By David Graham Every angler dreams of that once in a lifetime “trophy”. And every angler has that one “spot” they hold near and dear to their heart which has, does, and will provide those trophies. We as angers can catch the same species over and over, but truthfully, the experience is always uniquely different. [...]
By Josh B. Peacock Up here in the far North, when the water temperature begins to rise (55°F +), the days are growing in length (photoperiod) and the lunar phase gets right (full moon or new moon). Additionally, the lilacs have bloomed, the snapping turtles are laying eggs, and more importantly, bass are migrating into [...]
By Chris Willen Fly fishing for muskellunge has been burning through the angling circles like wildfire. For anglers transitioning from conventional gear to fly gear, many questions arise. The major one often asked is how does a musky fisherman get started fly fishing?
By Jim Gronaw One of the cool things about fishing for panfish with today’s ultra and even micro-light gear is that it makes little fish seem big. This is especially great news for guys like me who catch mostly small fish anyway. Where as 50 years ago the panfisherman was limited to a cane pole [...]
News from Cortland Line Company, May 2013: Cortland Line manufactures the finest fly lines, braided lines and monofilament in the world. Lines engineered to meet any fishing challenge. Whether the quarry is trout or tarpon, bass or bones, tuna or sailfish, we fish for them our selves and we put that experience into every Cortland [...]
June 17th, 2013 
Fishing Headquarters The ideal smallmouth bass crankbait is a smaller, compact, realistic, and noisy representation of bottom-scurrying prey. In this case, it’s their favorite, the crayfish. In early spring as smallmouths prepare for their spawn, power cranking with a shallow diving crankbait will score big numbers of feisty, prespawn fish that are cruising the shallows for feeding, and settling near spawning sites.
May 31st, 2013 Fishing Headquarters Early spring beckons jerkbaits from tackle trays on lakes all over the country. But in the northcountry, it’s an underutilized tactic. Largemouths and smallmouths alike find suspending jerkbaits difficult to resist as they stage to spawn. In May and June when smallmouth bass are staging for the spawn, I consider a suspending jerkbait the ultimate lure. It’s the first thing I turn to before anything else. Smallmouths aren’t on top and they aren’t on the bottom. They want to eat as they prepare for the spawn, but the water is still pretty cold so they aren’t very active. A suspending jerkbait such as the Rapala Xrap triggers them to bite.
May 31st, 2013 Fishing Headquarters Since lakes vary so widely with depth, clarity and cover options for bass during the pre spawn period, it’s difficult to anticipate or define exactly what bass may do under post-frontal conditions. On this day however, smallmouth bass were stacked and found staging outside of known spawning sites.
May 31st, 2013 Fishing Headquarters As a true power fisherman, my favorite way to catch bass is using a jerkbait. During spring when bass are in the pre-spawn phase, cruising the shallows and staging outside of spawning areas, this technique allows me to cover maximum amounts of water in any conditions, and allows me to elicit the reactionary strike that I’m always trying to generate.
May 31st, 2013 Fishing Headquarters The Rapala X-Rap is an extreme action slash bait that was released in 2004. When Rapala introduced the X-Rap, they not only brought a great new lure to fishermen, but they introduced an entirely new fishing system that revolutionized the way anglers fish jerkbaits. The versatility of the X-Rap allows an angler to impart several different motions and actions in a single retrieve, and it triggers strikes when most other baits fall short. Of the dozens of baits and lure choices I can try for smallmouth bass, nothing rivals the effectiveness of an X-Rap.
May 30th, 2013 Fishing Headquarters By David Graham
Every angler dreams of that once in a lifetime “trophy”. And every angler has that one “spot” they hold near and dear to their heart which has, does, and will provide those trophies. We as angers can catch the same species over and over, but truthfully, the experience is always uniquely different. Just the same, no two bodies of water are identical and frankly, some are simply ‘better’. Perhaps there is no definitive answer as to what dictates which location is ‘best’, but some bodies of water simply yield more monsters than others. What I intend to present is a compilation of water bodies, both renown and remote, which have, do, and will more than likely yield trophy “rough fish”.
