More Beach Time Activities
Although, as we said earlier, the old favorites are always fun which is why they’re still popular. Still, the beach isn’t just for kids and teenagers. Even if you don't go salt water fishing all the family can enjoy the shore provided, of course, “elbow-to-elbow” tourists aren't the order of the day. You can also do more than just get that great tan or terrible sunburn. Get up and get active with these additional suggestions in part 2 of this article post.Let's pick up with:

6. Relax or get a “surf massage”

Soak and soothe those aching bones with a relaxing massage. In numerous resort areas there are locals who offer this service right at the beach. Be sure to negotiate prices before services are rendered to avoid any price gouging. Another alternative is to let the sea and surf “massage” you as you lay there. It’s free and the surf never gets tired or overcharges you. Sit facing the surf with your legs outstretched. Move forward until the surf covers you up to the belly button. Change positions forward, backwards or other variations as the surf changes.

photo: walking a surf-washed beach near Bahia Solano, Choco, Colombia

7. Go walking

Already identified as a “best” exercise activity, walking is almost always pleasant. Walking on dry sand gives you more of a “workout” than walking on sand that is still damp from the receded surf. For maximum huff and puff, try walking in the surf itself. A normal rate of walking is a mile and a half in fifteen minutes, so a thirty minute walk is a good workout for the day. Fifteen minutes out, fifteen minutes back to your starting point should do you nicely.

8. Nature watch or people watch

Okay so if you’re just in a “do nothing for awhile” mood then nature or people watch depending on where you are. Pick a good vantage point and note what happens all around you. Is that couple married or dating? What do you think they do for a living? What can you tell about them from watching? What animals, birds or sea life are common where you are? Are there sharks? Dolphins? Crabs? Squid or other unusual forms of marine life? What fauna frequents the area? What about snakes?

I was more than a little surprised to learn from a local resident that feral cats are a big problem in Acapulco. As I paid more attention during my comings and goings in and around the city I noticed the feral felines were almost everywhere. They could become especially troublesome late at night.

These and other imaginative activities can help turn a “lay in the sun and burn” day at the beach into a much more relaxing, creative or stimulating time for you and the family. Try some of these as an alternative to the usual “do nothing” day.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional, original salt or fresh water fishing related content or articles for your blog, newsletter or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/

Unique Things to Do at the Beach

Here You Are

If you're away from home at a beach or tropical resort with your family or children, perhaps everyone isn't a fisherman. Maybe they get "motion sick" easily. Or more likely you need some "downtime" to just relax and enjoy the ambience. That IS why you're on travel vacation in the first place, isn't it? Not to worry, the beach isn’t just for kids and teenagers. All the family can enjoy the shore provided, of course, there aren’t “elbow-to-elbow” tourists. You can also do more than just get a tan (or a sunburn). Get up and get active with some of these suggestions. The old favorites are always fun which is why they’re still popular. You can toss a foam rubber ball Frisbee, play with a beach ball (nice because they deflate for easy carrying and storage), go inner tube surfing (cheap and increasingly harder to get but you can also deflate them). Don’t forget your sand sculpture or sand castle building tools. Here are some additional suggestions to consider for enlivening your beach / resort vacation.

photo: A Sea Porcupine, from the Caribbean waters off San Andres Island, Colombia

1. Collect driftwood

Especially if you’re of a creative bent, this can be not only a unique, but profitable pastime as well. What figures or forms do the driftwood shapes conjure up in your mind? What might they look like when painted or polished? How might you mount or display them?

2. Collect shells

Long a popular beach pastime with children and adults alike, it can still serve as an interesting activity for the kids (or you). Even more so if you’re on a new, foreign or strange beach which may well offer up some unique surprises. Make a collage, a display or shadow bow of your best finds when you get back home.

3. Catch crabs and crustaceans

We used to walk along in the surf of the Chesapeake Bay with a framed meter-square piece of window screen to trap all kinds of small crabs, crustaceans, sand worms and even small fish. It made for an interesting series of “catches” and provided endless hours of simple fun for me and my siblings. With eleven younger brothers and sisters, it also kept us out of “trouble” or at least reasonably so. Sometimes a fisherman would buy our “catch” for use as live bait, much to the profit of the local ice cream vendors.

