Downriggers are one of the most versatile fishing tools ever invented. They have been around quite a while but have increased in popularity over the last decade. They allow an angler to have total depth control with his lure. For me personally, they have furthered my success immeasurably for trophy trout. If your serious about fishing and own a boat, they are a must have in my book. My first downrigger was a Penn manual that I purchased in the early 90' s but did not really use very much. I d   ....

Since swim baits have recently gained national exposure and notoriety on the pro tour level its no wonder we are seeing more of them in the arsenal of recreational and big bass trophy anglers. Although the Swimbait craze started in the West the trend is sweeping the nation. There are two types of swimbaits; Plastics and hard Swimbaits more commonly referred to as wooden baits or jointed baits. These baits are made to imitate natural forage prey such as Rainbow trout, Shad, Hitch, shiners, bluegi   ....

It's magic time. You just tied on that new AC Plug you've been waiting to try, you're trolling along the shoreline of a lake known for big trout, and just as you run your boat past a rocky point with a quick drop-off to deep water, your rod bends over hard and kicks with the power of a monster fish! Okay, so it doesn't always happen so quickly and dramatically, but for me it really did. As a fishing guide and avid trout troller, I had heard of Allan Cole's famous lure, but didn't really know m   ....

When I was invited to participate in a friend's wedding this year, I immediately started thinking about how to fit in some fishing time. I had been to Minnesota once before and had heard rumors of some large muskie to be had. The last time I was there we chased walleye, which was fun. But, this time would be different. My good friend Jeremy knew of a local river where big muskie lived. Muskie feed on other large fish...and I knew right away that they couldn't pass up a well presented AC Plug.   ....

A group of anglers read the news about when trout plants would begin in Lake Mohave and jotted the dates down on their calendars. A small number of those anglers had no intention of fishing for the rainbow trout planted by the Nevada Division of Wildlife in this desert reservoir. They were interested in striped bass. Big striped bass. In a seeming counterintuitive act, the best time to catch a trophy striped bass is during the winter. This doesn't make sense. The water is getting colder and all   ....