Increasingly, today’s bass anglers love to tell you which species they prefer, brown or green. But it’s the former that continues to spawn a cult-like following. Even a self-described largemouth nut or honest walleye angler will admit to enjoying a smallmouth outing now and again. And for good reason; smallmouth bass fight hard and are widely distributed. But don’t be fooled by the big bags of brown bass from famous fisheries that continuously fill our media screens and social media feeds;…
Read MoreNew Berlin, Wisconsin angler, Bill Schultz, began keeping a fishing log in 1992 when he got back into fishing. It began as a simple and practical way to keep track of the details surrounding his days on the water. What began 29 years ago as a tool to help him become a more effective angler has grown to become a voluminous tome today. Somewhere along the way, Schultz’s competitive nature – spawned from his collegiate swimming career at the University…
Read MoreBagley Bass Elite Series pro angler Jeff Gustafson knows a thing or two about catching big brown bass. Hailing from Keewatin, Ontario, his home waters of Lake of the Woods provide world-renowned smallmouth bass fishing, not to mention his experience fishing some of the best bass waters across the U.S. on tour. In fact, this past March, Gustafson went wire-to-wire on the Tennessee River for his first Bassmaster Elite Series victory targeting deep water smallmouth bass when other anglers focused…
Read MoreThe feed bags are on… Walleye spawning season has ended, and fish are in beast mode. And, for the most part, smallmouth bass are wrapping up, and either are, or will be in a similar feeding frenzy. As you’ll see in this video, Northland pro and professional guide Brad Hawthorne has the luxury of pursuing both on the same body of water, Minnesota’s Lake Mille Lacs. Improving prospects, these species frequently inhabit the same climes: shoreline rock, shallow reefs and…
Read MoreAs New Berlin, Wisconsin angler William “Bill” Schultz looks back over his life and athletic career, he doesn’t always focus on the victories themselves. Instead, he tends to remember the individual goals that led to those victories. “The process of setting goals and then putting in the effort to achieve them is what makes winning possible. This is how I approached my swimming career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as my almost 50-year career in the sport of…
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