4. Surf fishing

There are all manner of collapsible of multiple piece rod and reel kits you can easily pack in a suitcase or store in a car trunk. Whip it out, local regulations and conditions permitting, and try your hand at whatever the regional waters offer. Some surprisingly large catches can be made in less than two feet of water. Just put on a snorkel and dive mask, wade out to waist-deep water, stand still for a few minutes with your face in the water. You’ll often be thrilled at the number and size of the fish and other sea creatures you’ll see all around you below the surface. In many tropical waters, it’s like standing in an aquarium.

5. Catch live bait

As was mentioned earlier, like bait can often be sold to local fishermen (or use it yourself). Use a cast net, walk along in knee-deep surf with an old window screen and bucket. Minnows, crustaceans, sand worms, small eels and crabs are all susceptible to this method. Be sure to check local regulations first. Keep them alive and fresh in a bucket partially filled with water.

We'll look at a few more unique activities for non- fishermen in another upcoming post. See you then.

Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional, original salt or fresh water fishing related content or articles for your blog, newsletter or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/

What You Should Know About Living in the Rain Forest - Part 2

The Animals

The animals of the rain forest in Colombia are intriguing too. All around you every form of life awaits to pique your interest. Go ahead, walk along the beach. For miles there’s only you, the flora and fauna of an unspoiled earth. The scurrying and antics of the sand crabs will amuse you. Chirping and croaking of venomous, brilliant blue-skinned frogs with their starkly contrasting yellow markings will startle and amaze you.

Look closely in the streams and you’ll delight in the playfulness of royal purple colored crabs scampering over rocks and fallen tree limbs near the cool, crystal clear waters. Overhead in the networks of branches female green iguanas leap and crawl among the fresh green leaves that perfectly match their color. Male iguanas, striped dark brown and off black will be hard to spot against the tree trunks and branches until the slide gracefully from one to another.

Be Wary
Be wary of the spiders with three foot wide webs spun between low-lying tree limbs. Those green-mottled-with-white spiders will be off to one side. Spread the fingers of your hand as wide as you can, from the tip of your thumb to the end of your pinkie will be just about the span of the spider and its legs. Its body will be about the length of the first two segments of one of your fingers. If you spot a tablespoon-sized ball of white or yellow “cotton” attached to a limb near the edge of the web, that’ll be her eggs; another generation waiting to be hatched soon. Then the spider will be in a bad mood. Best to leave her and her brood alone.

When the sea mixes with the fresh waters of a rain forest stream, a tidewater swamp complete with mangrove trees and their over-grown, finger-like roots will surely be present. It is among these the fire engine red Tasquera crab with its snow-white claws and blackened back will bask, climb and hide. They’re quick, but you should be able to get a good close look before they bolt for cover. You’ll wonder how such a gaily colored creature can hide itself in such a dull, dark environment so completely that it cannot be seen or found. Speared, rinsed and cleaned, they make the most marvelous crab soup you could imagine.

Deep maroon and purple Mapara crabs (pictured) like moist, sandy soil and in typical crab family fashion, will eat whatever they can find or catch. Though small, their pincers are extremely powerful and most painful to experience. Watch out for them in the sandy soil of the yard, around animal pens or in the rainforest near the beach or fresh water sources. Claws removed, they make a fine salt or fresh water fishing bait that lunkers can’t resist.

At every turn, there are delights and a few dangers that could befall the unwary, but nature is at peace here with all who are conscious of the environment. It is here to nourish, care for and delight you. Come, enjoy it.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional, original salt or fresh water fishing related content or articles for your blog, newsletter or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/

What You Should Know About Living in the Rain Forest - Part 1

What's It Like?
What’s it like to live away from “civilization” in the arms of a beach front tropical rain forest? Here are some scenes from my time there.

Emerald-breasted hummingbirds flit in and out feeding from a tree of red and white tendriled flowers. Butterflies dart and dance among lush green foliage all around you. Their markings are a virtual explosion of colors; iridescent blues and greens, yellows with black designs, spotted oranges, yellows and purples on dark background wings.

