Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Game & Fish East

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 bassfishing 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…

Ivividly 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…

Early-season rains and runoff from snowpack can raise any of the rivers discussed in this article to nearly unfishable levels. Having a backup plan can save the day, so when the main river is cloudy, murky and fast, check out its feeder streams and tributaries. These smaller, shallower tribs warm faster, thereby making them ideal options if your main river of choice is blown out. And while they react more quickly to dramatic rises in water levels than the main stems, they drop just as fast.…

Though subjective, the sensation derived from the interaction between man and machine weighs heavily in the decision to buy a product or pass on it. Reviewing the dozens of rods and reels tested, it’s evident manufacturers are finding new and creative ways to enhance the ergonomics of their products. Here are some examples that stood out. ABU GARCIA IKE POWER One of the factors that impressed evaluators about the new Ike Power was the comfortable feel of the indents in the rod’s handle. The contours in the EVA foam seem to grip your fingers in return, making the rod a pleasure to fish for extended periods. BATES OG While low-profile baitcasters have dominated reel design over the past few decades, Bates designed the OG with a tip of the cap…

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…

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. 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.” 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.” WHAT’S GOING ON…

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 biggame 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…

The end of winter in New England is characterized by short days and cold nights, and even the idea of fishing a thawing trout stream can’t pry you from the recliner. The good news? There’s a cure for those late-winter doldrums: chasing holdover striped bass. As most anglers know, striped bass have two distinct migration patterns. The first occurs in the spring when large biomasses of bass head up the coast from their southern wintering grounds in the Mid-Atlantic, stopping to spawn in Chesapeake Bay, the Hudson River and other large East Coast rivers. From there, these fish spend the summer along New England and into the Canadian Maritimes. When temps begin to dip in the fall and baitfish head out of the backwaters and into inshore areas, the…

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…

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…

On 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…

It’s been more than 40 years since a smarter-than-me outdoorsman realized that wild turkeys like to hang out together, and that by deploying a fake bird or two near your hunting setup, you can lure in other birds. And so, the notion of the turkey decoy was born. Crude, hand-painted paper and cardboard imitations soon gave way to hardplastic and foldable foam birds that could be easily tucked into a hunting vest. Then came posture-specific dekes, white birds, super-realistic feathered decoys and even, at one time, self-inflating counterfeits that you could roll into a baseball-sized sphere and disperse around your hunting area. Some worked, others didn’t. Though there are a plethora of decoy options available to turkey hunters today, not all of them are effective at yanking birds to within…

For many New York anglers, April 1 is one the most highly anticipated days on the calendar, and not because they have a penchant for pranks. This is the day trout season opens in the Empire State, home to many terrific streams, rivers and lakes that are loaded with fish. To narrow down the options, here are three solid bets that offer everything a fisherman needs to get the season off on the right foot. The weather might play an April Fool’s trick, but these three fisheries have tackle shops with up-to-date fishing reports and guide services, gear rental programs and lots of area options for food and lodging. TROUT TOWN, USA The village of Roscoe, nestled in the heart of the Catskills, has been the gathering place for…

It’s probably safe to presume that most turkey hunters tote a semiauto 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 followup 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…