Now is the time of year to throw the best cold water crankbait ever made and the winner has been the same for four decades – the Rapala Shad Rap. There may be another choice that does better in limited circumstances, but despite numerous swings at the champ no one has been able to thread the needle and consistently beat it.

I HATE the winter so I spend lots of time dreaming of warm-weather fishing travel — and want to make sure that I’ll be properly outfitted. The AFTCO women angling pros can lead you to the proper choices and colors.

I’m a sucker for new rods, but as my collection has grown to unfathomable numbers, I probably don’t need any more 7’ medium heavy baitcasters or 7’ medium action spinning rods. I’m more interested in specialty rods at the margins or aimed at very narrow purposes.

While I could probably get by with one or two pairs of polarized sunglasses for my varied fishing efforts, as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that there are benefits to having specialized eyewear. I’ve added two more pairs that I have become consistently-chosen options and should continue to be so for the near future.

I continue to search for the best boxer briefs for fishing. It’s not such an easy task. Since last summer I’ve integrated three new winners into the rotation as several decomposing or underperforming options have been sent to the trash heap.

For well over two decades California pro Ish Monroe has epitomized the idea of being a big bass specialist. He loves to wield a flipping stick in and around the heaviest cover possible. He’s won hundreds of thousands of dollars with key Missile Baits in key colors.

Lunker City Fishing of Connecticut is best known for the genre-defining Slug-go, but other lures from their catalog — several of which are still available — have played notable roles in my time on the water.

My lure choices this week are topwaters once again. I just love the thrill of the fish exploding on the lure. I pulled some really odd and interesting looking baits off the shelf and of course Pete had stories about all of them. There’s always a story.

I’m continuing to explore my personal soft plastic archives – they’re like an archeological dig with rings representing different years and eras of my fishing evolution. Here are three worms I rediscovered that represent historical or regional specialties from the memory bank.

The ladies of AFTCO are passionate about their fishing and cold weather won’t keep them off the water. I interviewed four of them from different fisheries and different climates to find out the key gear that keeps them warm when they plunge into a cold weather fishing adventure.

I’ve gone through multiple bags of Zoom Lizards, Baby Brush Hogs and Centipedes each year for the past 25 or so. Over that same time period their catalog has featured some lesser-known products. While reorganizing my garage, here are some of them that I found.

As I go through my garage this winter, ostensibly to reorganize my tackle, but more likely to drown myself in nostalgia, I plan to document some of the items I find. We’ll start with Gambler Lures. I was surprised that I’d forgotten some of these classics and semi-classics.

If you want to flip up Florida Strain giant largemouths under cold front conditions it pays to follow the advice of Greg Hackney. There aren’t many anglers who’ve done it more or with more success.

Here are four of Elite Series champion Steve Kennedy’s go-to big baits — three glides and a three-piece swimbait — plus some of his tackle notes to get you going.

Slow Pitch Jigging (aka, SPJ) is a wildly effective saltwater technique that’s just getting legs in the United States. Kaz Nakamura of Sea Falcon fills us in on the basics.

Every year we see new lure introductions that build on existing shapes and styles. Whether you call it “reinventing the wheel” or “building a better mousetrap” or “new wine in old bottles,” it’s part of the iterative process of our industry. Here are three newly-introduced lures that build on past products.

I’m back on the loose in the garage, sifting through baits to find a few topwaters that’ll inspire Pete to relive his angling history and tackle-buying addiction. Now that I’ve found them, I’m putting these gems in my bag for Anglers Inn in June. Maybe they’ll help me catch a big bass or two that haven’t seen anything similar.

Just as an Aloha Shirt is suitable for work on all occasions in Hawaii, so too does Alaska have an all-purpose piece of clothing. While the 50th state prefers something on your torso, to find the “National” attire of the 49th state you need to look lower.

The shallow water monster bass of the Sunshine State can be finicky, but they grow BIG. Here’s a starter set of lures proven to work exceptionally well just about any place you go down there.

The odd thing about fishing is that despite the sport’s absolute dependence on water, that same water can be our biggest enemy. Allowed to seep into the wrong places, it can douse wallets and phones or ruin electronic equipment. Here are two products that I’ve been testing recently to avoid such problems.