How to choose the proper hooks

With so many sizes and patterns of hooks on the market, it’s essential to choose a selection of hooks that are properly suited to the type of fishing you intend to do. If you are fishing for largemouth bass, it is important to use hooks that are the size needed for largemouth. If you are using bass baits, most lures for bass will have a size 3-0, 4-0 or 5-0 hook that is perfect for bass.
If you are fishing for flatfish, which have small, rather distorted mouths, you should use long-shanked, narrow-gape hooks. These are readily available, but like most hooks they need attention before use. With the exception of the chemically-sharpened hooks, you should regard every hook you buy as blunt. Before use, sharpen each hook on an oilstone or, if it’s a big one, use a file first then finish off with a stone.
For larger shore-caught fish such as catfish and cod, chemically-sharpened hooks such as the Mustad range are ideal. Available in sizes up to 4-0, these hooks are strong enough in the wire to resist bending or breaking under hard stress, and the round bend and short point makes them a near-perfect overall hook design. The same hooks can be used for rock fishing for medium-sized species, but when you’re fishing in rocky waters you should check the fine hook point regularly for damage.
The fine-wire Mustad type of hook is good for fish or bass baits of up to 10 or 15 pounds, but for larger species such as conger, tope or big cod, a more substantial hook is essential. One of the best and strongest readily-available patterns is the 4-0/6-0 O’Shaughnessy bronzed or stainless steel hook, a flat-forged, straight-eyed, no-nonsense iron which will retain its shape even during brutal usage. Again, these hooks should be carefully sharpened before and during use.
The O’Shaughnessy hooks are also ideal for most inshore boat fishing. Available in sizes up to 10-0, the most useful boat fishing sizes are 6-0 and 8-0, which can be used with whole or cut fish or squid baits. The beauty of these hooks is their strength; many sea hooks snap or distort in use, but the O’Shaughnessy is unlikely to.
Inexperienced anglers make the mistake of buying expensive rods, reels, bass baits and lines, then using cheap, poor quality hooks. The best equipment and lures for bass in the world won’t be much use if the hook lets you down. The worst sort of sea hooks are those with a point which is too long, fragile and curved, because such a point is likely to be too brittle to withstand hard use.
Careful choice of hook is even more important when you’re fishing for really large fish (like a lunker largemouth bass). Even a small shark is a big fish which calls for a strong, well-shaped hook. Hook sizes suitable for shark and other large fish range from 8-0 to 16-0, the most widely-used sizes being 10-0, 12-0 and 14-0.

Selecting the Proper Fishing Rod

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How do you select the proper fishing rod? It depends on what species of fish you are trying to catch. If you are fishing for largemouth bass and using a bass lure, you will most likely be using a 7 ½ foot graphite rod. However, if you are fly fishing, the length of the rod will vary depending on the width of the water body and the weather conditions (speed of the wind mostly) that you are encountering.  This is article will deal more with fly fishing rods than any other types of fishing.
If you are fly fishing a stream, the rod will be different then let’s say a river 45 feet wide. With a river so wide, you might be wise to grab a rod of between 8 and 10 feet. But if you want to limit yourself to only one rod for all types of fly fishing, including salmon, sea trout and trout, you should choose a medium-action 10-footer.
If you want to fish on still waters, you have to decide whether you will spend the bulk of the time fishing from a boat or wading along the shore line: boat rods can be slightly less substantial than bank ones.
Ideally, you should have access to a more powerful 9 1/2- or 10-foot rod for bank fishing, but you should avoid those over-stiff devices that need the strength of a gorilla to flex them properly. They may be fine for the tournament caster who wants to throw a line into the next county, and who will only use it for a five-minute session anyway, but they are not nice for prolonged fishing. Also bear in mind that the stronger and stiffer the rod, the stronger your leader will have to be to avoid breakage on the strike.
As an example of the extremes in lengths of rods, trout rods range from the little 6-foot brook rods up to the 17 -foot models for fishing still waters and large rivers.
With all singlehanded rods it’s preferable to have the reel  fittings near the butt. Various fitments are available, and those that are the lightest are usually the best. Screw fittings offer greater security than those with a friction hold, although you’re unlikely to have a reel fall off whichever type you choose.
Despite the great variety of rod actions to suit different fishing situations, to some extent there is room for personal preference. It is usually said that a slightly stiffer-action rod is better for dry-fly fishing, and a soft-action rod is better for wet flies. But beware of a rod that is truly limp; these might be able to handle very light lines in calm conditions, but they often lack the stamina to cope with contrary winds and longer-than-average casts. Even though a fly rod shouldn’t have too soft an action, when it’s flexed it should have a good all-through action down into the butt. Tip-action rods with stiff butt sections have little use in fly fishing.
As mentioned above when discussing largemouth bass fishing, if you can afford it, get a rod in graphite by one of the more reputable manufacturers. There is much dumping of foreign overproduction and these rods, while exceptionally cheap, may not represent very good value.

How to obtain a fishing license

We have received a lot of emails from largemouth bass (among other) fishermen who didn’t know how, when or where to obtain a fishing license. Depending on the state, it can be rather confusing as to who is required to have a license, when a license is required and how to obtain a license if one is indeed necessary. The issue becomes more confusing when you take in consideration that a lot of bass fishermen go on vacation to different states and will need to know the requirements of the state in which they are fishing. Some of the good news is that most states have similar rules to one another. The bad news is that most states require a fishing license even if you are not a resident of the state in which you are fishing. For example, if you are fishing in Florida, here’s the rule on if a fishing license is required:
A fishing license is required to attempt to take fish. If you cast your line, catch nothing, catch and release, or catch and keep and you are not in a specifically exempt group; you need a license.
For example, a lot of states allow for exemptions for those who are younger then 16 years of age. This is good for the industry since it’s great to introduce young people to the industry when they are young and it allows them to fall in love with fishing, as we all have. We, as an industry and as a government, should encourage young people to fish without worry about the requirement of obtaining a fishing license or being ‘outside’ the law.
Another age exemption that you will typically find in most states is for those who are older then 65 years of age. This is also an exemption that I think we can all find as acceptable. Most older persons have the time to go fishing and they should be honored for all that they have done to build our society. With the two exemptions mentioned, we are encouraging grandparents to take grandchildren fishing.
Therefore, based on this statement, unless you fall in a vary narrow list of exempt groups, you will need a fishing license. Upon reviewing most other states’ requirements, they are all rather similar. Typically, a fishing license -even a temporary one- is required even to attempt to take fish.
As you can imagine, this is a very difficult issue that has a lot of different requirements and requirements. In an attempt to help unravel the requirements and help. we have created a couple of videos. Even though the videos are more for amusement then hard facts, it is meant to start a conversation as to what the requirements are. If we find enough confusion about what the requirements really are, we will create specific videos for each state. To view our videos, visit our Youtube page or see the video direct here: http://youtu.be/M-w43nZSjQc .
Regardless if we make videos, we are starting 2013 with the idea to blog extensively this year about who, how and the when of obtaining fishing license and largemouth bass fishing. Stay tuned!