Sunsets are spectacular panoramas of reds, pinks, purples, oranges and yellows tinged with patterns in grays, blues and purples. Jehovah God’s paintbrush creates a different scene each evening for your viewing pleasure.

photo: pulling fresh coconuts down from a tree in Jurubida, on Colombia's Pacific Coast

A Refreshing Drink
Would you like a refreshing drink? Along the beach are coconut groves with trees laden down with as many as 20 or more full, ripe coconuts each. Go ahead, take one or two. In a matter of minutes you can peel and open them. A full glass or two of “water” is inside each one. Drink it straight from the coconut. Then split the fruit open to scoop out and enjoy the soft, creamy white meat. It’s healthy, nutritious and all natural. It’s good for you too.

Rains are soft and warm. You can even collect and drink the water. There’s no pollution of any kind. Water from rain forest fed streams is used for drinking after filtration. No chemicals added. No boiling or sterilization required.

Go ahead, walk along the beach. For miles there’s only you, the flora and fauna of an unspoiled earth. The scurrying and antics of the sand crabs will amuse you. Chirping and croaking of brilliant blue-skinned frogs with their starkly contrasting yellow markings will startle and amaze you.

Cast your gaze across the multi-colored waters of the Pacific Ocean. You can see the dolphins playing in the water less than 50 yards from the beach. Go ahead, take a swim. In this part of the world where there are dolphins there are no sharks. The gentle surf is warm and clean. Your swim will refresh you. Fish are abundant in streams and rivers. Put on a mask and snorkel. Stick your face in the water and watch myriads of rainbow-hued fish dart around and between your legs.

Never Go Hungry
Few dangers pose a threat if you are aware of your surroundings and their significance in the eco-system of the tropical rain forest. Know the flora and fauna. Mesh into the flow of nature and wondrous, beautiful experiences will fill your existence. You will never go hungry. Care for your environment and it will sustain you. “Civilization” will gradually lose its luster and pull. Pleasures like these must have filled the Garden of Eden.

To view a video of a live Giant Rhinoceros Beetle as pictured above, go to:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=iDw5P46VCe4

Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line.

How to Get the World's Best Fishing Baits for Free

Catching Fish

There are essentially three ways to catch fish:

• Use live, natural baits

• Use imitation or artificial baits and lures

• Use hardware such as traps, nets, etc.

One of the most efficient and productive of these three methods is to use live, natural baits. This is especially true if the waters and area you’re fishing are new or unknown to you. These live, natural baits are proven effective when acquired locally. Their price is right since they’re available for free. You “spend” only the time to gather them. Be sure to check local and regional regulations on the use of live baits.

photo: The author with one that didn't get away from his live minnow bait

Worms

The world’s all-time favorite. You can dig them up from your yard or garden or a wooded area near your fishing grounds. If you’re not that energetic, get some kids to do it for you. They’re available most of the year (winter might be tough), easy to find and gather. Leave the smaller ones. Use the larger earthworms or night crawlers.

Minnows

A technique I like involves using an old window screen. We used to walk along in the surf of the Chesapeake Bay with a framed meter-square piece of window screen to trap all kinds of small salt water fish, crustaceans, sand worms and even small crabs. It made for an interesting series of “catches” and provided endless hours of simple fun for me and my siblings. Minnows swim in fairly large schools so you can scoop up a bunch of them fairly quickly. Walk a few feet with the screen in the water. Lift it up quickly to scoop up your catch. Then dump it into a bucket. Repeat the procedure as you walk along the beach or shore. Keep them alive and fresh in a bucket partially filled with the same waters you collected them from.

Crabs

To catch crabs you can use a crab pot or home made traps. Be sure to check local regulations. These can be used in brackish and salt water shallows baited with a chicken wing tip or other bony meat. At a beach fronting a wooded area more than one kind of crab can be caught. I designed a simple “drop in” trap that I set into the sand near the edge of a coconut grove and caught hermit crabs, fiddler crabs and sand crabs. I even got a small snake once, but that’s another story.

Insects

Crickets, grasshoppers, beetles and other insects can be caught in a meadow, wooded area or park using a butterfly-type net. Lightning bugs (which flash their tail lights at night) are a good bet too. Crawling insects, grubs, maggots and larvae are good too. They are often found under rocks, fallen logs or other materials which have been on the ground for some time. Again, you could just get a bunch of kids to do it for you if you don’t have the time or need the exercise. Cockroaches make good live bait too if you can stomach using them. Not the small North American varieties that plague households mind you, but the large, three-inch long ones common here in South America and in Asia.

