Robert Out of Doors: Any One Can Learn to to Fish like a Pro

First let me set a few things straight for you amateur out doors people. This piece is dedicated to fishing but future writes will highlight many different aspects of the out door life and hopefully tempt you to experience it.

A word about fishing in general; this applies to basic fishing which in my early days I did very often and learned quite a few things about. These are just general facts that I offer to dispel a lot of the misinformation surrounding this pass time. I will try to deal with the novice while giving valuable info that might help the pro.

1.You can fish, it is easy. True

2. Fish won't bite a shiny hook in fresh water. False.

Fish will try about anything you put in the water.

3. You can't catch fish on a cold day. False

There is less food in the water on these days so if you wait a few hours or

better a few days till the cold front moves through or fish near the end of

a cold front, the fish should be hungry and willing to bite anything.

4. Salt-water fishing is different from fresh water. True. There are tricks to

both but in a lot of respects the two are worlds apart in technique.

5. You can catch fish anywhere and at anytime. Not true. This

depends on fish being in the water, certain areas do not have a great supply of fish or the fish may have their own steady food supply which will make them less hungry and less likely to bite.

Fishing should be fun, so experiment. Try stuff like bread for bait, use traditional salt water bait in fresh water, fish in the morning or evening, take a book and see how fishing will help you to relax. Just get out there!

I have seen people catch fish using just about anything, and have heard many a fishing story but the only ones I believe are the ones that I have seen with my own eyes and if you are smart so should you.

One of my favorites to tell was the older black woman I watched when I was young. She was fishing at Dinner Key in Miami, just east of Coconut Grove.

The woman would simply come out and sit on her crate or stool (she was quite large) and pull in fish after fish everyday that she was there. No one could figure it out.

Some of the local anglers scratched their heads because even though they tried to take her last fruitful spot by coming early and beating her to the place. They saw her pulling them in the day before at the very spot they would take but when she arrived the new spot that she took would become the hot spot for the day.

One day I convinced my friend Barry (if you are a fan of my writing you have no doubt heard of him) to come with me early Saturday morning and take her last favorite spot while I hid to observe what happened. When the woman arrived, she chose an alternative location, placed her poles and tackle down and waited perched upon her stool.

As she looked around I wondered what she was waiting for until I saw with my own eyes her secret. When my friend was looking the other way she reached in her bag and tied a thin fishing line to the base of the arm rail post of the pier and waited once more till my friends head was turned again, at that time she gently tossed what I would later find to be wrapped chicken wire with cut up pieces of uncooked chicken tied to the inside and it was all tied to a rock to prevent movement.

She was chumming the water! Smart! Attract the little fish and the big fish will come, basic "fishology", Let's call this lesson one.

This showed me that a thousand years of technique may not be as good as experience, so that is the way I will present my points to you, from those people who know from experience. I will try to keep you notified of the hottest ideas and greatest places to fish, camp, cycle, back pack, climb, beach, boat and more in America. Based on info provided by captains and those in the know.

(Special attention will be paid to the Gulf and it's wonderful businesses and people.)

Remember a bad day out doors beats doing something you'll have to pay alimony and child support for.