Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Game & Fish West

For the sixth consecutive year, I’m proud to present the annual Game & Fish Tackle Test to readers. Our report starts on page 66, but before you dig into the details and see how the latest baitcasting and spinning rods and reels from 18 top brands fared, let me explain how we arrived at our rankings. The Tackle Test is, at its core, a real-world, on-the-water evaluation of bass-fishing gear. Each member of the test team, pictured above, fishes with each rod and reel, taking notes while they’re doing it and scoring every piece of tackle in five areas: performance, build quality, ergonomics, aesthetics and value. At the end of a week of fishing, they discuss their findings, argue over their impressions and arrive at the final rankings. They are…

Natural fibers, including bird feathers and animal fur, have a long and storied history in fishing. Fly anglers have relied heavily on them to reproduce numerous preys and temp their favorite gamefish in both freshwater and saltwater. Despite the advent of attractive artificial materials, countless flies—whether intended to mimic insects, baitfish or crustaceans—continue to include real feathers and fur among their main components. Of course, drifting dry flies for trout in a mountain stream and dabbling a faux shrimp for bonefish on a sandy flat are far from the only applications for natural materials in contemporary angling. In fact, feathers and fur are enjoying somewhat of a renaissance in lurecraft, as anglers rediscover their versatility and their innate ability to trigger bites. FUR-TIVE CREATIONS Bucktail has been utilized to fashion…

In any turkey hunter’s pursuit, certain dates stand out. For me, the first—and perhaps most important—one came on May 10, 1988, my third year as a turkey hunter with still no birds tagged. As a schoolteacher, I had only two vacation days annually, and with the season nearing an end, I took half my vacation for the year and ventured into Virginia’s George Washington and Jefferson National Forests (GWJNF). I had little understanding of how to kill a turkey and possessed only a rudimentary understanding of how to use a box call, and I couldn’t effectively operate any other type. I had been practicing a great deal with a diaphragm, but the sounds emitted were more akin to those of an ill goose. Around 7:30 that morning while I was…

I was feeling surprisingly spry after the 8-mile backcountry hike, with just my bow, camera and water on my back. The llama I led up the craggy wilderness trail, one of a train hauling the rest of our hunting and camp gear, may have felt differently but showed no signs of weariness. Arriving at this juncture, however, was not easy. Training llamas to be reliable pack animals can be frustrating … but not impossible. If you’re a do-ityourselfer and up for the challenge, here’s an overview on what it takes. THE BREAKING PROCESS Assuming you have space and resources for livestock, the primary objective is to befriend your new llama. A lariat rope is useful for catching them when they are young and is also helpful for older “project” llamas…

Brandon Palaniuk has fished the nation’s top-rated small-mouth waters, from Pickwick Lake in the Deep South to Lake Champlain and the mighty St. Lawrence River in the Northeast. However, the two-time Bassmaster Elite Angler of the Year’s personal-best smallie—a 7 3/4-pound beast—came from an Idaho reservoir. Sure, not all Western smallmouths are that big, but there are plenty of them, and if you do your homework and put in the water time, western fisheries can produce epic smallmouth bites. And while hefty largemouths, like those giants of the California Delta, and spotted bass that live in meccas like Shasta Lake are more common targets of the West’s bass aficionados, when it comes to aggression, cold tolerance and a “don’t-care-gonna-eat-it” dependability, western smallmouths are well worth the effort, especially come springtime.…

Trail cameras have become one of my most important turkey hunting tools. I currently have 134 trail cameras set in three states, more than half of which are targeting turkeys. Set trail cameras low to the ground when possible, pointing up and down trails. Positioning cameras on trails in the timber, in brushy river bottoms and amid grassy edges of fields will capture turkeys traveling these narrow pathways. Set them on the edges of openings and fields to capture feeding and strutting activity. Set cameras on video mode, as this conveys far more information than a still photo. The longer the clip, the more you’ll learn. I can’t count the number of times I’ve caught a single turkey on camera, only to crank the volume and hear multiple toms gobbling…