So, look into what live, natural baits are available locally near your favorite fishing grounds. It never hurts to have a variety of presentations for those “dog days” of fishing. Fishing with some new offerings can add an extra dimension to your next fishing trip. Getting them might even be a bit of fun too, especially if you “involve” the kids. On vacation, abroad or simply “away” from your usual fishing haunts, it’ll put more than an extra bit of enticement into your presentations.

Good luck.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free.

Need professional, original salt or fresh water fishing related content or articles for your blog, newsletter or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Then contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/

Part 2 - Salt Water Fishing With All Your Five Senses

Why oh Why Didn’t I Wear Gloves?

We readied our gear and dropped lines, one line rigged with a white-feathered, lead-headed jig. My 40 pound test mono was rigged with my latest “secret weapon”, a home-made stainless steel, polished silver spoon and number 4 stainless single-barbed hook (pictured in photo). It hadn’t taken long for things to heat up. On a day off the coast of Colombia’s “La Ensenada” National Park, it almost never does.

I winced as the blue mono tightened around my naked palm. Something strong, wet and angry had grabbed ahold of my spoon. Now I was paying the price. Crimson dripped into the deep blue depths with each lunge. It’s illegal to fish with a rod and reel, long line, trotline or net in the park entrance waters, you see.

Fish On!

“Fish on!” I croaked still wincing, but Pepe was already ahead of me. He’d seen the strike as my whole arm jerked aft. It had to be a good-sized Tuna or Albacore, maybe a sizeable Sierra could strike and battle like that but my money was on an Albacore. These bullet-shaped fish have two speeds: over-the-speed-limit-fast and full-throttle-overdrive. These speedsters can topple an unsuspecting fisherman overboard in a flash. They hit your line like a runaway freight train. The sudden stress often just snaps the line. If your rod isn’t ready or heavy enough, they’ll snap that off too. On occasion small sharks would hit too, especially early morning, late afternoon and on darker, low-barometer days.

Dorado, Aguja, Tuna, Albacore, Sierra or Shark?

“What do you think, Dorado, Albacore or Aguja?” asked Pepe who was keenly watching the pattern of the fight.

That often told you what was on the other end of your line well before the fish ever came into view. If indeed it ever did come into view. Flexing my biceps against an unwilling guest, I thought about his words. A Dorado would take awhile to land if I didn’t want to risk a snapped line. These gold, blue and green, round-headed beauties were strong and could easily be heavier than my line strength. A steel-pipe-shaped Aguja (Needle Fish), would easily snip right through mono of up to 100-pound test if its rows razor-blades called teeth ever reached beyond the 18-inch stainless steel leader. Even the wire leader would shear if I took too long in landing “ole toothy”. Only sharks and Piranha have more fearsome jaws than an Aguja. The “swooshing” sound of the line through the soft swells told me that we were in deeper waters now. The change in color from greenish to deep blue only served to confirm this. Deeper water was darker as the sun’s rays didn’t reflect off the bottom. Minutes later, the nearly 15-pound Albacore was gaffed and swung aboard.

Your Senses Will Tell You

Your ears can tell you of splashing baitfish and the predators that are after them. Listen too for the sounds of other boats, waves crashing against hidden rocks and reefs far out from shore. Your eyes give you constant information on depth and bottom cover. The smell of the open ocean differs from near-shore grounds with their hints of rain forest vegetation and palm groves lining the sandy salt-water caressed shores. You can feel the movement of your quarry beneath the waves as it swirls, dives, circles, twists, thrashes and rises in efforts to free itself from an unknown enemy. Taste the salt spray, the cool freshwater rain and the refreshing chill of the well-deserved “cold one” you’ll have after a serious fight – no matter which of you wins it.

Try fishing using all five of your senses. You’ll be surprised at just how much the enjoyment of all your fishing experiences will improve.

