New to fishing? Start here
Fishing for Beginners: Your First Day, From License to First Fish
Fishing for beginners in one day: the kit, the license, where bluegill bite, the bobber rig, the first cast and fish, and a box on taking a child.
fishing.info
Fishing, explained properly.
Find the fish, choose what to throw and know your gear. Every page is researched from the sources and written for the angler who has to use it on the water.
Species
Which fish do you want to catch?
Every fish worth chasing: how to identify it, where it lives, when it bites.
Techniques
How do you fish for it?
Rigs, knots, casting, and the disciplines from fly to ice to surf.
Lures
What do you throw?
Crankbaits to soft plastics: how each one works and when to throw it.
Bait
What bait do you use?
Live, cut and prepared bait, how to rig it and how to keep it.
Start with Best Catfish Bait.
Gear
What gear do you need?
Rods, reels, line, hooks and electronics, compared on the numbers.
States
What are the rules where you fish?
Licenses, seasons and the best water, state by state.
Four guides that answer the big questions
Where the bass are, what the water temperature says, which lures to buy first, and what the words mean.
species
How to Fish for Bass: A Beginner's Season-by-Season Guide
How to fish for bass from the first cast: one rod and reel, five lures, where bass are at each water temperature, and a numbered method for a day on the water.
techniques
Ideal Water Temperature for Fish: The Chart for 25 Freshwater Species
Most freshwater fish bite best at 65–75 °F, trout at 50–65 °F, catfish at 75–85 °F. One chart for 25 species: feeding range, spawn and shutdown.
lures
Best Fishing Lures: The Ten to Buy First, by What Each One Does
The best fishing lures for a first box: ten that cover every season and depth, with what the pros threw in 2025, a season table, a species table and colors.
techniques
Fishing Terms: 690+ Words, Slang and Acronyms Anglers Use
690+ fishing terms in plain words: tackle, lures, rigs, techniques, fly and ice fishing, boats, rules, tournament talk, slang and acronyms.
Latest
gear
Black Friday Fishing Deals: The Price to Wait For
Last year's Black Friday lows on fish finders, reels, rods, coolers and sunglasses, when the sales start, and how to spot a fake markdown.
lures
Chatterbait Trailers: Fluke, Paddle Tail or Craw, and When
The best chatterbait trailers by job: a soft jerkbait for the erratic hunting action, a paddle tail for kick and lift over grass, a craw for slow-rolling.
species
How to Catch Northern Pike: Where They Are in Every Season, What to Throw and the Quick-Strike Rig
Where northern pike are from ice-out to first ice, the lures and baits agencies name, the summer depth of big fish, and a quick-strike rig.
states
Fishing License by State: Why Every State Fishes by Its Own Rules
What a year of fishing costs in nine big fishing states, why seasons and limits stop at the state line, and the few rules that reach everywhere.
states
Wisconsin Fishing: Seasons, Licenses and the Lakes to Know
Wisconsin fishing in one place: the 2026–27 season dates, every license fee, the state fish, the panfish rule and the Madison chain in winter.
states
Ice Fishing Madison, WI: The Five Lakes of the Yahara Chain
Ice fishing Madison WI: the five Yahara lakes with depths and access, when Lake Mendota freezes, the rules that differ per lake, and a first trip step by step.
gear
Fishing Accessories: The Small Gear That Decides the Day
The fishing accessories worth carrying: net, pliers, scale, thermometer, tackle box and the rest, with the one spec that matters on each and what it is for.
gear
Best Fishing Thermometers: From a $14 Stream Tube to the Fish Hawk TD
A $14 encased stream thermometer serves most anglers; only a depth probe reads where summer bass and walleye sit. Five types compared, with picks.
How fishing.info works
- One answer per question. Every page is written to be the best answer to the question in its title: where the fish are, what to throw, which rod, what the rules say.
- Researched, then written for you. Every article starts with the people who know: state fish and wildlife agencies, record keepers, the makers' own numbers and the anglers who fish for a living. The sources sit at the bottom of every page; the explanation of what it means for you is ours.
- Honest about how it is made. Research-driven, drafted with AI assistance, reviewed before it goes live, and edited by an angler who has fished since he was a boy. We never claim tests we have not done. About this site and its author.