I met Dennis Tietje at his camp on Toledo Bend in either 2001 or 2003, when he hosted a crawfish boil. I was one of the few interlopers there amongst the Hall of Famers. Until a recent trip to Grosse Savanne we’d never fished together. It turned out to be just about a perfect outing.

Alligator hunting at Grosse Savanne exceeded all possible hopes. If anything it was over too quick. Fortunately, we’ll have some tangible memories of our trip down the road – we don’t know exactly what. Clint Hebert of Mark Staton LLC was there to explain the products that his family business produces and the process for getting them done.

Felicia Shryock has been supporting her high-energy partner Hunter, a former supercross rider who became a pro angler, since their first date which apparently never ended. Here’s the story of how they met and how their relationship progressed over the course of the last decade.

Dave Mercer is a lot to handle -- but his wife Sarah, who he's known since Grade 5, makes him a better person. Here's what goes into Life With Mercer.

Randi and Darold Gleason met as kids in small town Louisiana and eventually departed the "friend zone" to become a winning pair. There's golf, fishing and lots more to their very busy lifestyle.

When Jennifer Combs told me her parents had her in a crib on their boat when she was still in diapers, I thought she was kidding. That’s taking fishing a little over the top. On this year’s El Salto trip I finally got to ask her father, Roy Reid — It turns out that it was 100% legit.

When we headed out for a trip on the Chesapeake Bay with Bryan Schmitt, we knew it would be a great day, but we didn’t expect his 10 year-old son Dylan to be such a skilled and dynamic angler. He’s also a raconteur and educator, able to explain complicated fishing concepts and techniques in simple terms.

While fishing is not yet an Olympic sport, plenty of Olympians love to fish – possibly to feed their competitive spirits or alternatively as a way to decompress from the stressors of training and competition. Twenty-seven year old gymnast Simone Biles – all 4’8” of her – is among that group.

On our recent trip to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge we met the nicest father and son, Jim and James Farwell. Each day they seemed to be having the best time together – TRULY BONDING – as they told stories of the big fish they’d been catching.

Tammi proved to be a great addition to our May 2024 trip to Panama. She’s remarkably enthusiastic about fishing and the outdoors. She also made a new connection with another lady angler on the trip when they tag-teamed a monster yellowfin tuna.

If you know anything about Mark Zona, you know that it takes a strong personality to keep all of that energy in check. Here’s how his wife Karin keeps the train on the tracks.

Our May 2024 trip to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge was filled with big fish…really really big fish. Our new friend Greg Evers singlehandedly tamed a yellowfin tuna that pulled the scale down to almost 250 pounds. Greg is a big guy, but still, no one would have blamed him if he’d asked for assistance.

Anna and Clark Reehm have a romance defined by fishing, LSU and their love of son Ash. Check out their story.

We were saddened to hear that longtime Anglers Inn Lake El Salto guide Lacho Anaya passed away this week. We’d fished with him on several occasions and he was an integral part of the exceptional guiding crew at the lake.

Ryan Leiffer is one lucky son and David Leiffer is a heck of a dad. On their father-son trip to Anglers Inn El Salto they made new memories. Not only was the quality of their time together priceless but the quality of their fish was consistently HUGE! 

Randy and Robin Howell got an early start on the relationship and professional fishing games — and after 32 years of marriage things are stronger than ever.

During our most recent trip to Panama, I had the thrill of watching my friends Lisa Vicars and Tammi Hill reel in a 180 pound yellowfin. They’re both petite but in good shape, which proves that it’s not about sheer mass, but rather technique and willpower.

One of the highlights of my year so far was the opportunity to work with the Yeti creative team on a profile of Taku Ito earlier this year. I wish I could have written 10,000 words about him, but in the end, even after slicing out some fun info an anecdotes, I’m proud of the project.

Many young people want to work in something related to their passion, but don’t know how to go about it. I started thinking about this one day as I spoke to Kade Gewanter, my connection for all things Shimano, G. Loomis, Jackall and Power Pro, and decided that his story might help others get a toehold in the industry.

I spent a lot of time talking to Aaron Martens and writing about him, and a few days in his boat and he became one of my favorite muses. I learned a ton about bass fishing from him, but I’ve also realized that his unintended lessons extended far further than just little green and brown fish.