By Dave Wolak

A few weeks ago, reader Deanlikes2fish commented with a question asking what I thought was the best age for a kid to get started in tournament fishing. This is actually a pretty hot topic right now, as a story recently popped up in the Boston Globe about a Missouri man fighting to make bass fishing a high school sport. It’s definitely worth a read. As for my take, I'd love to give a one-shot answer, but it's just a little more complicated than that. One of the first things you have to consider is the difference between a fun-loving fishing competition and fishing for money. If your aim is just to have some laughs, and make a fishing trip a little competitive to simply spice it up, then I say have the kids start as soon as they can, just like you would playing T-ball or skiing the bunny slope. If we’re talking competition with money on the line, hold your horses, because greenbacks change everything.

By Joe Cermele

Sometimes when I forward an winner's vintage tackle contest submission email to Dr. Todd Larson of The Whitefish Press and "Fishing For History" blog, there are multiple photos attached, and I tell the Doc which one I like most. But if something in the mix is worth more money, or has a cooler back story, he'll veto my choice. Case in point, this old fly reel submitted by Dave White. It doesn't look like anything special, but apparently this old beater has a lot more history than the lure Dave submitted. Fine by me...I love old fly reels that look like they've been there and done that.

By Joe Cermele

How many times have you or one of your buddies said something to this effect: I hear there's good INSERT SPECIES HERE fishing over at INSERT BODY OF WATER HERE. We should go check that out one of these days. Now, how often does the day you actually go come? When you have limited time to fish on weekends, or skip out on work here and there, it's very easy to talk yourself out of trips to unfamiliar places and opt for the waters you know well. I'm just as guilty of doing it, but I was reminded last week how important it is to roll the dice every once in a while, because you're bound to learn one of two things. Either you'll know never to try it again, or you'll discover something worth revisiting. In my case, I found a pretty great northern pike fly fishery close to home.

By Joe Cermele

About 8 months ago I was leafing through Europe's Angling International and a new creation from Spanish company Thinkfish caught my attention. Their new modular fly storage system, dubbed the FlyPad, had scored some awards at a major European tackle convention. Turns out that U.S. fly tackle maker Cortland was intrigued by the FlyPad, too, and they are now the official state-side distributor. That meant I was able to get my mitts on an early sample, and it's a pretty innovative little item, though it does have pros and cons.