By Joe Cermele

You know, I love flyfishing for trout. Truly I do. But in reality my trout fishing roots sprouted with a spinning rod and a Panther Martin in hand. That's why when I took off for Arkansas last week to fish the White River, I was looking forward to leaving the whippy sticks at home for a change and chucking jigs and jerkbaits (and even soaking dead baits...can you believe it?) for the big browns that made this tailwater so famous. There were two things that impressed me most about this river: the shear number of trout that live in it, and the fact that an angler of any age or skill level can catch them. My buddy Alex Robinson from Outdoor Life joined me on this adventure, and in 3 days we caught more trout than we could even film thanks to veteran guide Crazy Mike Neher. Now, if you want to know whether the Outdoor Life guy or the Field & Stream guy scored the biggest brownie, you'll just have to watch and learn. Enjoy the show.

By Joe Cermele

Well, the long weekend is over and it's back to work. I hope all of you have some good holiday fish tales to share. As for me, I stuck a few stripers, drank a few brews, and grilled up a few burgers. But nothing I did this weekend compares to the story told in the video below, set in Boca Grande, FL, which happens to host some of the best and most chaotic tarpon fishing in the world. I've frequently been as unfortunate with losing things in the water as Mr. Jack Wiseman. I've never been as lucky when it came to getting them back.

By Joe Cermele

Here's one from the "I Couldn't Make This Up If I Tried" file. According to Europe's Practicalfishkeeping.com, German swimmers are being blamed for the death of 500 fish in a lake near Hamburg. Apparently they just couldn't ditch the swimmy fins and pool noodles long enough to find a bathroom. From the story: 

A spokesman for the local Angling Association said: "Swimmers who urinate in the lake are introducing a lot of phosphate. We're calculating half a litre/0.15 gal. of urine per swimmer per day." Applying anti-phosphate products to the water has been expensive and hasn't worked, fuelling a long-standing feud between fishermen and bathers in the lake.

By John Merwin

“If you get any of that stuff on your lure, you won’t get another bite,” said Florida guide Terry Shaughnessy as he watched me slather on some sunscreen. And I think he’s right. Fish dislike the sunscreen smell. But sunscreen is pretty much essential protection while fishing. So there’s a conundrum for you.

Happily, I’ve found some ways to use sun-protection goop without screwing up the fishing at the same time. Some sunscreen products come in applicator containers that allow use without getting the stuff on your palms and fingers. That in turn means you won’t be contaminating your lures or flies when changing or handling them.