General

Bugs:

To avoid becoming popular to mosquitoes and other insects, make sure you do not apply any scented personal-care products or perfumes. Most insects are attracted by the smell of these products. In addition, bugs are more prevalent during the early morning and early evening hours when it is cool, windless, and damp. Under these conditions it is best to use insect repellent.

New Fishing Areas:

Some of the best resources for new fishing spots are county highway maps, state maps, and atlases.

Listen up:

Purchase a small pocket voice recorder to make notes during your fishing trip. Some ideas to keep in mind are the weather conditions, lures/bait used, what you caught, and anything else you believe is pertinent.

Rainy Days:

Some of the best times to fish are days that it is raining. The reason for this is wind and rain drops knock insects to the water which in turn attracts fish to the surface to feed. When they feed a fisherman can observe the ripples a fish makes and point their casts to that direction. In addition, rain breaks up a smooth water surface, making it harder for the fish to see the fisherman.

Heat Wave:

A hot dry summer drips the water level of a lake or river which helps new vegetation to grow when the water level rises again. As a result the new growth provides both food and cover for the lakes fish and aquatic life.

Baking Soda:

A good thing to have in tackle box is a box of baking soda. The reason for this is dry baking soda can be used as a scouring agent to brighten dull or rusty lures. In addition baking soda mixed with water can be used to rid your hands of fishy oders, the pain from a bee sting or bug bite. Finally baking soda can be used to settle your stomach after you loose the catch of the day!

Vinegar:

If you forgot to bring along your suntan lotion on a fishing trip, you can use white vinegar as a substitute to prevent sun burn.

Fish Towel:

A golf towel can also moonlight as a perfect fishing towel.

Safety Pins:

One of the cheapest and underappreciated fishing tool, safety pins have a variety of uses. Some of the most popular are untangling knots, cleaning out your hook eye, or use as a storage tool for excess hooks or swivels.