I never fathomed hunting turkeys in chukar country. As I tried to catch my breath, the view down the canyon was nearly vertigo-inducing. Flax-hued mountains rose perpendicularly from the river, challenging my perception of my surroundings. With the number of turkeys we were seeing working the drainages, it didn’t matter how tired or short-winded we were; our sole intention was filling our tags. As I crossed a drainage, a shot rang out as my buddy ended his hunt for a creamy-white-tipped Merriam’s tom. Two weeks later and 2 hours to the north, I’d hike out of a Pacific Northwest rainforest with my own longbeard over my shoulder, taken among the mountain cedars and yews. If you’ve never considered northern Idaho as a turkey hunting destination, it’s time to stretch your…

INSIDE INFO ON TACKLE TEST RODS AND REELS Find exclusive video reviews of the top 20 spinning and baitcasting rods and reels we evaluated and ranked during Tackle Test 2025 in our “Special Collections” section. TALKIN’ SPRING TURKEYS As spring turkey hunting heats up this month, check out our “Regional Strut Update” for timely regional reports on gobbler activity and expert tips for bagging birds. SHOT SHOW FULLY LOADED G&F staffers covered miles of aisles at this year’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas to get an in-person look at the year’s new hunting gear. See the guns and products that caught our eyes in “Special Collections.” TRADITIONS BOLT-ACTION FIRESTICK MUZZLELOADER Traditions’ FireStick-capable bolt-action NitroBolt is a game-changer. Read: “Hunting Oklahoma’s Muzzleloader Season Is Now the Best Tradition.” WHAT’S GOING ON…

I vividly recall the first time I saw a thermal device used in the field. I was on an outfitted Utah elk hunt, and as we were driving two-track mountain roads back to the lodge after an unsuccessful all-day hunt, my guide stopped in the dark. He killed the headlights, pulled out a thermal viewer and grinned. “This is gonna tell us where we hunt in the morning,” he said. As he scanned a mountainside meadow with the digital device, dozens of grazing elk glowed like ghosts on the screen. It felt like cheating, intruding on animals that have grown accustomed to the protection of darkness. But the activity was perfectly legal. Utah’s regulations hadn’t caught up with the new devices, which were so novel at the time that few…

GEORGE WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON NATIONAL FORESTS Together, these two adjacent national forests include more than 1.8 million acres in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. In Virginia’s northern reaches, Fredericksburg makes a good base for hunting operations, as does Harrisonburg farther south. In the lower reaches, Roanoke and Abingdon lie close to the forests. On the West Virginia side of the Appalachians, towns that make good bases are Franklin in Pendleton County, Moorefield in Hardy County and Romney in Hampshire County. “There’s so much public land in the GWJNF that it’s easier than many hunters might think to get away from the crowds,” says Mike Dye, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources biologist. CHEROKEE NATIONAL FOREST AND PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST The Cherokee and Pisgah national forests span the Tennessee and North Carolina…

LAKE COEUR D’ALENE, ID: This natural, dam-controlled lake in northern Idaho, fed by the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers, stretches 25 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide. LAKE MOHAVE, AZ: Located in the southern end of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, this Colorado River impoundment stretches 67 miles in length and defines the Arizona/Nevada border. LAKE HAVASU, AZ: Another Colorado River reservoir, the 26-mile-long Havasu is famous for its London Bridge, one of the actual structures that once spanned the Thames River in London, England. DWORSHAK RESERVOIR, ID: Idaho’s largest reservoir, and the fourth largest in the Pacific Northwest, Dworshak is a 16,484.5-acre impoundment of the North Fork Clearwater River. TRINITY LAKE, CA: A Northern California impoundment of its namesake river, Trinity Lake was built in…

As soon as the boat was in position and moving at the right pace, Austin Moser cast as far as he could at a 45-degree angle. My cast fell 15 feet upstream from his. “Let it sink to the bottom. Once it hits, lift up,” Moser instructed. “Keep your rod tip up so I can see the line and keep pumping the rod up and down ... just like when we back-bounce for salmon.” I knew exactly what he meant. Soon, Moser latched into a walleye. “It’s a small one; you keep fishing.” Seconds later I was locked in battle with a fish that didn’t feel like any walleye I’d ever caught. At first, I thought it was one of the big triploid trout Moser is known for getting on.…

