Fishing enthusiasts are always looking for new ways to help bring in the prize. This is true no matter the desired harvest will be. For instance, trout fishing gear is designed to help fishermen (and women) seek the best of the best while out on the lake, stream, or river.

Equipment Needed

One of the most essential pieces of trout fishing gear of course is the rod and reel that is used. You would be amazed at how many varieties there really are. Click to continue »

At a cursory glance, you may be led to think that a fishing hook is a rather simple tool. After all you just will see a curved piece of metal with a sharp point on one end and a small hole on the other, where you insert a fishing line. The fact, however, is that there is really a lot more in this simple bit of fishing gear. Click to continue »

If you want to succeed in your fishing ventures, you must have a very good way of attracting the type of fish you would like to catch. This is why there are very many types of fishing lures that you can use. In fact, many anglers show a lot of creativity as they design their own fishing lures.

Although there are very many types of lures, with even more variations among them, they all have one basic concept – the ability to attract fish. Although the fish are themselves very careful against being caught, many successful methods have been devised over the years. Flies form just one group of well known lures that have been around since time immemorial. Click to continue »

When we speak of fishing flies, what exactly do we mean? These are basically lures that are made to look like favorite meals for the fish. They may be in the form of insects or even other smaller fish. What is important is for the flies to resemble the natural food enough to attract the fish. This is the basic principle that has been used since time immemorial.

Both fishermen and fly makers employ a lot of creativity in their designs, which is awe inspiring even to the anglers. These artificial devices are very practical yet they are often great works of art in themselves.

This illustration from a book published in the 18th century shows flies that look quite familiar.

Here are some of the flies you might want to use.

• Dry fly: This type of lure is meant to float on the surface of the water, appearing to the fish, say, like a dragonfly. Fish often take the opportunity before the thing “flies away.” The goal is to make the lure too attractive for the fish to ignore. The dry fly is most commonly used in fresh water fishing where the surface is calm.
• Wet fly: This type of lure is intended to sink slightly below the water’s surface. Such a lure may be in the form of a nymph, which is a young insect whose wings have not yet developed. The real ones usually crawl on underwater rocks, which is a great attraction to such species as trout.
• Terrestrial flies: These are designed to look like things that do not normally live on or in water but just close by it like Lady Bugs, Beetles, and Crickets. Every once in a while such creatures accidentally fall in the water, which is what the lures emulate.
• Streamers: These lures essentially resemble other types of fish. They can be used in both fresh and salt water fishing.

Of course, there are some flies that are not made to look like animals; some resemble different types of plants that are delicacies to the fish.

There are lots of books about making your own fishing flies. In fact it make a great hobby for when you can’t go fishing. You can let your creativity shine as you come up with your own unique fishing flies. You can even sell your flies at flea markets or on Ebay. Go ahead and give it try!

It is a primal instinct carried over from man’s hunting and gathering days. These are the times of TV dinners and fast food meals, of canned and boxed and foiled and processed food. Yet we still get that compulsion now and then to go out there into the wild, wild world and catch our own food. Out there the fish are waiting. They are plentiful in our rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, beaches, seas, and oceans.

To catch a fish, one must have the right equipment. Hooks, lures and baits, rods and reels, lines, nets, and floats; in fisherman’s lingo all this gear is all called fishing tackle. Even the type of fishing outfit or clothing is included is commonly known as fishing tackle.

Before any fishing goes on and before tackle is procured, a savvy fisherman has to determine three things about what kind of fishing they will be doing. These 3 things are:

• Location – ocean, lake, river, or pier
• Species – freshwater or saltwater sport fish
• Size – most states regulate the size of each species that is legal to catch and keep

Decide on location, species and size and it becomes easy to choose the right fishing tackle to suit one’s need. Location basically means where one intends to go fishing. Size is simple enough and is closely related to species. What size and species of fish do you intend to catch?

There are a lot of different fishing gear on the market. Deciding on where you plan to fish and what you want to catch narrows your choices of gear. A word of advice for the new fisherman who wants to explore all possible ways of catching a fish – an all around all-purpose beginner’s kit would be best.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Are you into fishing and do you also love collecting classic items? Why not combine both hobbies and collect antique fishing gear. You can combine the thrill of the hunt for vintage gear with learning more about how the sport developed in the last couple centuries. Click to continue »

As any angler knows, successful fly fishing relies in large part on the types of fishing flies you use. Of course, most anglers also realize figuring out which flies to use with which species of fish is anything but simple. Selecting just the right fishing flies for the eating habits of the species in a given locality is an art unto itself, but there are some general guidelines that can help you get started. Click to continue »