The Alabama Rig: NAF Editor Kurt Beckstrom covers the latest news surrounding the biggest thing to happen to bass fishing in years.

Rather than doggedly sticking with a bait long past the point of diminishing returns; trying to force feed the fish what you think they want, let the fish tell you what they want. Or your fishing buddy.

Don't overlook the mud for late-fall smallmouth action! 

It's important to recognize that very few fishing knots work well with all types of lines. In general, you can assume a knot that is good with monofilament is also good for the various fluorocarbons. But don't assume the same hold true for braids.

As promised, this week I’m sharing another recipe that’s equally not mine: Pickled pike. I stole it from an almost illegibly faded recipe scribbled on scrap of notebook paper stuck between the pages of a 40-year-old cookbook in my mother’s kitchen.

I’ve come to believe Beginner's Luck is a true Law of Nature, and can site cases to prove it. Think it's hogwash? I encourage you to share your thoughts!

The entire sequence played out as if filmed in high definition---including the bluegill’s struggles to free it self from inside the bass’ cavernous mouth (the bass’ gill plates were actually moving)! 

Surely it could not be – not fire! Not fire coming out from under the shroud on my outboard motor!

There are those fishermen (let’s call them bassochists) who take pleasure in catching open-water fish up to the very bitter end, no matter the Herman Melville-meets-Jack London brutality of it all: 20-40 mile per hour winds, freezing air temps, and the potential icy grip of hypothermia.

I simultaneously embarked on two of the tastiest fish preparation processes known to man—with two of the most maligned species around.