So today is the day you’re going fishin.’  All the gear is on board, you’re behind the console with bow and stern fenders deployed, and bow and stern anchors secured to your boat’s cleats.  Your buddy is hauling the truck and trailer back to the parking lot while you motor over to the dock to tie off and wait for him.  What’s the best knot to use?  The Cleat Hitch. The Cleat Hitch is the…

You don’t leave your best friend home when you head out on the water, do you? Well, if one of your best friends is a dog, why would you leave him at home?  The answer for many is simple: they don’t. Any dog that loves to swim will happily trade their ordinary landlubber status for a day on the water.  Labrador and golden retrievers are shoe-ins to join you on your boat.  One perfect retriever…

I’m in the process of fulfilling a lifelong dream of buying a manually powered boat for river fishing.  It’s great to walk and wade, but there’s something about the sensation of flowing with the current… taking family and friends along with you on your river trips… and covering literally miles of fishing opportunity that a boat affords. It doesn’t matter if you’re fishing for bass (some of the biggest smallmouth bass in the country are…

  The Great Lakes are well known for their outstanding fishing.  Some of the species targeted by anglers include walleye, yellow perch, and salmon.  To remember the names of these lakes in geography, some schoolchildren are taught the acronym: HOMES. (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.)  SHMOE works too, I suppose. Dave Mercer, of Facts of Fishing TV show, has the tough job of fishing all over the country and knows the Great Lakes well. When…

I still have snow in the yard but the calendar says “Spring” and in the yard, there are shoots from flowers pushing skyward so I know it is time to go over my “Get the Boat Ready” list. 1. Is the boat registration up to date? Some state agencies require a yearly renewal, while others all renew on a certain date.  Best bet is to check your state’s boat registration dates and requirements. 2. Do…

For many anglers, boats add a new dimension to fishing.  They enable us to get to different areas that we can’t reach in our boots. Boats can help you cover more water, and in a lot of instances allows you to bring along some extra buddies.  Boats can be expensive, but they don’t need to be.  If you’re thinking about buying a boat this season and are worried about the cost, here are a few…

Legendary bass pro Gary Klein once told me that fish tend to be a lot dumber than the angler at the other end of a long cast.  That is no doubt true whether you’re zinging a drop-shot rig off a bass boat, or hoofing streamer flies from the front of a skiff. But what a lot of anglers fail to understand is that good fishing (and good casting) are literally built on solid footing.  The…

Being stuck in the grips of winter is certainly no reason to stop thinking about fishing.  After all, a  full slate of boating, fishing and general outdoors shows is sweeping across the nation. For example, last weekend, the International Sportsmen’s Exposition (ISE) made its annual stop in Denver, drawing thousands of outdoor aficionados to the Colorado Convention Center.  ISE is an all-outdoors event, featuring everything from demonstrations on casting and fly tying to dog training…

Ok, New Year’s Day is over.  For those of us outside the tropical or near-tropical regions, our boats are in dry dock, our reels are packed in grease, and our rods are stowed away.  If we head out for some winter steelhead, ice fishing, or hopping a plane to a warmer climate then we’re still logging some time on the water.  And if our answer is D, none of the above, then there are plenty…

Assuming that the Mayan’s are wrong and that our world continues past December 20th, I’ve got my New Year’s boating resolutions all worked out.  This year I’m keeping a short, tight list to make sure I git ’er done.   1.  Check out areas outside my local area. It’s interesting for me to see the same area in different seasons and under different conditions, but truth be told my boating gets sloppy.  I know where areas run foul, I…