By Joe Cermele

I have never been the biggest fan of Jeremy Wade's show "River Monsters." It's not that it isn't entertaining, but I'm sorry, I largely find a lot of the stories that go along with his epic hunts to be hogwash. Most of the fish he catches are not really monsters in my opinion, and some of the claims he makes about the sizes certain species are known to reach would be shot down by reputable guides in an instant. I heard these shoot-downs in person during a trip last year to the Columbia River, where Wade claimed sturgeon frequently hit the 20-foot mark. Regardless, Wade takes himself pretty seriously and travels the globe with some serious tackle. So pardon me if I snicker a bit at the new "River Monsters" line of gear from South Bend. 

By John Merwin

Longtime readers here know I have a real bug in my ear about line twist and spinning reels. All such fixed-spool reels twist line; it’s the nature of the beast. The trick is to minimize that effect and thereby reduce aggravating line tangles. It’s an interesting and multi-faceted problem, which is why I think about it often.

Happily, there’s a way to minimize twist that will save you money at the same time. That is to use a motor-driven line winder for installing fresh line. The device shown in the photo is one such, made by a company called Triangle. It’s too expensive to be found in many home shops, but such machines are common in independent tackle shops that will spool your reel from a bulk line spool.

By Joe Cermele

The photo below was entered into our ongoing vintage tackle contest by Don Leurquin, and I'll admit I thought it was a really interesting piece, and looked like no other lure submitted thus far. Don got the "lure" when he inherited his 90-year-old grandfather's tackle box, and was curious as to whether this was a crankbait, jig, or just a decoration. If any post proves there's no stumping resident expert Dr. Todd Larson of the The Whitefish Press and "Fishing For History" blog, it's this one. It also proves that I actually have a horrible eye for vintage lures. Good thing I don't buy a lot of it!

By Joe Cermele

With the unseasonably warm weather we've been having here in the Northeast, American shad are already running up the Delaware River. They're about 3 weeks early, but all the same, I decided over the weekend it was time to tie up some new shad flies (below). I absolutely love tying these bugs for several reasons. One, they're incredibly easy. If it takes more than 5 minutes to whip-finish one, you're doing it wrong. And two, there is really no rhyme or reason to the patterns. All you're trying to do is make something obnoxious that will tick off a shad, and that makes creativity limitless. There are no rules in shad fly tying.