Larry M. Lynch is an expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional quality, original Salt and Fresh water Fishing-related articles or content for your Blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? For more tropical fishing articles, information, or a no-obligation quote visit my tropical fishing and travel blog with photos at: http://whittlewadeandhook.blogspot.com/

Salt Water Fishing With All Your Five Senses - Part 1

Sensing My Way
Leaning back and tilting my head upwards slightly, I felt the warmth of the sun’s invisible infrared rays on my face in contrast to the coolness of the waters swirling around my hand as it dangled over the port gunnels of our wooden launch. My eyes were closed but I could sense nearly everything around me. Gently the hand-hewn launch lurched and rocked as waves passed beneath the weather-beaten worn green painted prow. I tried not to let the roar of the 15 hp outboard distract me from the rhythmic “slap, slap, slap” from passing swells of brine.

Photo: My fishing guide Pepe gaffs and hauls in a Pacific Ocean coastal Albacore

Licking the spray from my moistened lips with my eyes still closed, I let the sides of my tongue try to identify the salty elements. It was warmer than my hands said it would be. It tasted good. In this part of Colombia’s Pacific coast there was no industry for miles so I never gave pollution a thought. There, I could just make it out now. Dolphins splashed and chattered just off the port side.

They Just Want to Play
I opened with salt-glazed eyes to try to catch sight of them. It wasn’t difficult to spot them at all as they crested and dove mere meters away. It was no problem for them to exactly match the speed of our boat. They were keeping up with us – or were we keeping up with them? Sleek gray and black they toyed with us passing us first on one side, then the other in a “tag” game of sorts that we were definitely losing.

“What do you think they want?” I asked aloud to Pepe, my locally-based fishing guide.

“They just want to play for a bit”, he answered in the Spanish of the region, glancing over at the still racing black and gray shapes now streaming off to port.

“Will they affect the fishing?”

“No, actually they’ll help.” This broke me from my trance. I sat bolt upright.

“What do you mean, they’ll help?”

“When they dive, I’ll power down and we’ll set up our first trolling run or drift.”

“You mean they’ll let us know where the fish are?” I asked incredulously.

“Yep. They sure will.”

And true to Pepe’s words, they did.

Five Senses Needed
With the coconut-palm-tree-lined coast just within sight, you needed to use all five of your senses whenever you fished. Each sense provides you with key information. Important information that helps in catching fish – all kinds of fish – under all kinds of conditions.

Our four finny friends dove. We cut power to troll, swinging in a lazy “U” to mark the area where they went down.

“We’re here”, Pepe announced.


… to be continued in part 2 of “Salt Water Fishing With All Your Five Senses” …

Larry M. Lynch is an expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional quality, original Salt and Fresh water Fishing-related articles or content for your Blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? For more tropical fishing articles, information, or a no-obligation quote visit my tropical fishing and travel blog with photos at: http://whittlewadeandhook.blogspot.com/

How I Went Tropical to Fish for Salt and Fresh Water Species

Fish Migrate Like Birds Do

The migration of different species along the eastern U.S. seaboard kept me going on regular trips throughout most of the year. Spring meant smaller Blues and Weakfish. Summer offered Tautog with their bait-stealing expertise and tasty fillets. Fall almost always meant big, “slammer” Blues. Early in December, I watched for the full moon. Why? Because that was my cue to go for night Whiting. Often, this would be my last trip of the year until the following spring when the annual cycle would start all over again. Then I went tropical.

Going Tropical
But those, for me were the “Good Ole’ Days” from more than a dozen years ago. Now my lines part the waters of the South American Pacific Ocean and the turgid depths of Amazon River and Orinoco River basins. Now the razor-sharp teeth of several species of the Piranha family greet me as the rise above the water’s surface. Or at other times I play a three and a half foot long Dorado on eight to twelve pound mono as it leaps, rocks and rolls along with all other type of aerial acrobatics in a sometimes successful bid for more time gorging on schools of small bait fish. At least you’ll have some great stories about “the ones that got away”.

A Freight Train
Yet again, a muscle-straining tug-of-war ensues when I’ve latched into an underwater, runaway freight train called an Albacore which hits your bait or deep-running lure with such force your rod can be snapped as you wince in pain while the line makes hamburger of your fingers and palm. They used to laugh at me for wearing gloves in tropical weather until the first time one of my mates nearly lost a hand like that. Now I chuckle each trip as I watch them put on their gloves. They look at me funny when I chuckle, but then they all know why I smirk.

