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As a professional angler my job involves filming TV shows, hosting fishing guide trips, and competing in an occasional fishing tournament. Regardless the task, being able to control my boat effectively and efficiently is very important. In the past, accomplishing that outcome has been a bit challenging.

Spinning rods and reels were at the heart of my rod and reel fishing inventory for decades. However, a good while back I started fishing baitcasting gear increasingly and eventually those style combos became mainstays for most of my fishing applications. Now, however, I am trending back to using more spinning gear.

In the world of fishing, it’s hard to believe that there is anything new when it comes to catching fish. But there is. It might be old news to some anglers, but it’s only old news if you’ve already heard it.

I remember many years ago when the drop-shot fishing technique took the fishing world by storm, particularly among bass anglers. While we don’t hear quite as much about this technique now, it remains a very popular and productive technique.

In another blog, I wrote about how adapting to changing conditions can help lead to better fish catches. In line with that, angling success can also be improved by staying in tune to and using some of what’s new or what’s hot in lures, rods/reels, etc. that can increase angling efficiency and success.

Fishing has always been a very important part of my life. Some of my first memories are of standing on the edge of a pond with a bamboo pole, no reel, and some braided line tied to the end of the pole. Attached was a round, red and white bobber, a hook, and a splitshot.

During the 2025 open-water fishing season, I spent more time with a slip-bobber rod in my hands than during any other previous season since I was probably a kid. Here is what happened.

Buying stuff for fishing isn’t the best investment we could make from a strictly traditional definition of investing. Rarely can we sell a rod, reel, lure, or whatever for more than we paid for it. But some items that we should use when we go fishing are good examples of smart investments. Not investments for financial gain, but investments for our well-being. I’ll explain.

In my last blog, I wrote about bass fishing plans for 2026. Here, my topic will be walleye fishing plans for 2026. Before I go into detail, I need to say that part of the agenda for the coming season as it relates to walleye fishing is to continue to develop skill using forward facing sonar (FFS) technology.