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Comparing the obsession for catching the world-record largemouth bass to Captain Ahab's monomaniacal quest to kill the white whale might be a bit over the top--but then again, maybe it's [...]

After hours of casting, mending and specialized maneuvers, we present the cream of 2008's 5-weight fly-rod crop in two price categories. You'll find rods here that are designed for a […]

EACH SPRING, beginning in late April, the Myakka and Peace rivers on Florida's west coast start their magic. Charlotte Harbor, the estuary receiving the rivers' warming flows, morphs into a [...]

We put this year's new spinning and bait-casting rods and reels through one mean test-drive, narrowing the field to the 10 best rods and 10 best reels. These picks are [...]

Grizzly Mauling Captured on Film. A Sailfish Goes on the Offensive * Sportsmen Meet the Personal Computer * Croc Hunting in Kenya * Thirty Days Chasing a World-Record Bass * […]

Some fine fishing editors have graced the Outdoor Life masthead over the years--writers such as O.W. Smith, who initiated the department in 1914, and Ray Bergman, author of the oft-reprinted […]

Limiting a hard-core angler to one fishing outfit is like making a a hard golf nut play 18 holes with one club. Aintgonnahappen. But what about the guy who just [...]

Call them glorified float tubes if you like. But kickboats--those pontooned miniboats that are all the rage among western flyfisherman--might be just what you're looking for. They've got more range [...]

Though the weather outside is frightful, it's time to slide off the couch and get your fishing head on. To get things rolling, we're once again providing bonus fishing coverage […]

They are the prime ribs of flyfishing--hefty slabs of fur and feathers that must look like serious protein to a trout. Come fall, hook-jawed browns and buck brookies view them, […]

Editor's Note: "This Happened To Me" is the most popular department in Outdoor Life. We receive literally hundreds of stories each year from readers detailing their close calls while hunting […]

What a sorry morning. Even the mother of all spots was unyielding. We had pounded that sharpdropping ledge over and over like black-soured penitents seeking grace through mindless ritual. In [...]

for the past several months, while most of us have been hibernating, the fishing world's R&D boys have been hard at it--toying with the latest copolymers, tweaking scrims and, in [...]

'If he's willing to get educated, a good sportsman from Kentucky can be just as effective up here as a good sportsman from Alaska,' says Hank Rust, one of Alaska's [...]

There comes a moment in every bully's life when he gets his ass kicked by someone half his size. That's an important day for the bully and a beautiful day […]

YOU HAVE rendered yourself cross-eyed and crick-backed hunching over topo maps. You've concocted increasingly transparent excuses for replacing faithful field gear ever since the hunting catalogs arrived. In short, the […]

When valleys turn finicky, there's only one way to dupe 'em - precise bait presentation. And that means trying to get at them from the bottom-up with a sensitive weighted […]

SURELY IT seems out of sync with the times: this business of slipping into the marshes with--as the mass media would say--high-powered (you ever hear of low-powered?) rifles and handguns […]

You scrimp and save for your dream trip ... only to encounter the ultimate travel nightmare. Your gear didn't arrive. "It's somewhere in the Midwest," they say at the airline […]

THE NEW CAMP IS A 300-MILE RIFLE shot from the Orinoco River border between Colombia and Venezuela. Figure 700 miles by road. It is where Kjell (pronounced 'Shell') Erland von [...]

Suspended in 50 feet of water and hunting like some ravaging ocean-bound predator, a huge female bass stares upward through her twilight world. Her attention is fixed on the lake's […]

I've always taken sinister delight in the line from Bobby Darin's classic tune "Mack the Knife" about the shark having such pretty teeth, dear. That the shark keeps them pearly […]

OK, HOTSHO, YOU CAN DROP A LURE into a coffee cup at 60 feet. Maybe you've fished every type of water on this good earth. You flow with the seasons, […]

FOUR CIRRICULUM IS STRAIGHTFORWARD.We want to make you a better bass angler. From mastering basic tackle to learning advanced tactics to studying subtle differences in structure and weather patterns, it's […]

YOUR ANGLING DAYS ARE INTERFUSED WITH A PRETTY good idea about how to locate and catch bass. but now you need to graduate to more advanced rods, reels and tackle […]

Given the Choice, only a handful of anglers would pick trolling as their favorite walleye fishing tactic. In fact, many fishermen find trolling of any kind downright boring. One telling […]

ICEFISHING DEFEND: Nonparticipant: "Freezing to death while staring down a hole that's turning solid seems as appealing as being knocked in the head while watching paint dry." Icefishing fanatic: "It's […]

Since March of this year, the fishing world has been swept up in growing excitement over an incredible new family of fishing lines. Claims about the performance of the lines--from […]

EXPLORING NEW ZEALAND'S OFF-THE-BEATEN-path fishing will have you gnashing in frustration over which remote path to follow. That's because with all of the discoveries you'll make--not only piscatorial--you'll never have […]

SALTWATER FLYFISHING has gone ballistic. In five years, the changes have come so quickly that even those living the sport full-time have been hustling to keep up with advances in […]

It was bound to happen. How could an architect not incorporate proven, functional design elements into whatever he created? But this time, instead of designing buildings or bridges, Jim Stewart's [...]