How-To

Charles Plott’s recommendations for anglers

Performance consultant Charles Plott has grown to admire the mental strength of top anglers. Plott consults athletes from many sports, and he recently helped Bassmaster Elite Series pro Gerald Swindle out of his bass fishing slump.

How-To

Tin or glass?

Ten years ago, that decision was pretty cut and dried. If you wanted a glitzy, high performance rig, you chose fiberglass. If you were shopping for an entry level rig to fish small lakes and shallow rivers, aluminum was the way to go.

How-To

When to frog and when to toad

Because hollow, weedless frogs and solid plastic toads excel in shallow grass, many anglers think they are interchangeable. They are wrong. Frogs and toads are two very different lures and presentations. The question is, when do you frog and when do you toad?

How-To

Hackney’s heavy-duty spooning

When bass stack up on river ledges in summer, Greg Hackney knows he might have to finesse finicky fish into biting. But there's nothing dainty about his tackle or his approach.

Power drop shotting with KVD

Leave it to high octane Kevin VanDam to turn a slowpoke finesse tactic like drop shotting into a power fishing presentation.

How-To

Rigged up for creature baits

The same rod-and-reel setup an angler is likely to prefer for pitching, flipping or fishing Carolina rigs will suffice for creature baits.

Advanced toad fishing

Toad fishing is for most fishermen a no-brainer. Cast this bait with a stiff rod and braided line, hold the rod up and crank fast enough to make the legs sputter on the surface. That might be good enough for weekend warriors, but toad fishing gets more involved when you make your living casting for cash, according to Frank Scalish of Cleveland, Ohio.

How-To

5 hot jig trailers

No bass addict would hit the water without a wide selection of jigs, but many anglers give short shrift to jig trailers. They stick with one or two favorites and leave it at that.

The Egg, and other deadly wake baits

Soon after I became a bass addict in the early 1970s, I learned of a Missourian named Charlie Campbell who was a magician with a Zara Spook. His name was synonymous with the dog-walking plug for decades. The aging, endearing Campbell, 77, continues to stuff his livewell with Spook fish in local bass tournaments.

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