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3 weeks ago | 
wired2fish.com | Shaye Baker
From south Florida to New York, the temps are rising and the bass are biting. The bite is all over the place right now, though, with smallmouth still spawning in the Great Lakes and lunkers down in south Texas having wrapped up their spawning process months ago. To paint the country with a fairly wide but effective brush, I’m going to give my take on the Southeast, showcasing some of the baits that I know are working here for myself and other anglers.
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3 weeks ago | 
fieldandstream.com | Shaye Baker
Shimano is, and has been for a long time, an industry leader in the development and construction of high-end bass fishing gear. Some of their products, like the Curado casting reel, for example, have reset expectations for what fishing gear can do. And Shimano's new Poison Adrena rod has raised the bar once again in the casting category. I’ve been fishing with the Poison Adrena for going on three months now.
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3 weeks ago | 
wired2fish.com | Shaye Baker
As the water starts to warm after the bass spawn, the shallows come alive with spawning bream. Though bluegill are the most prevalent to do this throughout the country, shell crackers and other bream bed in a similar way, creating a substantial food source for largemouth and spotted bass. These bream don’t make their beds just anywhere though, so they can be a little hard to find.
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3 weeks ago | 
fieldandstream.com | Shaye Baker
Lew’s is an industry leader in the freshwater fishing space, particularly with bass and crappie gear. Offering products for every budget, the brand has some really great premium equipment, but it’s their budget-friendly rods and reels that set them apart. One of Lew's newest budget rods to hit the market—and the winner of the best budget category in our baitcasting rod test—is the TP2 Gen 3 Casting Rod. During our test, we considered any casting rods under $100 for the best budget award.
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1 month ago | 
fieldandstream.com | Shaye Baker
There are few things on this earth as exciting as a big bass blowing up on a frog. Any angler who has ever caught a bucketmouth on a frog knows the thrill of their bait getting crushed by an exploding bass. That's why frogs are one of my favorite baits to throw, especially during the summer. When that time finally rolls around, I reach for my trusty frog boxes and don’t let them out of sight until the frost is on the ground in the fall.
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1 month ago | 
wired2fish.com | Shaye Baker
In the fall of 2024, the professional bass-fishing powers that be made judgement calls on the use of forward facing sonar (FFS) in tournament events. Anglers competing at the top levels of the B.A.S.S., Major League Fishing (MLF), and National Professional Fishing League (NPFL) trails had new rules and regulations in place coming into the 2025 season. Presumably, the primary purpose of these rules, whether clearly stated or not, was to bring parity back to bass fishing.
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1 month ago | 
fieldandstream.com | Shaye Baker
Out of the dozen different models and blanks in our baitcasting rod test, the Okuma X-Series came out on top. It is everything a high-end bass rod should be—light, strong, and capable—without the $500 price tag. I spent all spring putting this rod through the wringer with various baits and techniques. No matter what I threw or how I fished it, the X-Series was up for the task. Premium bass fishing rods might not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering Okuma. At least it didn't for me.
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1 month ago | 
wired2fish.com | Shaye Baker
Rapala’s relatively new soft plastics brand, CrushCity, continues to pump out gem after gem. The Pigstick is one of the more recent additions to the CrushCity line, released at the 2024 iCast show. Although this soft plastic stickbait does have some things in common with the slough of other Senko-like baits out there, there are a few things about this bait that make it stand out, too. Let’s talk through all of that now.
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1 month ago | 
fieldandstream.com | Shaye Baker
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn moreMost of the new bass baits are revealed each year at ICAST in July. Though many of those baits aren't even available for purchase until the fall. This means we usually don't get to see what the newest baits and lures can do until the following spring, when I spend multiple days a week chasing big bass throughout the entire spawning process.
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1 month ago | 
fieldandstream.com | Shaye Baker
This story was published in partnership with Arkansas Tourism. Opportunity abounds for the angler looking to fish in Arkansas. The Natural State lives up to its moniker, with 90,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, and 600,000 acres of water contained by the shores of lakes scattered throughout the state. From 100-pound-plus blue catfish along the Mississippi to bluegill from the bank, there’s something here for every person in search of a tug on the end of their line.
