I took my son out to a local lake when he was about nine or ten years old for a couple of hours of fishing. We had a small wooden pram, a three seater, and I put my son in the middle seat as I took my place in the stern and began to paddle out to a likely looking spot. He kept up a steady stream of chatter as I dropped the anchor and asked if he wanted to use a lure or a worm and bobber. He thought a worm and bobber sounded a little too dull. He wanted to try casting so I selected a lure from my tackle box and tied it on his line.

We discussed with a lot of enthusiasm the likelihood of catching some bluegill or perch as I showed my son how to operate the spinning reel bail and, holding the line with his forefinger, execute an overhand cast.

Getting kids to enjoy the sport of fishing can sometimes be a challenging endeavor. Casting from shore for salmon and trout is exciting as long as there is plenty of action. Drift or still fishing in a boat can be productive as long as there are enough toys and treats packed to while away the long cold spells between bites. Indeed, without something of substance to bring home (on a stringer or a photo), children sometimes wonder what the fuss is all about with, this fishing stuff.

Believe me, I have run the gamut in the fishing circle with kids. However, one body of water that had not been invaded by my family had been local ponds. Now not every area has ponds that you just drive up to, make yourself comfortable, and start casting away. Also realize that every pond does not have fish in it and more often than not they are on private land. Plus, ponds are visited by other species other than man so be prepared to share the water when and if you find one, (note: casting into the general area of a cow who is drinking from the pond is not a good idea, though your kids might find it funny that your trying to reel in a 400 pound milker).

One of the biggest mistakes that I see anglers make is the fact that they aren't very efficient. What do I mean by this? Simple. As anglers, the more time that we can spend with our lines in the water the better. You can't catch any fish without having your line in the water, so the more time that can be spent with our lines in the water the better our chances of hooking up. There are two very simple, yet amazingly effective, ways to become a more efficient angler, that you may not have been aware of? I'm going to introduce you to those two ways in this article.

A Bait Bag - If you use live worms for fishing, and you tend to move around a lot while fishing, a bait bag needs to be employed. What is a bait bag? A bait bag is simply a small bag that hangs off of your fishing vest, belt, or shirt, and carries your live worms. In other words, you but worms just as you normally would. Then when you get to where you're going to fish, you simply take the worms from the container they were purchased in, place then into your bait bag, and go. This way your live worms are right there, literally "at you fingertips," waiting to be used. A Bait bag eliminates the need to look for your worms or dig through your vest for your worms. Your worms are always right there, hanging off of your vest, belt, or shirt, just waiting to be used. A bait bag makes you a ton more efficient, ands lets you spend more time with your line in the water.

by Steve vonBrandt

This is one of the most complete and comprehensive articles ever published on the strategies necessary to catch more and bigger bass on the Upper Chesapeake Bay rivers. These strategies will not only help you catch more and bigger bass by identifying new locations, but will also help you locate and catch more bass during a tournament, from within the known community areas by defining the "Sweet Spots", within these community holes. These strategies and techniques will work on any rivers on the Upper Chesapeake Bay, but are designed to enhance your success on the Sassafras River in particular.

by Harry P. Davis, Author of Guerrilla Flyfishing

The nine Principles of War, as defined in the Army Field Manual FM-3 Military Operations:

* Concentrate combat power at the decisive place and time.

Put your mind on fishing when you are on the water. Worry and fret about problems at home or the office have no place here if you are going to have a productive day of angling. You may as well just splash around in the water and smack your rod against the rocks if you lose your concentration.

This hour and this place are the decisive destination and time. All your planning, equipping and scheduling have come to naught, if you fail to concentrate your angling power now.

by Reid Wender of Photon Lures
Glowing Lures

Seems like good things come in cycles, doesn't? I remember listening to my dad talk about using glow in the dark fishing lures back in the 1950's. He loved them and said that they worked great but you had to charge them up every five minutes to keep them glowing. Back then glowing lures and products were created from zinc-based additives. These zinc glow products suffered from several problems when used in luminous fishing lures. While they would charge quickly they would also quickly lose their glow. You made the zinc products glow by exposing them to ultraviolet light (UV light) but the UV rays tended to wear out the zinc glow such that it would glow less and less over time. And, for the longest time yellow-green was the only glow color you could get in a glow in the dark product.

With angling on the wane this time of year, one species still provides nice catch
By Charlie Meyers
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:10/24/2006 09:38:12 PM MDT

Brother act: Dan, left, and Dave Bryant often have crossed lines, but never crossed purposes. (Post / Charlie Meyers)

State Bridge - Whatever grabbed the egg fly that drifted near the bottom made a streaking run toward midstream, then flung itself into the air.

It must have been a rainbow trout. Whitefish can't jump.

But they can speed away on scintillating runs that often confuse anglers about what salmonid species actually might be on the line. More than anything else, whitefish provide a surefire hedge against the angling doldrums about to beset us, a way to roll back the calendar, if only for a few days.

— by Jeremiah T. Bagwell

Arguably, one of the most productive search baits on the market is the Spinnerbait. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro angler, these lures will give you the ability to dissect a large area of water in a short period of time.

Although, Spinnerbaits are viewed as an easy to use or almost "fool proof" lure, there are certain factors that will affect their level of productivity.

As with any other bait selection, size and color are important factors. However, they represent only a small piece of the equation when choosing a Spinnerbait.

When selecting the size of the lure you must take into consideration the time of year and also water clarity. In the spring or in clear water it is very possible to catch a large bass on a bait as small as 1/8 ounce. Just the opposite occurs in the fall and also in muddy water, where larger profile baits as big as 1 ounce are the ideal choice. The 3/8 ounce size is viewed by many anglers as the all purpose size.

— by Craig Springer (USFWS)

Arizona's San Carlos Lake has a storied past of producing big bass. Those yarns usually start with "I remember when . . ."

Lament no more — the good old days are the here and now.

Recent largemouth bass population electrofishing surveys done by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Arizona Fishery Resources Office (AZFRO) and the San Carlos Apache Recreation & Wildlife Department Game Rangers show that bass anglers should have no reason to yearn for yesterday. Three nights of electrofishing surveys on San Carlos Lake turned up 1,000 largemouth bass, not by any means all the bass that live in the lake. On average, these fish are big: 18 inches long and three pounds. AZFRO fishery biologist, Mark Brouder, says the population looks healthy and the future looks good, too.

— by The Great Sailfishing Company

More and more anglers are hearing and reading stories about fly fishing for billfish, Dorado (dolphin) and tuna. Some of them get curious and decide to try it out. After a trip to Guatemala it's easy to catch the "this is the only way of fishing for billfish" bug. In fact anglers like the challenge and intensity of saltwater fly fishing so much that it has become one of the fastest growing segments of the recreational bill fishing industry, gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds every season. Manufacturers of rods, reels, line, flies, etc., have been keeping pace with anglers needs so, finally, there is an ample variety of good quality, heavy duty products to choose from.