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

Daiwa’s JDM Travel Frogging Rod

Daiwa’s JDM travel rod options include a neon green rod that’ll knock your socks off — plus a handful of other big bait options that globetrotting anglers should check out. Supplies may be limited.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Special Colors of the Megabass PopMax

Lin Bell of Fishing Pro Tech eats, sleeps and breathes Megabass lures. One of the least-appreciated tools in that box is the PopMax, a unique topwater. Lin carries several colors that are hard to find or discontinued.

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Pete Robbins Pete Robbins

The Unlikely Story of the Tubo Rig

If Hanna and I were to go back to Japan today, I’d likely need a steamer trunk (and a bank loan) to bring home everything I’d buy, but on our last trip in 2007 I had less disposable income. Check out my oddest and most expensive purchase from that trip.

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Pete Robbins Pete Robbins

She Told Me to Walk This Way

Despite the fact that my personal best 21 pound peacock came swimming a jig, my most memorable strikes (including my second best, a 20) came on the big prop baits that made the Rio Negro fisheries famous. Those aren’t the only topwaters that will work, though. Especially when I’ve been chasing Amazonian species other than peacocks, I’ve found that a walk-the-dog topwater can be equally effective and sometimes better.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Knot Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed

If you’ve been fishing for any period of time, then you probably have a favorite knot or knots for tying on your lures or for connecting two lines. At home, they probably rarely fail you, but somehow when you go away things tend to go awry. Maybe you rushed through your knot. Maybe your line was frayed from the day before. Or maybe those giant trevally and yellowfin tuna stress out a knot more than the bluegills in your local pond.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Enthusiast Pack Rods — For the Traveling Angler Who Wants Something Special

Because the travel rods we already own are mostly from mainstream manufacturers, we’ve yet to try or embrace what we’d characterize as “enthusiast” versions. We owe a debt of gratitude for the term “enthusiast” to our friends at the Tackle Tour media empire. Even if they didn’t introduce it, they certainly popularized it in fishing circles.

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