These are the rules we hold ourselves to. If we break one, we would rather you told us.
Where the information comes from
Every factual claim on this site should be traceable to one of four places: manufacturer specifications and published test data, independent testing carried out by people who publish their method, state and federal fisheries agencies, or peer-reviewed research. When a number matters — retained breaking strength, gear ratio, a legal size limit — we say where it comes from.
Where a claim is our own judgement rather than a measurement, it is written as judgement. “We would start here” is not the same sentence as “this is 12 percent stronger”, and we try never to blur the two.
What we do not claim
We do not run a test lab. We have not fished every water in the United States, and we have not personally used most of the products in our comparison tables. Any guide that reads as though we did is a guide we wrote badly, and we want to hear about it.
You will not find staged “hands-on” photography or invented field notes here. The value we offer is synthesis done carefully, not experience we do not have.
How a guide is produced
- We work out the question a reader is actually asking, which is rarely the question they typed.
- We gather the sources, note the figures and record where they disagree.
- We draft. Software helps us structure and draft text — that is worth stating plainly rather than hiding.
- A person reviews every line before publication: the figures, the sources, the recommendations and the tone. Nothing is published unread.
- The guide is dated, and re-dated whenever it is materially updated.
Independence from advertisers
Advertising on this site is served programmatically. We do not choose which brands appear, and advertisers have no visibility of or influence over editorial content.
Some links to retailers earn us a commission. Commission rates play no part in ranking or recommendation — including the frequent case where the product we recommend pays less than the one we do not. See the affiliate disclosure.
Corrections
Mistakes get corrected on the page where they appeared, not quietly deleted. If a correction changes the substance of a recommendation, we note what changed and when.
Reporting one takes a minute: use the contact form and pick “Correction or missing information”. A source or a link helps, but is not required.
Safety, law and your own judgement
Fishing involves water, weather, boats and, on the ice sheets, genuine risk to life. Nothing on this site is a safety assessment of the conditions in front of you, and no guide can see the ice you are standing on.
Licensing, seasons, size and bag limits, and permitted methods vary by state and change from year to year. Always check the current regulations published by the agency for the water you are fishing. Where we quote a rule, treat it as a starting point for your own check, never as a substitute for it.