Featured Stories

If you ever wonder what color crappie lures to buy or tie on, this guide to top colors and picks from crappie fishing experts will aid future decisions.

Okay, here’s the dilemma. A buddy calls unexpectedly and says he’s just decided to go crappie fishing. He’ll be picking you up in 30 minutes. The problem’s not the short time, (most of us probably could be out the door in 15), but rather the fact that he instructed you to bring only one color of crappie fishing lure.

That’s it. ONE color! No additional details are given. You don’t know if the water is clear or muddy, or something in between. And you can’t help but wonder if the destination will have white crappie, black crappie or both.

Frank Scalish shares secrets from a lifetime of targeting smallmouth bass on the Great Lakes and large inland lakes.

When Frank Scalish competed on the Bassmaster Elite Series tour, he was known for his ability to catch smallmouth bass. He did especially well with this species on the Great Lakes and on large, inland, natural lakes, such as Lake Champlain. A lifetime resident of northern Ohio, Scalish has never lived more than a short cast from Lake Erie, one of the nation’s premier smallmouth fisheries.

He has fished Erie regularly throughout his adult life and has the equivalent of a PhD in finding and catching Erie smallmouth. He is especially erudite about how glaciers created the rocky bass habitat on the lake’s bottom. This knowledge has helped him catch big-water smallies wherever he casts for them in North America.

Learn how to choose the best bass jig for every situation and how to work your jig to catch the most bass.

Throughout bass history, jigs have enjoyed designation as a big fish bait. Recent years have seen an ever-growing diversity that has yielded a broad selection of bass fishing jigs – including jigs that range from the versatile to task-specific.

To help anglers dial in the right tool for the right job, the Lurenet Jig Manual removes the guesswork. This interactive bass lure selection chart factors in cover, water color and water temp and recommends specific bass fishing jigs.

Such well-studied direction will, no doubt, prove helpful in guiding anglers to the bait that’s built for a given scenario. However, a little dockside conversation can go a long way. Sometimes, it’s just good to hear what another angler ties on for scenarios similar to those of you might encounter.

Understanding how crappie see things can help you make better lure selections and more effective presentations.

Reprinted with permission from In-Fisherman, the following excerpt about a crappie’s vision is taken from “Making Sense of Crappie Behavior,” an article written by Steve Quinn that appeared in the In-Fisherman 2015 Panfish Guide. We feel the timeless knowledge is a real eye-opener as to just how much crappie depend on sight for their feeding preferences, and therefore wanted to share the information again here.

(Text is exactly as it appears in the article. Photos courtesy of Bobby Garland Crappie Baits)

Making Sense of Crappie Behavior

Biological Keys to Triggering a Hot Bite

By Steve Quinn

Watching crappies move under water demonstrates their cautious deliberate style that makes, at times, for the fastest fishing imaginable. Other times they leave us baffled, wondering where they went or why they won’t bite.

Learn how top swim jig anglers select trailers and how to swim a jig for bass and find great success.

Swimming a jig for bass is nothing new. Just ask Chris Jones.

“I started swimming a jig with my dad in the late 1980s and early ‘90s on Lake Fork,” said Jones, a pro angler who has racked up 28 Top 10 finishes in MLF competition. “Back then, the technique wasn’t lure specific. We just swam the jigs we had. We flipped to a bush or laydown, reeled it back…A fish would hit! We didn’t know we were ‘swimming a jig’ until later on.”

Times have changed, and so has the swim jig, today fashioned to function and epitomized in the BOOYAH Mobster Swim Jig.

The newest frog from BOOYAH fills an important niche for bass anglers with added splash in a smaller-sized lure that bass and other gamefish find irresistible. Learn more!

The BOOYAH Pad Crasher is legendary for its ability to glide through vegetation and other thick cover, prompting vicious strikes and solidly hooking bass to haul them out of the thick stuff. The Poppin’ Pad Crasher and Pad Crasher Jr., variations of the original Pad Crasher, each meet specific needs for frog fishing.

Even so, a need has existed for one more member of Pad Crasher family. One that popped and splashed AND offered a smaller profile. Until now, that is! We’re excited to introduce the  Poppin’ Pad Crasher Jr., new from BOOYAH Bait Co. and available on Lurenet.com.

Large bays hold major concentrations of feeding striped bass during late spring. Learn about the best lures and tactics for spring striper fishing.

No other fish in the Northeast sparks a saltwater angler’s interest during springtime like the striped bass. Every year, from late March through June, striped bass schools migrate northward along the Eastern Seaboard to follow their innate call for the ritual of spawning. Three main spawning grounds are defined: the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River and Hudson River. All three areas have one factor in common: The stripers must move through large expanses of big estuarial bays.

In New Jersey, Raritan Bay is the gateway to the Hudson River, and the expanse presents world-class opportunities for spring striper fishing. Here’s a look at the top striped bass fishing lures and tactics for successful spring striper fishing.

Learn how expert crappie angler recognize the end of the spawn and how they adjust fishing approaches to continue catching spring crappie.

Cold fronts have shut down the shallow-water action on certain days, but most of the time, the crappie have been aggressive and attacked nearly anything thrown near their spawning beds. However, in the last few days the shallow-water bite has been tapering off, so you begin to wonder whether those fish you were catching along the spawning banks have been wiped out by fishing pressure or if the crappie have quit spawning.

Crappie guides and tournament veterans look for certain signs to determine if the spawn is entering its final stage.

Locating high potential walleye areas and choosing the most effective bait presentations will increase your opportunity to enjoy great early season walleye action.

Spring walleye fishing can produce of the best walleye action of the year in the upper northern US and southern portions of Canada. Water temperatures are rising, and the fish are starting to move shallow for their yearly spawning cycle. This cycle can start weeks prior to the actual spawn and can stretch a week or two after walleye have spawned out. Spring walleye fishing can produce tremendous action, but timing the bite is important and a few key factors can help you determining when to hit the water and when to wait.

Once female walleye spawn out, they transition between the spawning locations and summer hunting grounds. This tends to be the most difficult period for many walleye anglers. Knowing how to recognize the “fish highways” during the transition will give you the upper hand on the walleye.