Part of the fun of traveling to distant fishing destinations, especially ones that we’ve visited before, is living those experiences through others’ eyes. We were fortunate to be joined in Panama by Carl and Lisa Vicars. Carl saw a post that I made on Bass Boat Central, reached out, and booked two spots the next day. Making that even more impressive, it was their first time out of the country.

I’ve known my friend Cindy Goldstein for (gulp) a period of nearly 40 years, since junior high school. She’s the least “fishy” person you’d ever want to meet. She doesn’t even eat fish. Oddly enough, this blog has helped us grow even closer. I may someday even convince her to join us on a fishing trip.

Dan Smith, creator of “How to Catch Any Fish,” has been to an amazing number of domestic and international “bucket list” fishing destinations. He’s caught a huge range of hard-fighting sportfish and has documented them all on his website.

Every bass angler wants to catch a 10-pounder. You don’t expect it to happen, but in the back of your mind you’re always hopeful. That’s why we go to bodies of water where big ones live and choose our lures with giants in mind. If your name is Hanna Robbins you may come up a little short, pun intended. Seven times short.

Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures provides tons of resources for the traveling angler. They have regional experts, loads of articles and advisory materials, and their emailers are always good—but their website proved to be especially useful during the pandemic. Today we catch up with founder Jim Klug.

Tiffanie Palaniuk is an integral part of the Palaniuk family fishing team — and a big part of that is her ability to tow, set up and maintain their 5th wheel camper. Here’s her story, with lots of good tips on the camping lifestyle.

The staff at Anglers Inn makes every trip special but this time they went over the top for us. They had a cake to celebrate our birthdays and we smashed our face into it at the same time and then laughed hysterically. It was also my best trip to El Salto so far from a fishing perspective and I was thrilled to share it with my sister Janet.

On her fourth trip to Anglers Inn, Kristine Rygas and I finally got the chance to catch up on some tea and fish together. I won't bore you with our girly talk, although you might find it tantalizing, but I will share the details of our amazing morning on the water. I was thrilled to get her out of her angling comfort zone with new lures and strategies.

What inspires a gringo to move down to a Central American country, start a fishing lodge on a remote island, and build a life of nearly two decades there? Here’s Captain Shane Jarvis in his own words.

Many of the resorts we have fished have outstanding food with the signature touches of their chefs. Secluded on Isla Parida, Chef Eddie of Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, Chef Eddie only has time to do two things: fish and cook. He’s really good at both.

The third member of the Half Past First Cast team takes lots of blame and gets few perks. Rooster doesn’t get to go to Mexico or Alaska or Guatemala, but he does get to go to camp. Then again, why would he need to take a vacation – he’s on PERMANENT vacation.

Fortunately, there are people for whom guiding is a way of life, and Hanna and I have been lucky to fish with a handful who’ve checked off all of the boxes for excellence. We’ve also been spoiled in terms of how much effort they put in.

Pete and I often dream about our perfect retirement home, which will no doubt include all sorts of fishy furniture. Al Swanson’s creations — both practical and artistic — have crept into those dreams.

Steve Yatomi of Adventure Travel Alliance has been a huge influence on the development of this website. Steve has guided us through two trips to the Amazon and a magical three-week adventure to Africa that changed our lives. There are lots of outfitters and tour guides out there, but the reason that Steve is so special is because just about everyone he meets becomes his family.

Many of the exotic fishing travel specialists I follow – guys like Steve Yatomi, Larry Walker, Steve Ryan, Art Weston, Joe “Sparky” Bullock and Bob Daly – all rely on K Lures from Kermett Adam. Indeed, several of them also work with him on his constantly-evolving product lineup as they search for lures that cannot be destroyed by peacocks, golden dorado or GTs. Here is Kermett’s story in his own words.

Gentleman George insisted on treating us like royalty with the few spare hours we had in Johannesburg. First, he arranged for a fantastic dinner with much of the top brass of South African bass fishing, and then the next morning – as Hanna went to a local handicrafts market — George took me on a whirlwind tour of the area’s tackle shops. He knew everyone and everyone seemed to rely upon his counsel and friendship.

Alex Koike is an editor at Brazil's leading fishing magazine and an expert on his country's varied fisheries and fishing culture.

How many people are at the intersection of two famous fishing families? Kayla Jocumsen is one of the few that fits this description and the families she represents hail from two of the most unlikely locales – Coeur D’Alene Idaho and Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. She may typically operate behind the scenes but it’s time to put this multi-talented woman’s story out in the open.

If Becky Iaconelli isn’t pulling a trailer, hanging out on the back of her son’s boat, chasing after her “moose,” digging in her garden, concocting a batch of something in her kitchen, getting fashion advice from her daughter or running her husband’s company, then perhaps she might be getting some shuteye.

If you’ve read my writings for any period of time, you likely know that “on steroids” is one of my least favorite phrases. As in: “Redfish are just bass on steroids” or “This swimbait is like a Keitech on steroids.” No. Just no. A deeper dive into the fishing canon reveals another contender for the crown of fishing clichés: “The Rodney Dangerfield of….”