By Joe Cermele

Nothing ruins a bass bite faster than a personal watercraft ripping by at 50 mph. And nothing puts rising trout down quicker than a flotilla of tubers kicking and splashing their way down the river. There’s only one sure way to find tranquility on the water in summer, and it’s going to require a flashlight and some lost sleep.

But there’s a hidden advantage. Big fish that hunker down on hot days often go on the prowl after sundown, because that’s when bait species that have been lying low begin to move. Some guides specialize in chasing fish after dark, and we debriefed nine of them. Their tips and tricks are sure to help you become a master of the darkness.

Smallmouths: Black Light Special
According to veteran Tennessee guide Jim Duckworth, the biggest smallmouths in any lake head for the shoreline as soon as the sun sets. That’s because crayfish that have been hiding all day begin to stir now, and the bass know they can grab an easy meal. Duckworth quietly motors in on rocky banks and points, staying 70 to 90 feet away. Then he flicks on the black lights mounted on the sides... [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano

I ran into Rick Dickson of Freehand Fly Fishing at the industry trade show last year. At that time, his company was hedging their bets that magnets could up your odds of catching fish. The then anecdotal evidence convinced them to introduce a line of products that have direct contact of magnets to hooks and flies.

Well, it seems now that they've been proven correct. A piece in The Seattle Times — adapted from ScienceNOW.com — describes how "scientists have isolated magnetic cells in rainbow trout." While the piece has a few typos and the author actually seems to confuse a rainbow trout with a steelhead, the science behind it is pretty intriguing. [ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

I just left a little show-and-tell meeting with Lucky Craft. They're coming out with some pretty cool lures this year, which I'll show you later, but what they also have are new colors. All lure companies unveiled new colors at ICAST, but for the most part it's a game of developing hues and tones and patterns anglers haven't seen before.

Lucky Craft's new color? Black. [ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

I'll be the first to admit that of all the freshwater fishing I do, largemouth bass are not the targets as much as smallmouths or trout or crappies. That doesn't mean, however, that I haven't longed to get a true trophy largemouth on my list of catches. Up until my good buddy Kevin Jarnagin from Abu Garcia invited me to legendary Lake El Salto in the Mexican sierra a few weeks ago, my personal best largemouth weighed 6 pounds. At El Salto, 6 pounds isn't a drop in the bucket. All I'll say is that my personal best is no longer 6 pounds, though you'll have to check out the episode to find out by exactly how much I trumped it. This was truly a dream trip in a setting like no other I've ever fished. If you are a largemouth fanatic, El Salto is one of those place you should wet a line before you're fishing the big pond in the sky. Enjoy, amigos.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

In 2011, my wife and I moved to a new town. It’s not too far from my old home and fishing spots in New Jersey, but the address change gave me a reason to look for new water last summer and this spring. I’m not talking about the kind of water that requires packing a lunch and getting on the road before sunup, but rather those little ponds you hit on the way home from work, or between a dentist appointment and a stop at the post office. Often it’s these gems, nestled in manicured neighborhoods and tucked behind strip malls, that surprise you with bass, pickerel, crappies, and bluegills that are bigger and less pressured than those in the closest reservoir. Since you may never see such spots from main roads, the trick to finding them starts with some online sleuthing. [ Read Full Post ]

By Jonathan Miles

When Jeff McInnis—the chef at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar in Miami Beach—isn’t cooking, he’s likely fishing. In this recipe, the Florida native combines his passions, creating a summertime symphony on the plate. At Yardbird, McInnis uses Arctic char, but any fresh fish will shine here, even a lunker bass. [ Read Full Post ]