How to Catch Post-Spawn Walleye and Smallmouth Bass in Late May 2026
Post-spawn walleye and smallmouth bass move on a clock. Here’s the late-May 2026 playbook — water temps, structure, and the lures that work right now.
-
-
My Wacky Bush Brings All the Bass to the Yard
Master bait with the two hottest new fishing lures of 2025! The best thing about fishing is all that “me time” that we get while we dip our lines. Trouble is, so much of the commercial bait that’s sold just isn’t … realistic … enough. Forget spinny spoons and shiny minnows; these days, it’s all…
-
Public-Land Adventures: Iowa’s Sand Creek Wildlife Area
Tucked in to the rolling hills of southern Iowa’s Decatur County is Sand Creek Wildlife Area, a 3,700-acre destination for deer hunters and bird watchers. Here, cell service disappears and nature’s sounds take over – this isn’t a white noise machine – it’s the real thing. “It’s one of our most popular areas because of…
-
Poaching Fish Is Still Poaching (Just Ask These Idiots)
An angler’s tip helped Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers recover more than 460 pounds of illegally taken salmon from a group of anglers who traveled from Colorado to Michigan to fish the Manistee River in October 2022. The group went away with far less than they caught, and will be paying over $6,000…
-
Great Bait, Mate – Now Trash It
Your bait bag might be Patient Zero for the next invasive-species pandemic. Anglers tend to be pretty environmentally conscious folks; after all, nobody likes seeing trash in the water or avoidable fish kills. But there’s an aspect of fishing that many of us probably didn’t consider, and that is the bait that we use. It…
-
Fishing Foul-Ups: How to Un-Hook Yourself
Editor’s Note: Today’s great outdoorsman tip comes to us courtesy of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Have you ever had to end a great fishing trip early due to accidentally hooking yourself? Even advanced anglers may find themselves needing to remove an embedded hook in their skin. It’s one of the more common accidental…
-
Today: Biggest Increase of Hunting & Fishing Opportunities in History!
Say it with me: 2.3 million acres. Ahh…that’s nice. Recently, Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the biggest increase in hunting and fishing opportunities in American history. The announcement now includes a final rule establishing and expanding hunting and fishing opportunities across more than 2.3 million acres at 147 national wildlife refuges and…
-
Unions, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Join Forces For Conservation
What happens when trade unions and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) come together for conservation? From past joint operations, it seems what we get is lots of hard work from people who know the meaning of hard work, and lots of science-driven biome best practices from the people who know the meaning of…
-
Keep Wilderness Wild, Win a Reward: Montana Edition
Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness is the crown jewel of America’s National Wilderness System, boasting over a million acres of pristine wilderness, and when the Forest Service says “no motorized vehicles,” they really mean it. But no wilderness that size can be effectively policed, so the Bob Marshall Wilderness’ essential wildness relies on ordinary citizens to…
-
Bassmaster Pro Gifts Child Fan With Fishing Rod & Thrill of a Lifetime
Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kyle Monti could have never imagined the good that would come from a stop at a convenience store in Eufaula, Ala. Monti was in town for the DEWALT Bassmaster Elite at Lake Eufaula, when he pulled into the store to pick up ice for his day of fishing. What happened next left a lasting…
-
Great American Outdoors Act Needs Your Help, Bipartisan Support
Of 439 million acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, 99 percent are open to hunting and fishing. In addition, the National Wildlife Refuge System supports approximately 2.7 million hunting days and nearly 8 million fishing days each year. These wild spaces belong to all of us as Americans to…
-
Lead By Example: Take the #ResponsibleRecreation Pledge
The Coronavirus pandemic may still be ongoing, but as state stay-at-home orders lift one by one, more and more people are heading outside to enjoy what’s turning into a beautiful May all across the country. Experienced outdoorsmen know that camping, hiking, backpacking and hunting are the original “social distancing” measures; after all, it’s a lot…
