By Joe Cermele

This past Monday, fellow blogger Dave Wolak gave us some pretty solid advice for catching bass amidst the chaos that will ensue on many lakes and rivers across the U.S. during this holiday weekend. Though there aren't any largemouth in the Atlantic Ocean, I'll be out there fighting crowds myself, trying to score some stripers before the rip-roaring cigarette boaters and swarms of jet skiers shake off their hangovers and get on the water. 

I have to admit that while holiday crowds are annoying, they are always entertaining. I always see something that makes me either chuckle, shake my head, or gasp in horror. Last Memorial Day weekend I watched a 24-foot boat overloaded with drunken college kids trying to dock at the local harbor-side watering hole. Several of them were sitting with their legs hanging over the gunwales. It was a windy afternoon, and as the pulled into the transient slip, a gust nudged it sideways. Luckily, all we heard was a few painful shrieks as several legs got smashed between the boat and the dock. Had the boat gotten pushed in much faster, there would have been some broken bones for sure.

By Joe Cermele

I was poking around YouTube the other day and found this video produced by Rio a couple years back. Maybe you've seen it, but I hadn't, and given that I could watch monotonously-narrated shows that tell you how pencils, bridge cables, or golf balls are made for hours on TV, imagine my delight when I found this behind-the-scenes look at how fly line is made. Make snore sounds if you like, but it's pretty interesting. Consider it your chemistry, physics, and science lesson for the day.

By Dave Wolak

Hey, are you planning on bass fishing next weekend? If you answered yes, then get ready for a day filled with some combination of the following: Wake-jumping jet skiers and water skiers. Nine guys, three cases of beer, and one life jacket piled into a jon boat that’s getting pulled over by the Water Sheriff. Some guy with the steering cable seemingly stuck in a right turn doing high-speed donuts by the ramp. Or my personal favorite; the music-blasting, mega-wake-making speedboat that comes standard with nine air bags, a retractable water balloon launcher, and the optional Rally Fun Pack. But I don’t let any of that stop me from getting on the lake. This is going to sound crazy, but because I fish heavily pressured waters a lot, I actually like when there are plenty of pleasure boats cruising around. If you can remember these three simple rules, you can use the traffic to help you score plenty of bass despite the army of holiday yahoos that are likely to plague your favorite lake next weekend.

By Joe Cermele

This week's vintage tackle contest winner comes to us from Patrick Phillips, who received this Floating Pal tackle box as a gift from his father-in-law. To me, the idea of a floating box (which I learned could also be used as a PFD) seems like a good idea. But according to Dr. Todd Larson of The Whitefish Press and "Fishing For History" blog, the concept never really took off. That doesn't mean, however, this find isn't worth some coin.