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Most Recent Articles
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How To Catch Your Next PB (Personal Best)
Good morning brothers. Here’s a fun question: will Minimalist Fishing lead to your next personal best? Yes. Full stop. Why Does Minimalist Fishing Leads to...
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Ron D’s Bait Modifications: V1
Good morning brothers. Periodically readers will contact me to share tips, tricks, strategies – even send me physical gear and lures for use & review....
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Vintage Fishing Ads: A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Good Morning Brothers! First & foremost, I own nothing on this page. It’s a collection of fishing ads plucked from social media sites, forums, plus...
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Best Baits for Midwest Bank Fishing (Top 3 List)
Good morning brothers! Have you ever stopped to think about the baits you would pack to fish from the bank if you had to limit...
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Important Tips for Fishing With Your Wife
Good morning brothers. Have you ever fished with your wife? Yeah? So… how did that go?! Hold up: before we go down the all-too-common path...
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The New Jon Boat Battery: THANK YOU READERS!
Good morning brothers! I write today from the snow-covered Land of Lincoln. (Yes… already… ugh…) This year, I was able to avoid getting stranded in...
Popular Gear & Lure Articles
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The Ultimate Guide: Best Baits for Big Wisconsin Bass (Minocqua Fishing Tips & Tackle + AJ’s Base Box)
Good morning brothers. It’s chilly again, here in the Midwest. The days are shorter. The nights are colder. The daydreams are beginning to intensify. There...
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Bruiser Bass in the Muck: A Mucky Muck Base Box for Fishing BIG Midwest Largemouth
Have you ever set up a Base Box? Good morning brothers. I’d like to share a few tips that have helped me minimize the pre-trip...
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Top 8 Baits for Borrow Pits
Good afternoon brothers. Fishing starts Monday. I’m hitting the water rain or shine, enough waiting – tomorrow we’re headed to Southern Illinois for Prison Ministry....
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Top 4 Stickbaits for Largemouth Bass (NOT a Senko!)
Stickbaits catch largemouth bass. Period. Article over! (Just kidding.) Stickbaits work… but… WHY? Why do bass attack a piece of cylindrical plastic that resembles a...
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Popular Bass Fishing Presentations for EVERY Feeding Strategy
Happy Friday, Patriots. Today, we’re talking fishing. Straight. No chaser. So buckle up, wipe off that booger-pickin’ finger and get to scrollin’! (Sorry… I’m already...
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Top 5 Swim Jig Trailers / Get Better at Swim Jig Fishing
Even though we just took the time to list out the Top 10 Swim Jigs – the trailer that you pair with your selection is...
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Top 10 Swim Jigs / Get Better at Swim Jig Fishing
In the previous article we talked about when and where to use a swim jig. It’s a great way to get started and absorbing this...
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Top 5 Baits for Streams & Rivers / Learning to Fish Rivers & Streams
Over the past two weeks we’ve pulled together a plethora of information to explain the makeup of rivers & streams; how they change, how fish...
More Fishing Articles
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July 2021 Solunar Fishing Calendar Illinois
The Solunar Calendar provides a window into the activity of wildlife. If you’d like to learn more about how you can use this tool to...
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The Advantages of Fishing From Shore
“Mornings are so peaceful in spring“, you think to yourself and the first rays of sunlight begin to trickle through your office curtains. A slight,...
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How Do Largemouth Bass Smell?
Hey… you smell that? Was that you? The largemouth bass wants to know. Although taste and smell are often lumped together, these senses perform distinctly...
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June 2021 Solunar Fishing Calendar Illinois
The Solunar Calendar provides a window into the activity of wildlife. If you’d like to learn more about how you can use this tool to...
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The Ultimate Jighead for ElaZtech Baits
The secret is out: ElaZtech baits by Z-Man are a well balanced combination of salt (in most but not all cases) and plastic that is...
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Cabin Creek Bait Company Oval Sinkin’ Worms | Product Review & Field Test
Click to watch the complete video review: Product Summary: Oval Sinkin’ Worms The Oval Sinkin’ Worm, by the Cabin Creek Bait Company, is a salt-loaded...
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The Lateral Line of Largemouth Bass: What Bass Hear vs. What Bass FEEL
We’ve discussed the fact that largemouth bass have the same 5 primary senses that we do – but they also have another: their lateral line...
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How Do Largemouth Bass Hear?
How well does the largemouth bass hear sound or feel vibrations? Well, water transmits sound vibrations five times better than air. Vulnerable, struggling prey send...
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How Do Fish Eyes Work?
Much has been learned about how the eyes of fish function. That said, the following information is a combination of science and speculation. Within each...
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What Colors Can Largemouth Bass See?
Things underwater are… different… than they are above. Movement is met with more resistance. Things sound different. Vibrations travel through water. Light is broken up...
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Can Largemouth Bass See Us On Shore?
In the last article, we discussed the sense of sight for largemouth bass – arguably their most important sense for both hunting and ambushing prey,...
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Largemouth Bass Senses: Sight
Bass – like us – have the typical 5 senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. But there is a sixth as well: lateral line...
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May 2021 Solunar Fishing Calendar Illinois
The Solunar Calendar provides a window into the activity of wildlife. If you’d like to learn more about how you can use this tool to...
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Prey Size for Largemouth Bass – Part 2
As we mentioned in our previous article on Prey Size for Largemouth Bass, the size of a largemouth bass with have a major influence on...
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Subscriber Feedback: How To Paint Ruined Dardevle Spoons
Not that long ago we created a video that went over a method of spoon refinishing that was a way to both have fun, and...
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Prey Size for Largemouth Bass
The size of an individual largemouth bass will determine prey size – the upper and lower limits of what they will hunt and ambush –...