It’s probably safe to presume that most turkey hunters tote a semi-auto or pump-action shotgun into the woods each spring. For many, it may even be the same gun they use for waterfowl or upland game in the fall. Both types are readily available, come in reasonably affordable field models and offer some advantages—the capacity for at least two shells in the magazine being a notable benefit. Having additional shells on tap is a virtual necessity for wing-shooters, who may have opportunities at multiple birds or may miss a bird and require a follow-up shot (or two). When things go right in the turkey woods, though, a second shot is rarely needed, let alone a third. This may be partly why break-action single-shot and over-under shotguns have found a solid…

The .45-70 Govt. and .30-30 Win. are more than a century old, and neither excels at great distances. However, both perform well at ranges hunters usually shoot big-game animals. Many hunters have no idea what either cartridge is truly capable of, especially with modern loads. Some see the .30-30 and .45-70 as outdated and hardly sufficient for deer. This is untrue. Shot placement is the key limiting factor with any cartridge, though trajectory and velocity affect this. At some point, bullet drop makes getting hits difficult, and eventually, velocity slows enough that bullet upset is questionable. With a 100-yard zero, most modern .45-70 loads drop about 12 inches at 200 yards. Modern .30-30 loads offer another 25 to 50 yards of reach before the bullet drops a foot. The velocity…

The blind had been in place for the better part of a week, and six weeks of pre-season scouting left no doubt it was in the right spot. All that Austin Crowson and I had to do was set up the decoys and slip in quietly. As daylight broke in the Douglas fir trees amid Oregon’s Coast Range, gobbles emanated from the hills around us. At first the setup seemed perfect, but when gobbles erupted from the trees just 20 yards from our blind, I knew we were in trouble. During all our scouting—both on foot and with trail cameras—never had the turkeys roosted here. The blind was set midway up a forested ridge in a small opening with oak trees growing on the fringes. On prior mornings, multiple turkeys…

BITTERROOT RIVER, MT: This is where the skwala hatch came to prominence, and a float through Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, on a warm spring day, is one of fly-fishing’s quintessential experiences. CLARK FORK RIVER, MT: If challenge is in your DNA, the Clark Fork fits your profile. This river, especially below Missoula, is a series of half-mile-long runs with glassy surfaces and rainbows and cutthroats that can be super picky. DESCHUTES RIVER, OR: This is one of the prettiest rivers in the West, running through an arid canyon on its way to the Columbia River. Anglers find red-band rainbows feeding on March browns and skwalas as early as late January and early February. Prime time is March, April and early May—right when the area’s abundant rattlesnakes wake from their winter naps.…

If you’re looking to apply a range of salmon techniques to catch giant walleyes, look for big gravel bars that hold prime food sources. Guide Austin Moser targets 6- to 8-inch river rock where crawdads thrive. The 1,200-plus-mile Columbia River, with its multiple dams, is the best river in the West for trophy walleyes. The Snake and Willamette rivers are also prime destinations in the Pacific Northwest. High in the Columbia River finds you at Rufus Woods, between Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams, a great starting point with water that’s easy to navigate. Continuing downstream into the lower Columbia River, between Ice Harbor Dam and McNary Dam, is the McNary Pool. With multiple boat launches on both the Oregon and Washington sides, there is no shortage of opportunities. Above…

When the subtle vibration of a lipless crankbait pulsing through the rod tip suddenly ceases, the bait is either fouled or a bass has eaten it. This time, the abrupt halt was the result of the latter. The rod flexed deeply under the satisfying load of a surging Florida largemouth, which turned the tannic water to a boil. After the fish was landed, quickly photographed and released, notes about the catch were promptly recorded. In this instance, the rod and reel used to catch the bass were under greater scrutiny than how and where the fish was caught. Such is the process when conducting the Game & Fish Tackle Test, our annual evaluation of the latest rod and reel offerings from the industry’s top manufacturers. A gleaming new rod and…

Like most evenings at Shane’s house, conversation at the dinner table centered on what happened at school that day. Lucy was excited to tell her family what she had learned in science class about solar power. When his sister was finished, Shane spoke up. “Social Studies was actually pretty interesting. We talked about how some states out West are handling their wolf populations and the debates going on.” “Oh?” said Shane’s father, clearly interested. “Did the class come to a consensus?” “Sort of,” said Shane. “Most everyone in the class likes wolves and doesn’t want to see them go extinct. We are supposed to write a paragraph about the issue for homework tonight and present it to the class tomorrow.” “Does everyone actually like wolves, or do they just like…