Fly Fishing the Madison, Mystery Bass Baits and Other Top Stories from Fishing on SI

In case they slipped by you, following are the most read fishing stories of the week. If "The Madison" Made You Want to Fly Fish Montana, Here’s Where to Start; The Two ‘Mystery Baits’ That Defined the 2026 Bassmaster Classic; REVEALED: Berkley Lab Series Baits Unveiled After Bassmaster Classic Leak.

1.) If "The Madison" Made You Want to Fly Fish Montana, Here’s Where to Start.

Montana Fly Fishing — Montana's beautiful Yellowstone Cutthroat | photo by Jasper Taback

If you’re like me, it took about ten minutes of the first episode to start looking at flights to Bozeman.

When you decide to make the trip, here’s where to fish to make the most of your time.

The obvious starting point. The Madison is the quintessential trout river—wadable, consistent, and packed with fish.

The bug life is abundant, with strong caddis and stonefly hatches in the summer and reliable Blue-Winged Olives in the spring and fall.

There’s really no bad time to fish it, which is why it’s the backbone of so many Montana fly fishing trips.…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

2.) The Two ‘Mystery Baits’ That Defined the 2026 Bassmaster Classic

Bassmaster Classic winner Dylan Nutt showing off his unreleased soft plastic bait he used to win. — Dylan Nutt revealed Berkley’s unreleased Lab Series bait during the final day of the 2026 Bassmaster Classic—while a strange spiny lure trend quietly spread among the field. | B.A.S.S.

Dylan Nutt didn’t just win the 2026 Bassmaster Classic, he exposed a new, unreleased Berkley bait, live, on camera.

On Championship Sunday in Knoxville, with a realistically untouchable lead over second place, Dylan Nutt showed the camera, and the world, the minnow shaking bait he had been using to fool all those big Tennessee bass. In that moment, he confirmed what only a small group of media already knew: the bait was part of a new, unreleased lineup called the Lab Series from Berkley.

Days earlier, at a closed-door, media preview event, that same bait was introduced under a strict embargo. The details of its design, composition, and purpose are still off-limits for the moment. But thanks to the enthusiastic, young angler, everyone knows the bait’s name, what it looks like, and the reality of its effectiveness…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

3.) REVEALED: Berkley Lab Series Baits Unveiled After Bassmaster Classic Leak

New Berkley Lab Series bait in a controlled demonstration showing the scent cloud all around the lure. — Dye was added to the scent powder for this demo only, but it paints a dramatic picture of how this baits leaves a scent trail to convince wary bass to bite. | Kurt Mazurek

Dylan Nutt’s big Classic win and partial reveal of his winning lure started a chain of events that has caused Berkley to lift the curtain early and accelerate the launch of its highly anticipated Lab Series baits.

Initially scheduled for a June 1st public reveal, media who attended a closed-door preview in Bardstown, Kentucky prior to the Bassmaster Classic, have been given the green light to share details of what will likely be the most talked-about bait of 2026.

On Championship Sunday, Classic winner Dylan Nutt clearly showed the world the soft plastic minnow he had been guarding. He did say it was an unreleased Berkley product from something they were calling the Lab Series, but left it at that. Of course, the internet speculation spread like wildfire.

Now, the full picture is finally clear…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.