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Catch More Fish by Doing What Everyone ISN’T
You want to catch more fish? Try to zig when everyone else zags. We’ve talked about this many times before – but how do you...
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What is Countershading?
Largemouth bass – and many other species of fish – exhibit an interesting coloring on the upper and lower portions of their bodies, called countershading....
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Largemouth Bass Food Preferences Over Time
Bass are hatched – not born. When largemouth hatch, they are nourished by a yolk sac for several days while their tiny little mouths continue...
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How do Largemouth Bass Grow?
Like weeds! MIRIGHT?! Most of the bigger bass that you come across are females. Females typically live longer than males. But why would… why would...
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The Ideal Body Shape of a Fish
There are easily more than 20,000 species of fish found worldwide. Among these species, a multitude of body shapes exist. Different designs are adapted to...
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The Physical Makeup of Largemouth Bass
The largemouth bass is a chunky lass. Dummy thicc, if you will. She’s a powerful fish, full of vinegar and whatnot, with a broad body...
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How Largemouth Bass Feed
The largemouth bass is distinctly different than the brook trout. As we discussed earlier, the brook trout was at one time the most popular gamefish...
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Meet the Largemouth Bass: Mr. & Mrs. Generalist
Every species of fish has certain characteristics and abilities that help them survive and thrive in different environments. Catfish are known to be “swimming tongues”,...
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How to Identify Florida Strain Largemouth
There are two distinct subspecies of largemouth bass. The northern largemouth (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) and the Florida largemouth (Micropterus salmoides floridanus). These two subspecies interbreed...
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How to Identify Rare Black Bass
So that picture… those teeth… ugh… that’s not a bass, it’s a goblin shark. The goblin shark is a rare creature with a lineage dating...
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How to Identify Guadalupe Bass
The Guadapule bass (Micropterus treculii) is native to the Guadalupe River drainage in central Texas. A small fish, closely related to the spotted bass, the...
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How to Identify Suwannee Bass
The Suwannee bass (Micropterus notius) is another species that prefers the waters of small rivers. Suwannees inhabit low-gradient black-water streams in Florida and south Georgia,...
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How to Identify Shoal Bass
Many anglers and biologists widely recognize the shoal bass (Micropterus cataractae) as a distinct species. The slender fish is similar to both smallmouth and redeye...
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How to Identify Redeye Bass
Redeye bass (Micropterus coosae) prefer running waters. You will often find them in warm streams and rivers. They look very similar to smallmouth, but redeye...
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How to Identify Spotted Bass
The Spotted Bass. ‘ol Meanmouth. At first glance, the spotted bass looks somewhat similar to a largemouth. However, the coloring is a bit different… so...
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How to Identify Smallmouth Bass
Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu – Micropterus dolomieui is a common, somewhat accepted misspelling) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) are the two most widespread, popular – and...
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All About Black Bass: Part 1
*zzzzziiiiiinnnnggggg* screams the drag as line is violently ripped from your spinning reel. “Whaddya got on there buddy, a big ‘ol bronzeback?!“ “A what!?“, you...
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April 2021 Solunar Fishing Calendar Illinois
The Solunar Calendar provides a window into the activity of wildlife. If you’d like to learn more about how you can use this tool to...
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Catch & Release Fishing / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
In fishing, the concept of catch & release has been widely practiced ever since the early 1900s… in Europe. In North America however, the trend...
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The F4 Rig / Flexible Finesse Fluke Fishing
“Son of a… another snag?!“ It’s March in the Midwest. Water temps have barely hit the 50° mark on the surface. In fact, just two...
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Location of Largemouth Bass by Region / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
“I’ll never catch any fish around here“, the forklift driver grumbles as he enters hour 11 of his 12-hour shift. “When we go up to...
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A Brief History of In-Fisherman
My brothers and I have vivid memories of the stacks and stacks of In-Fisherman Magazine that Grandpa collected. They were placed ever so carefully in...
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How the “Average Fisherman” Benefits from Professional Bass Tournaments / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
Some anglers look at tournament pros with pure disdain. “I could outfish that hack!”“They’re messing up the spawn and ruining our fishery!” “Put summore patches...
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Explosive Bass Fishing in the 60s & 70s / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
Over the last several articles we have focused on individual men & methods surrounding the development of largemouth bass fishing. Pioneers like Jason Lucas, Buck...
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Bill Binkelman & Fishing Facts Magazine / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
If you’re looking to have some fun, take a peek at all the ways people used to market their goods and services. For example, the...
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Elwood “Buck” Perry & the Spoonplug / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
The spoonplug. Odd little contraption if you’ve ever seen one. A chunk of bent metal adorned with some sort of painted pattern resembling anything from...
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Sports Afield Writer Jason Lucas / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
Like the colonists that came to North America by boat years before, the outdoor writers of the 20th century (the fishing authorities, if you will)...
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The Origins of Fishing Sonar / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
Throughout the 1950s, the first sonar units built specifically for fishing made their appearance. They were expensive. They were difficult to use. They were clunky....
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A Brief History of Bass Fishing in America / Learn to Fish Largemouth Bass
It’s damp & cold down here in the basement. You’ve come by to visit a million times. To the casual observer it might appear cluttered,...
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Checking Water Temperature from Shore for Better Fishing
Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. Done with winter. Icicles are gone, but there are still random piles of dirty, crusty ice in sporadic locations all around...
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Solunar Calendar Fishing in the Midwest
Dang it. My inbox threw up all over itself again last night. There are emails everywhere. Whenever I answer a message, two more take it’s...
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Fall Reservoir Fishing Scenarios / Learn to Fish Reservoirs
The leaves look like a red, orange & yellow quilt against the bluebird sky. It’s a subtle reminder that the days will be getting shorter...
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