Largemouth bass are opportunistic feeders. Everything is on the menu for these aggressive fish, from crustaceans to worms to frogs to mice. I even once hand-fed a piece of fried chicken to a bass.

One of freshwater fishing's most legendary success stories dates way back to the late 1960s, when a middle-aged luremaker named Bill Lewis was struggling to make a living off of his wares. A military ...