Fishing Resources
The Tyler's Reel Fishing blog is your unfair advantage on the water. Every article delivers hard-earned tactics, gear that actually performs, and real fishing knowledge broken down so you can use it on your next trip. Beginner or seasoned angler, there's no fluff here — just the stuff that gets fish in the boat!
Damiki Rig & Jighead Minnow Masterclass (Mid-Strolling)
One lure, a dozen names — mid-strolling, hover rig, Damiki rig, moping. It's one of the simplest, deadliest baitfish techniques going, and it works with or without forward-facing sonar. Here's the complete masterclass: the saltless plastic, the 90-degree jighead, the spinning setup, and the "Jell-O hand" retrieve.
Best Fishing Line for Bass: Fishing Line Masterclass
Fishing line gets confusing fast — mono or fluoro, braid or resin, and what the pound test actually means. This masterclass walks through every line type, how to read your rod's ratings, and exact line-and-pound-test recommendations for every situation you fish, from open water to heavy cover, finesse, and topwater.
Best Lures for Smallmouth Bass (Simple Lures That Work)
Catching smallmouth bass is simpler than you'd think — the techniques that get it done are mostly easy finesse. I break down the handful of lures that actually matter, from the drop shot and Ned rig to the suspending jerkbait, topwater, and spinnerbait, plus how smallmouth behavior differs from largemouth and exactly where and how to fish each one.
How to Fish a Carolina Rig: Setup & Masterclass
The Carolina rig is a technique as old as time — the old-fashioned "ball and chain" your grandpa probably swore by — and it's still the most efficient way to drag a weightless soft plastic across a big offshore area. Tyler breaks it down from A to Z: what it is, how to rig it with just four pieces (including the game-changing Carolina keeper), how to cast and drag it, where to throw it, and the hook-set secret that keeps you from losing fish that swim right at you.
Late Summer Bass Fishing: How to Catch Bass in August
August is the hardest month to catch a bass — the water is the hottest it'll be all year, the forage is scattered, and the fish have seen every lure. But don't give up. Tyler breaks down why when and where you fish matters even more than what you tie on: get out at dawn, chase healthier water, respect the thermocline, and keep it simple with the only three lures you really need in the dog days — a drop shot, a topwater frog, and a jig.
Summer Pond Bass Fishing: Catching Shallow Bass in the Heat
Everybody assumes summer bass fishing means deep water — but on the right day, the shallowest pond you can find turns into the most fun trip of the year. The trick isn't the lure, it's the timing. When the heat breaks just right — a slight cold front, some clouds, a little wind — bass roam shallow and chase. Here's how to read the conditions that turn a shallow pond on, and exactly what to throw when they line up: frog, buzz toad, spinnerbait, and a drop shot to clean up.
Best Soft Plastic Worm for Bass: One Worm, Six Rigs
There are a lot of soft plastic worms out there, and they all have their place — but if you could only own one, a short, chunky finesse worm makes a strong case for being the last worm you'll ever buy. Tyler breaks down why the Fat Baby Finesse beats a skinny filler worm, a big curly-tail, and even a stick bait on sheer versatility, then walks through the six ways to rig it: drop shot, Neko, Carolina, jig worm, shaky head, and Texas.
Outkast Pond Finesse Jig: The Design Story & How to Fish It
After two years, four prototypes, and a factory change, Tyler's first custom jig is here. It was built around a specific angler — the pond fisherman throwing a spinning rod who's never had a jig that fits that setup — and around one stubborn problem most finesse jigs never solve: hookup ratio. Here's what actually goes into designing a jig, and exactly how to rig and fish this one.
How to Store Urchin & Coike Lures: DIY Tackle Box Build
Urchins are the most awkward soft plastic ever made to store — round, spiky, and ruined by stacking. After a full season fishing the category, Tyler landed on a build using an off-the-shelf tray and a pack of cocktail skewers. Here's how to make one for your big urchins and one for your small ones, plus what happened when he tested them on Minnesota river smallmouth.
Urchin vs. Jig: Which Catches More Bass Off Docks?
New school versus old school: the hottest lure in bass fishing against the tried-and-true jig. Tyler skipped a full bank of docks alternating one lure per dock, on identical gear, to settle it. The urchin drew first blood on the very first cast — then the jig went to work. Here's the full breakdown, and the situations where the urchin still wins.
How to Set the Hook: Better Hooksets for Bass Fishing
You get the bite — but the fish comes off halfway to the bank. Sound familiar? Nine times out of ten the problem is not your luck; it is your...
Best July Bass Lures by Depth (Shallow to Deep)
July is here and it is hot — but the bass are still biting if you know where to look. This is the first month since February that nearly everyone with open water can throw the same categories of lures, because the spawn is over and summer patterns have set in. The simplest way to think about July is by depth: deep, mid-range, and shallow. Here are the best lures for each zone, so you can match your baits to wherever the fish are holding on your pond or lake.
July Bass Fishing Lures for Ponds and Big Lakes
July is here, the water is hot, and the bite gets tricky — so what should you actually be throwing? This guide splits the answer two ways. Tyler covers the three best pond lures for the dog days, and special guest Alton Jones Jr. — a top-five Angler of the Year on the Bass Pro Tour — covers the three best lures for big lakes and reservoirs. Stick around for the one bonus tip at the end that matters more than any lure on this list.
Best Baitcasting Reel Test: 4 Reels Head to Head
Four reels. One question: which baitcasting reel actually has the best backlash-fighting, distance-adding technology? Tyler put the Shimano Curado DC 150, the Daiwa Tatula SV TW, the Lew’s Custom Pro, and the Ark Gravity G7 through the same casting, skipping, and heavy-wind tests — same rod, same line, same lure — to find out. This guide breaks down how each braking system works, how they performed on the water, and which one is right for you.
Coike Bait Guide: How to Rig, Fish & Buy Urchin Lures
Urchin lures — the big, spiky, fuzzy soft plastics also called the Coike, koi, or “korki” — looked like a gimmick built to catch fishermen, not fish. Then they started winning pro tournaments and putting giants in the boat in both ponds and lakes, often without forward-facing sonar. This masterclass breaks the category down from A to Z in three parts: the why (why bass crush them), the what (every hook, weight, and keeper worth your money), and the how (the retrieves and hook sets that actually land these fish).
Bass Fishing in Hot Weather: How to Beat the Heat
Late summer — August into September — is the hardest time of the year to catch bass in most of the country. Water hits its peak temperature, forage is everywhere, and the fish go nocturnal, lethargic, or both. But they're still catchable if you make the right sacrifices and understand why the bite shuts down. This guide breaks down the three sacrifices, the three environmental factors that make hot weather tough, and exactly how to adjust your strategy when everyone else is going home empty-handed.