Photo: My local guide, Pepe, holds up the average-sized slammer Albacore that nearly took off one of my fingers

The Sharks
Then, there are the sharks. The Bull Shark is the worst. They come up very near to the surface when you’ve hooked one. They want to look at you, you see. They size you and your boat up – and then the fight is on. They try to spin your boat if it’s small enough. Or flip it over with a casual “bump” or two. They’ll swim under you, around you, dive, surface, swim in patterns or make runs. They twist, roll and execute all manner of maneuvers to foul your line, tangle it, break it or cause your boat or you to capsize, flip or sink. If that happens, you’re dead – literally.

Savvy salt-water fishermen almost never fish alone and use the largest boat available. That way, at least, you’ll have a fighting chance at surviving a hookup with a Bull Shark. Heck, who knows, if you hang in there long enough, you’ll even have a fair shot at boating the shark. That is if you’re stupid enough or knowledgeable and brave enough to want to.

Don’t be put off though. A world of exciting adventure fishing awaits any hardy enough to tackle these dangerous denizens on their own turf. Prepare well, have a knowledgeable local guide and pack a water-proof video or digital camera. Then get set for enough thrills to last a lifetime.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional quality, original Salt and Fresh water Fishing-related articles or content for your Blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? For more fishing article samples, information, or a no-obligation quote e-mail the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

How I Fish for Salt and Fresh Water Species All Year Long

Salt Water Wanderlust

The truth is I’ve always been an inveterate fisherman. From my days on muddy rivers as a youth in Baltimore, Maryland through stints living in London, England, Paris, France, Barcelona, Spain and Colombia, South America, I’ve always sought a way to get a line in the water somehow.

Photo: My youngest son, Lamont holds up a summer flounder that didn’t get away!

An Annual Fishing Cycle
During my years living in the Philadelphia area, I regularly read the fishing reports pages in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News tabloid for a hint of the action offshore in New Jersey from Brielle and Belmar to Cape May. When reports tended towards the more encouraging side, I’d saddle up and head for the mid-regional coast of New Jersey to get on a party boat. More often than not, the captain and I both did our jobs and once the fish were located I eagerly set to work on hooking my share of whatever schools of fish we were anchored over. Not a lot of skill was involved, but some knowledge of baits, rigs and tackle was frequently helpful.

The migration of different species along the eastern U.S. seaboard kept me going on regular trips throughout most of the year. Spring meant smaller Blues and Weakfish. Summer offered the occasional beach-caught flounder, noisy Croakers or Tautog with their bait-stealing expertise and tasty fillets. Fall almost always meant big, “slammer” Blues that could bury the line into your bleeding hands and fingers in a flash, the occasional small shark or sea Eel and a variety of ocean panfish like Spots, Sea Bass and Ling.

Winter Kill
Early in December, I watched for the full moon. Why? Because that was my cue to go for night Whiting. Not only do these one-pound average or so fish take the multiple hooks on your line in twos, threes and fours, but they’re a lot of fun to catch, make good eating and are plentiful. The only catch was the weather. Full moon nights in early winter brought temperatures so low they’d make an Eskimo blush. The wind cooperated with healthy gusts on a regular basis, requiring you to continually hold on with one hand or risk a swim with Davey Jones. The swells were murder. We all dressed for winter-kill.

I had so many layers of clothing on I practically lost count. A wool cap, hooded parka, ski-mask and scarf were all only for my head. The boat was full of fishermen with half-pints in their pockets. Virtually everyone on the night Whiting boat went home with a hundred or more fish. The terminal tackle was different too. No live cut bait here. A slender spoon rigged with a fluorescent plastic tube was all you needed for the busiest time of your fishing life. Often, this would be my last trip of the year until the following spring when the annual cycle would start all over again.

Fishing Year Round
As with just about anything, if you really want to be successful and become an expert, you need to practice or participate in the specialized activity as frequently and regularly as possible. Salt and fresh water fishing are no exception, find ways to go fishing as much of the year as you can. Fish all you can and your knowledge and success with grow by leaps and bounds.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional quality, original, Salt and Fresh water Fishing-related articles or content for your Blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? For a no-obligation quote send an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com