By Joe Cermele

Dads and grandpas get a lot of credit whenever I talk to anglers about getting their starts on the water. Don't get me wrong, my dad and grandad took me fishing all the time. But they certainly weren't the only ones. My grandmother on my mom's side was no stranger to fishing, because she owned a little bait and tackle shop in Trenton, NJ. Since my mom grew up in the house connected to that tackle shop, she was no stranger to dipping minnows for customers and packing night crawlers in the basement. There were many, many weekends and afternoons after school spent fishing with my mom and grandma during my childhood, and looking back on it, my mom was a really good sport. 

By Joe Cermele

I bumped into this short video over on Break.com. It's simply titled "How to Fish, FL Style." So take a look at tell me what's going on here, because I can't figure it out. Perhaps some of you from Florida partake in this FL-style fishing. Did this bass get trapped on a spawning bed when the lake level suddenly dropped? Also, If anyone can tell me why so many people that shoot videos with iPhones don't have the wherewithal to turn the phone horizontally while doing so, I'd be grateful, because it drives me mad. 

By Dave Wolak

A few weeks ago, a reader asked a question that I probably get more often than any other: How do you figure out where to fish on new body of water? The truth is, there is a ton of detail that goes into breaking down unfamiliar water to find fish, but the initial steps are fairly concrete. In the tournament game, the process has to be sped up, because I need to find the right class of bass fast. Recreational anglers have the luxury of chipping away at a body of water over time. But if you’ve been hesitant to splash the boat in a new lake for fear of getting skunked, here are three key factors that I lean on every time I hit new water. They'll help make the decision of where to fish much easier.

Guest post by Gary Garth

The Corps of Engineers’ Nashville District has begun placing what it describes as “permanent full-time waterborne restrictions” around the 10 dams on the Cumberland River system in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Buoys and signage will be used to mark restricted, no-boat zones that will extend from 500 to 1,000 feet downstream on nine of the Cumberland’s 10 dams. Laurel River Dam, one of the smaller headwater structures, will have a 125-foot tailwater boating restriction zone.

The restrictions will keep anglers from reaching some of the most productive water on the river. Waters immediately downstream from the dams are rich with food and cover, are well oxygenated and are magnet areas for sport fish. Under the current Corps plan, bank fishing will be allowed within the restricted zones.