The Megabass booth at the 2023 Bassmaster Classic Expo featured lots of their new (and longtime) products, but one big topwater in particular got me especially excited. Here's Chris Rosella talking about the Megadog-X, how to fish it, and one amazing “Fine Art” color.

We continue to seek out new and more efficient ways to travel long distances with fishing rods. Sometimes that means an enhanced selection of multi-piece sticks from varied manufacturers. Other times it means new ways to pack and transport the gear so it makes it to your destination in one piece – well, you know what I mean.

I previously wrote about how I got my butt kicked with a discontinued Blue Fox Roland Martin Double Buzzbait. While you might not find any of them except on eBay or at a garage sale, there are still other options. More racket sometimes means more or bigger bites

Since 2010, I’d always been on the water during the Bassmaster Classic competition days, often an hour away from the downtown arena, which meant that I essentially never got to visit the Expo. For a tackle junkie like me, that’s a particularly cruel punishment. This year,I got to wander the Expo for a couple of hours each day.

You simply cannot go bass fishing in Mexico without an ample supply of lizards. You may go several trips without fishing them, choosing other plastics, but when all else fails a big salamander is very hard to beat. I’ve been very happy with the Zoom version, but if you’re the type who “needs to show them something different,” there are plenty of other options.

In our continuing effort to bring you the latest news on the world of travel rods I consistently monitor the new product listings at Tackle Warehouse. Without much fanfare, they recently added two new ones – one casting, one spinning – from the upstart and rapidly-growing 6th Sense.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when under tough conditions on the Rio Negro our guide fashioned a bait out of natural substances that outproduced the (expensive) store-bought products.

Daniel Jones was kind enough to take me out on the Chickahominy River to give me an in-person glide bait lesson. Eventually I made him get down to business and spill the goods on his preferred tackle for this big fish producer. I saw it firsthand, so I know he’s telling the truth.

Headed to El Salto? Or Picachos? No matter which one you’re fishing, or when you’re going, there’s one crankbait that MUST be in your tackle bag: The Bomber Fat Free Shad in Citrus Shad.

After a few dark years in the early 2000s, the Chickahominy is consistently producing big bags and monster bass. April is one of the best time to chase the giants, and while there will of course be some local tournaments, this is the first year in a while with no FLW or Bassmaster Open to add extra pressure. Hunter Smith of Fishing Pro Tech told us what he throws in April.

Some people think that Carolina Rigging is boring, but it’s a great way to learn about your fishery and catch both numbers and big bass. Here are the basics of what you need and how to rig and fish it.

If you’ve amassed far more rods than you can use in a single day of fishing and you don’t have endless wall space for vertical storage, consider mounting hanging rod racks from the ceiling or rafters of your garage. Not only will this allow you to utilize what is generally wasted space, but it puts them in position to easily pick and choose exactly what you need for your next fishing trip.

Fishing trips and “unexpected equipment complications” seem to be joined at the hip. We put our gear through incredible stress, which occasionally results in failure, often at the worst possible times. The fishing industry is pretty good about learning from our mistakes and creating products to avoid or combat them in the future.

There are times when the old adage that “big bait = big fish” rings true — if you believe in that, Tackle Warehouse has a bunch of worms over 12 inches that may help you catch the largemouth bass of a lifetime.

You probably don’t need to be introduced to Tackle Warehouse. You probably don’t need to be convinced to shop with them. Nevertheless, there are ways to make the shopping experience more enjoyable and productive. The following are a list of suggestions that will make you a more educated consumer going forward.

I know that “screen time” is the best way to get better. with Livescope. I’m still working to consistently locate my bait and judge what the fish in front of me are doing. Not surprisingly, the creatives in the fishing and boating biz have developed some others. Here are a few you might consider.

After a brief hiatus in which life (and time on the water) seemed to repeatedly get in the way, our friend Tej Sawhney is taking on a limited number of custom paint jobs again. It’s something that’ll help him pass the brutal Pennsylvania winter, when he depends on the kindness of others to get him out on their jet boats to chase big smallmouths.

As we head toward the 2023 Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville, the 2019 iteration of the big event seems like a lifetime ago. Since then, we’ve gone through “the split,” COVID, and three more Classics. This time the derby will be a few weeks later in March, and we’ve had a relatively mild winter, but if you’re looking for early hints of what could happen, consider some of the following lure choices.

Four-time Bassmaster Classic winner Kevin VanDam is a master of spinnerbaiting for clear water smallmouths up north. Here’s a video where he describes his system for getting them hooked and keeping those spastic bronzebacks buttoned up.

For the most part, modern lure staples are better than their discontinued predecessors. They are better engineered, with better components. At the same time, there will always be past versions that are proven or perceived to be better – like the old school Wiggle Warts that command a handsome price. Here are a few that have come back or been improved upon in recent months.