We’ve offered you lots of pieces about how to choose the best rod tubes, how to pack them, and how to protect and preserve your other valuable fishing gear for air travel. For the most part we’ve been lucky about getting it home unscathed. Still, we’re always on the lookout for more advice, so we’ve turned to other sports.

While there’s always a chance of a “last minute special,” if you want to be assured that you’ll fish the best waters at the best times with the most reliable and skilled outfitters, it pays to book early.

We can’t control whether the fish bite or how big they are, but we can ensure that you have the best chance of a great trip. Here are five things we WON’T DO under any circumstances. Our goal is to make sure that the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is everything you’d hoped, or to make sure that trip number 200 is the best one ever.

Ohio fishing — other than Lake Erie — tends to get a bad rap. Veteran outdoor writer Jack Wollitz dispels some of the myths and guides you to the better bass fisheries in the Buckeye State.

Aeromexico and partner Delta Airlines are increasing their commitment to transborder flights which should provide more (and possibly cheaper) options to US anglers headed to catch their personal best bass.

Hector Garate of Palmira Barbecue borrows from various cuisines to create a barbecue that’s all his own. I enjoyed it on a recent trip to South Carolina with the team from Free Fly Apparel.

This year the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame inducted Glen Andrews, Bruce Holt and Michael Iaconelli into its ranks. Attending the annual induction ceremony has become a tradition for Half Past First Cast and for much of the fishing industry. Here are five of my favorite memories from this year’s gala.

There’s good reason to travel if you’re a tournament angler, and in this case by “travel” I don’t mean just head to Okeechobee or El Salto or the Cal Delta. I mean something outside of your comfort zone, outside of your area of expertise. It’ll help you gain perspective on the critical lessons that will improve your tournament success.

On April 8, 2024. Mazatlán will be a perfect place to view a total solar eclipse – those present will get a remarkable 4-plus minutes of total coverage. It should begin just around 11am and experts believe that the weather prospects for viewing are better in Mexico than in the US and Canada.

We stay on top of the news so you can fish more. Check out these various airline tidbits, fishing travel nuggets and miscellany that you might have missed.

Despite the fact that my first two trips to Alaska were 24 years apart, some things haven’t changed and likely never will. Every American needs to visit this amazing and easily accessible national treasure, the 49th state.

The tidal Potomac River can be an incredible bass fishery — but you have to take the bad with the good. Here’s what I will (and won’t) miss about it when we leave the DMV.

After a 28 year absence, I made it back to the Salty Dawg Saloon on the “spit” in Homer, Alaska. It was much as I remembered it — and now I’m vowing to revisit some other treasured places that have fallen off of my travel/fishing itinerary.

Reading about Deacon Sebela’s trip to Lake Picachos reminded me that it’s extremely fun to bring newcomers on a bucket list bass fishing trip – whether they’re just new to Mexico or new to fishing. There’s no better way to get someone excited about the sport than to have them catch the fire out of a bunch of Mexican largemouths while being treated like a king or queen.

To go all the way to Alaska and not see as much as possible would have been silly. We only had four extra days before we headed to Bear Trail Lodge, so we resolved to see as much as we could in Homer and Seward. Check out how much we crammed in, and be sure to watch the video.

Our good friend Carl Vicars is an exceptional photographer. We asked him to pick out his ten favorite bear pictures from our recent trip to Alaska and he didn’t disappoint. Check them out — not just Brooks Falls!

After I blogged about the need to get a visa to enter Brazil starting October 1, 2023, several readers wrote to say that they couldn’t get the online portal to work. I suspect that may be the reason that Brazil subsequently delayed the requirement. Now the visa exemption for American, Canadian and Australian travelers will end on January 9, 2024.

Same boat, two different trips, two different captains, two different groups — but the Outer Coast Alaska in Seward delivered great experiences both times. We highly recommend that you make the trip.

You know the fishing in Bristol Bay will be great, but it’s some of the little touches beyond just on-the-water activities that distinguish Bear Trail Lodge as an exceptional fishing lodge. Here are seven that stood out to us.

Our friend Carl Vicars is a welcome fellow traveler on any and all trips — not least because he typically provides exceptional video memories of our adventures. Check out his Alaska 2023 video.