By Joe Cermele

Since I have been fishing, I have had hooks past the barb in the following places: big toe, wrist, both thumbs, thigh, shoulder, elbow, every finger, neck, heel, and calf. But never have I had one in the face...until a few weeks ago.

Now, I'm not going to give you the entire backstory, because the gentleman who was casting the streamer was mortified I think, and I like him way too much to reveal his name. The way I look at it, I didn't lose an eye and hey, if you cast sink tips and big bugs around on drift boats long enough, eventually dog poop happens. No big deal. As for the removal, you can always tell when a guide is well-versed in the line-pull method, because they say "on the count of 3," but they yank on the "1." Who else has caught one in the face?

By Joe Cermele

When I set out to shoot a "Hook Shots" episode, rarely does the rough plan I have in my head regarding how things are going to work come to fruition. Sometimes there is only slight deviation from the original plan. Other times, I end up capturing something on video that is miles away from what I expected. Case in point, two weeks ago my buddy Jimmy Fee from "On The Water" and I flew down to Stuart, Florida to meet Zach "Hammer" Miller of Team Rebel Fishing. Miller was going to get us tied into sharks in the surf, which is something I've wanted to do for a long time. What I thought we'd be filming were some bulls and lemons during daylight hours. We caught none of those. But when a 12-foot, 475-pound hammerhead found our bait just before dark, what ended up following the strike was the most chaotic, heart-pounding, sweat-dripping, hand-shaking fight and video shoot I've experienced thus far. Enjoy the show, because I don't think I'll be topping this episode any time soon. Have a great weekend.

By Joe Cermele

It's called the Reel Cool, and it's the pride of Union, Ohio, inventor Matt Grimes. According to this story on Cincinnati.com, Grimes got the idea for this water bottle wrapped in fishing line after watching local anglers in Mexico catching fish with similiar homemade contraptions. The difference, of course, is that their water bottles were likely from the dump or the curb and didn't look like anything you'd see on a shelf at Eastern Mountain Sports.

Grimes claims the Reel Cool is for “when it’s not convenient to carry a rod,” for example if someone is backpacking, rafting, kayaking or bicycling. On his website, Grimes includes safety tips for using the Reel Cool, one of which includes, do not throw, hit, or use bottle as a hammer or weapon.

By Dave Wolak

It wasn't that long ago when frog and mouse topwaters were “niche” baits used only in certain situations at certain times. But these days, frogs and mice (which continue to grow in popularity) are employed almost year-round in some areas, and anglers have found new ways to present them. They also cast them to a lot more structure types than just pads, mats, and grass. While it might be easy to say a frog lure and mouse lure are so similar, one isn’t better than the other, there are subtle differences, and understanding when to go with an amphibian, and when to tie on a rodent can really help you cash in on the hot topwater bite this time of year.