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

JDM Manufacturers Keep Scuppernong Flowing

I’ve previously written about the long history of Scuppernong-colored lures. Most U.S. lure manufacturers seem content to let the number of Scuppernong lures remain static or even shrinking. Fortunately the bait designers in Japan consistently take up the slack.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

The Uncoordinated Angler’s Guide to Skipping Lures

Boat docks and other overhanging cover provide premium bass habitat, but if you’re just nibbling around the edges you’re missing. You need to be able to skip a lure back underneath them. Here are some shortcuts that’ll help you maximize your efficiency in putting lures where the fish live.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

New Multipiece Spinning Rods – January 2025

There are typically more multi-piece spinning rods than baitcasting rods. They’ve recently added nine spinning rods or series. Whether you’re chasing bass, trout, walleye or saltwater critters, they probably have something you can pack on your next long-distance trip.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

New Multipiece Baitcasting Rods – January 2025

Tackle manufacturers are getting the message that two-piece rods and travel rods have a place for serious fishermen – perhaps not in tournament competition, but increasingly for those of us who fly to distant locations. Here are six new ones at Tackle Warehouse.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

13 Hitch-Flavored Soft Swimbaits

Even if you don't fish California's famous Clear Lake, and even if you're not as talented as Steve Kennedy, you can still put some of these hitch-flavored soft swimbaits to use anywhere big bass swim.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Kyle Welcher’s Fluorocarbon Cranking Advantage

Kyle Welcher has the full range of Sunline products with him at every tournament and uses thousands upon thousands of yards of Shooter and Sniper each year. A key tipping point in his twoual AOY campaigns has been his frequent additional use of Sunline Crank FC. 

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

New Big Bass Baits for Mexico at Tackle Warehouse

Although we truly believe that it pays to pack the proven basics for your next bass fishing trip to Mexico, we continue to scour the internet for lures that might apply. Each year or two we seem to add one or two more “staples” to our list. Furthermore, a lot of you big bait fanatics think that’s the way to tempt a true giant.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Golden Shiner Topwaters and Big Baits

As many of you head to Florida in the coming weeks to get the rust off of your tackle, you might not want to use live shiners. Perhaps you don’t want the hassle of keeping them alive, or you simply prefer artificials or you’re fishing in a tournament. No matter the reason, it’s still possible to “match the hatch" with these lures.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

The Five New Rods I Used Most Last Year

I have a lot of fishing rods, and I’ll probably up the count in 2025, because part of my tackle-hoarding sickness is that I live for the myth of more. Here are the five that I obtained in 2024 that’ll get used heavily in 2025 and beyond.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

HPFC Hall of Fame: Stormr Strykr Suit

I learned about the Stormr Strykr neoprene cold weather suit at what was then the coldest Bassmaster Classic to date. In the decade since then, it has made me a much more enthusiastic cold weather fisherman.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

The Clothing You Need for a Week-Long Panama Fishing Trip

We have 20 people headed to Panama and our first-timers are a bit nervous about what clothing to bring. We’ll be on a remote island, exposed to the elements for eight or nine hours a day, and no one wants to be uncomfortable. This video shows exactly what I’m packing.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Bass Tackle for Panama Tuna Trip #5

My 2024 fishing travel highlight took place in Panama when we got into multiple schools of tuna and I caught them on bass tackle. We’re headed back in January, and while that’s not ultra-prime tuna popping time, I’m hoping that I can use some of that same gear for not just tuna, but also inshore species.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

The Nine Most Unlikely Forage Imitations at Tackle Warehouse

Most of you who fish for bass are probably trying to imitate shad, perch, bluegills or crawfish with your lures but I sincerely doubt that any of you think that your local bass feed on tarpon or Murray Cod. Nevertheless, some of our premier manufacturers have come up with lures like these nine odd patterns

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Not Just Another Tequila Sunrise

When I first got into bass fishing, Tequila Sunrise was a standard color. Multiple manufacturers still make soft plastics in their respective versions of Tequila Sunrise, but they’ve also extended the tequila brand to various other categories of lures like jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Living in My Costa Grand Catalinas

The 80s-reminiscent styling of the Costa Del Mar Grand Catalinas may not be for everyone, but with the gold mirror lenses I found them to be a solid all-around performer that I reached for repeatedly.

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Gear Hanna Robbins Gear Hanna Robbins

Fishing Clothing That Made It Into My Permanent Rotation in 2024

There is nothing worse than waking up early in the morning to fish and not knowing what to wear. Packing for a fishing trip is equally difficult: What do I take? What if it gets dirty? What if I don’t like it once we get there? I continue to refine my “must take” items to include a stack of clothes that go with me on nearly every trip.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Are Oysters a Bass-phrodesiac?

I enjoy a lot of seafood, but I draw the line at oysters, clams and mussels. Some people find them to be tasty, and others are convinced that oysters are an aphrodisiac, but to me they seem like wads of phlegm. Nevertheless I’m not going to rain on your parade if they’re your jam. Also, an oyster-colored lure is sometimes great.

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Gear Pete Robbins Gear Pete Robbins

Do Fish Eat Boogers?

OK, the headline was a little clickbaity, and it’s something we’ll never be able to answer anyway, but oddly enough there are plenty of lure manufacturers who produce baits with “snot” in the name. Here are some of the winners we “picked.”

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