he guys in the shiny red boat above represent more than 120 years of bass-fishing experience. They’re all smiling because they have just wrapped up a week-long evaluation of four dozen new rods and reels—the core of the annual Tackle Test. While they won’t go so far as to say the Tackle Test is an excruciating task (these guys did fish for a week, after all), it does come with long hours of critical attention to detail, careful analysis and objective comparison. If there is a way to make bass fishing seem like work, this is it—and we’re proud of that. Our test team puts in the hours on the water, with clipboards in hand, gauging the performance of new tackle so readers don’t have to. The resulting report gives you an excellent summary of how baitcasting and spinning gear works in actual fishing situations. This is knowledge you can use to make highly informed buying decisions.
