing the same spinnerbait that crushed them yesterday. The difference? He'd switched to a tiny finesse worm on 8-pound fluorocarbon while I stubbornly stuck with my power fishing arsenal. That cold front had shut down the aggressive […]

I'll never forget that October night on Lake Travis when my buddy Jake and I learned the hard way about choosing the wrong campfire type. We'd paddled 8 miles to a remote island campsite, our kayaks loaded down with gear, only to realize our hastily-built teepee fire was burning through our limited firewood supply way […]

Last October on Lake Travis, I watched three boats work the same deep point for hours without a bite. Meanwhile, I quietly dropped a 3/4-ounce jigging spoon down 25 feet and proceeded to catch seven bass in 30 minutes. The guy in the $80,000 bass boat throwing a $30 swimbait wasn't happy when he motored […]

Last July on Lake Travis, I watched my buddy throw everything in his tackle box at a school of bass suspended 35 feet down. Nothing. Meanwhile, I dropped a Carolina rig straight down from my fishing kayak and immediately hooked up with a 4-pounder. That's when he finally asked the question every deep water newbie […]

Last April, I was standing knee-deep in Oak Creek's crystal-clear water when a 22-inch brown trout slammed my fly. The red rocks of Sedona glowed in the morning sun, and I thought to myself - this is exactly why I moved to Arizona 15 years ago. After exploring every fishable body of water from the […]

Last Saturday morning, I pushed off from Sandy Point State Park just as the sun painted the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in shades of gold and orange. The water was glass-calm, and a great blue heron watched me paddle by with that judgmental look they're famous for. After 15 years of exploring Maryland's waterways, I still […]

Last Tuesday on Lake Travis, I watched three boats work the same crystal-clear cove for two hours without a single fish. Meanwhile, I quietly paddled my kayak to the shady side, downsized to a 1/16-ounce Ned rig, and landed five solid bass in 30 minutes. The difference? Understanding how bass behave when they can see […]

Last July, I was sweating buckets in my kayak on Lake Travis, wondering if I'd lost my mind. It was 98 degrees, my water bottle was empty, and I hadn't had a bite in three hours. Then I remembered something an old-timer told me at the boat ramp: "Son, summer bass are like teenagers - […]

Last April, I watched the sun rise over Lake Marion while my buddy landed a 9-pound largemouth on a white spinnerbait. The bass had been crushing shad in the cypress trees all morning, and we'd already boated six fish before 7 AM. That's South Carolina bass fishing at its finest – and exactly why I've […]