Kelly

The best surfboards for small waves are high-performance grovelers and modern fish shapes, because both squeeze extra volume and flat rocker into a short outline that a weak wave can actually push. Here is the honest version of that answer: a small wave does not give you speed, so a good small wave board has … Read more

Short answer: the best wakeboard for beginners is the ZUP You Got This 260 board and handle combo, a wide foam-padded platform that carries riders up to 350 lbs and lets you start sitting, kneeling or standing without changing anything. It is the board most first-timers finish their first season on, and it is our … Read more

Most anglers ask the wrong question first. They want to know which brand wins. The real answer is that sealing and drag smoothness decide whether a reel survives salt water, and size decides whether you can cast it at all. A spinning reel with shielded stainless bearings, a sealed or water-resistant drag, and a rigid … Read more

There is no angler on earth who has not dumped a full tackle box across a wet boat deck because one latch gave up halfway through a tournament round. I have done it in a thunderstorm on a Tennessee River reservoir with a limit in the livewell and 40 minutes to spawn. That single mess … Read more

The summer cookout where I ruined a beautiful fillet of salmon still embarrasses me. The fish came out pale, tight, and dry, and nobody at the table said a word because everyone was being polite. What I had done wrong was simple: I used a smoker built for brisket, cranked it to 250 degrees, and … Read more

Most of the advice about hunting blinds is written for rifle hunters, and that is exactly where a bowhunter gets burned. A blind can be tall on a spec sheet, well camouflaged and still leave you no room to reach full draw without your bow arm touching the wall. We spent weeks reading spec sheets, … Read more

An ice fishing shelter is a portable fabric hut that pops up over your drilled holes on a frozen lake, blocking wind and trapping the heat your body and heater already produce. That one job is what separates a full day of comfortable fishing from cutting the trip short after two hours. The best ice … Read more

The best snowshoes for deep snow are the ones with the largest deck surface area per pound of body weight, because flotation is the whole game. Once you break trail in untracked powder, a bigger rigid frame keeps you on top of the snowpack instead of sinking to your knees, and that single variable decides … Read more

The best sleds for kids and adults are the ones that match your riders to the sled rather than the other way around. A long plastic toboggan handles a whole family, a foam deck is the gentlest first run for a beginner, and a steerable sled with a brake gives an adult real control on … Read more

Every winter the same question shows up in my inbox from friends who own crossovers and four-wheel-drive trucks: if my SUV already has all-wheel drive, why would I ever need snow tire chains? The honest answer is that AWD helps your vehicle pull away from a stop and does almost nothing for stopping or turning. … Read more