Hanna Robbins and Jennifer Combs with a cooler full of crappie from Lake Sam Rayburn

The Outdoor Gear We Recommend

We may have a little bit of a hoarding problem. Good gear need not be expensive, but it has to improve the experience in some way. Whether it’s the right rod, a certain bait, or the world’s best rainsuit, we’ll give unfiltered opinions on what we use and why we use it.


No tackle shop on earth provides more specialized gear for bass than Tackle Warehouse. If you want it, they've got it in stock — whether it's a proven winner or the newest items on the market — and their service is exceptional.

Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

The Best Strike King 10XD Colors for Lake El Salto

I am convinced that while a 10XD isn’t always the best crankbait choice El Salto, there are times when it will produce more and bigger fish than any other. It gets deep in a hurry, has a larger profile, and seems to trigger bites consistently. Here are my 5 confidence colors.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

K.I.S.S. – May/June 2023 El Salto Techniques and Patterns

Fishing on our May/June 2023 trip to El Salto was very good, with solid numbers and a higher percentage of 5-pound and larger fish than just about any prior visit. That doesn’t mean the fishing was wide open, though. I’d say that of the hundreds of bass our group caught, 40% were on crankbaits, 40% were on some form of soft plastics, and 20% came on something else.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

New Lures and New Approaches for El Salto – May/June 2023

We’re headed back to El Salto for a week at the end of this month. We’ve been going multiple times a year for a decade-plus, and we’ve narrowed down the lures that we’re most likely to use, but I still reserve some time each trip to work in new possibilities. Here are four new lures that are already packed and ready to go.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Aggregated Guide to Tackle For Bass Fishing in Mexico

Prior to just about every trip to Mexico, friends ask us about packing the right tackle and enough of it. I wish there was a proven formula for every given day of the year – as in “Bring exactly five X, 10 Y and 12 Z and you’ll be completely covered,” but there’s not. It’s fishing, and the only rule is that you have to expect the unlikely.

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Pete Robbins Pete Robbins

Our Top Five Berkley Lures for Big Mexican Bass

Berkley has long been a leader in producing scientifically-tested soft plastics, but now they’ve upped their hard bait game to go along with their stalwart Powerbaits. Check out five our “must haves” for your next trip to El Salto or Picachos.

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