Crankbait comes in a large variety of size and color, so selecting what crankbait to use can be overwhelming. Because of their realistic look they attract a lot of strikes, and work best in times when fish would naturally be eating. Crankbait are very effective because fish like the noise they create when moving under water. It is important for some crankbait to hit things as the move along to give them a natural movement and to attract strikes.

Crankbaits can be found for any depth of fishing, from the top of the water to the floor of the lake. The larger and longer the crankbait is the deeper the bait will go down. Ask local fisherman what the colors the local fish like and experiment until you find what works best. In clear water it is usually best to use more subdued colors and in murky waters or at night using brighter colors, but don't be afraid to experiment.

When choosing the size of the crankbait to use, the easiest rule to follow is to buy them the size of the food that the fish you are trying to catch would eat. If you are going to fish very deep you will have to use the larger ones to reach the depth.

When using crankbait it is very important to keep the hooks very sharp and to make sure that they run straight when under water. Crankbaits rods should have medium to slow action, meaning that the rod bends near the middle. The slow action helps the crankbait be cast out farther and keeps the hooks from being torn out of the fish's mouth when you are reeling them in. Make sure your rod is able to handle heavy bait and has a good backbone. Most anglers use a reel with a lower gear ratio to add power and to insure that the hook is not pulled out of the fish. It is also important that your reel has enough room to handle the line needed for the long deep casts that some crankbait require.

By: Jeff Hendrix
Read more crankbait and bass fishing tips at http://www.bass-fishingtips.com

I have been saltwater fly fishing now for over thirty years and have had the opportunity to fish with and talk to many fishing guides and other saltwater fly fishermen about the best flies to use to catch Permit.

As a general consensus there seem to be three different types of flies that are always mentioned. The patterns most often mentioned are, Crab Flies, Clouser's minnows and Shrimp patterns. I will also discuss a fly pattern that is not often mentioned but that I have great success with, the Lefty's Deceiver.

Let's begin with the crab patterns. There are many different types of crab patterns from crabs tied with yarn, feathers, feathers and yarn, and my favorite, crabs made with foam. Probably the best known crab pattern is the Merkin Crab. This crab is tied with a yarn body, feathers on the end, rubber legs, and dumbbell eyes. Because of the weighted eyes, this crab can be worked a little faster that many of the other crabs. The Merkin Crab is so well know among Permit fisherman that there are even permit tournaments named after it. My personal favorite crabs are the ones made with a coated foam body, and either foam or rubber legs and claws. If you can find foam crabs make sure the colors are correct and there is enough flash in the body coating to give plenty of reflection and flash in the sunlight. Because the foam crabs are not weighted, you can either work them very slowly or you can add a split shot from five to twelve inches from the crab. The shot will allow to strip your line to pull the crab under the water and then stop allowing the crab to float back to the surface. Great technique and you should give it a try.

The second most mentioned fly is the Clouser's Minnow. It seems that a lot of people do not have the patients to work their flies slowly. If you do not have the patience to work a fly slowly that the Clouser's would be a good choice for you. Because of the dumbbell eyes the Clouser's Minnow can be stripped fairly fast, but be careful not to strip too fast. The colors I would suggest would be, chartreuse and white, yellow and white, orange and white and orange and yellow. There have been many nice permits taken Clouser's Minnows.

The imitation shrimp fly patterns are flies that can also be very productive when Permit Fishing. Again there are many different ways of tying shrimp lies. I prefer the ones that are tied with the head of the shrimp at the back of the hook so that when you strip the fly it swims backwards like shrimp do. Also I look for a shrimp fly that has some type of coating on the back that will give the appearance of shell. Always select lighter colors from light brown to white to even a light olive color.

Now for one of my favorite permit flies, the Lefty's Deceiver. The Lefty's in many ways resembles the Clouser's minnow with a few differences. The mail difference is that the Lefty's does not have the weighted eyes meaning that you can work this fly much slower than the Clouser's. Again my colors of choice would be chartreuse and white, Yellow and white, green and white and orange and white.

All of the flies that I have talked about will catch permit once you learn how to properly present and work the flies. I hope you find this information useful.

Clear water, tight lines and calm winds, Brian

By: Brian Smith
Brian has been saltwater fly fishing for over thirty years. He also owns a website dedicated to fly fishing.
fly fishing

Folks, it's time to get out the fishing gear and go catfish fishing. With the waters warming up comes more activity. I have always found early spring to be a great time to go catfish fishing. The water is beginning to get warm and the catfish are more active. Strike now though as when the water really gets warm in late spring or early summer they will be spawning and are more difficult to catch.

Night fishing is best as this is when they do most of their feeding. Catfish will eat anything including soap but the best baits are live baits. If you can't get live baits go to the grocery store and buy a tub of chicken livers and a small bag of shrimp. Soak the shrimp in vanilla extract the night before you go and see if you can find some old nylon stockings laying around for the chicken livers.

When you put the shrimp on the hook make sure you don't bury the hook. The catfish won't notice and I have seen too many people miss catching catfish because of this. When you use the chicken liver wrap it in a small piece of the stocking and it will hold up better with much less chance of slipping off of the hook when casting.

Catfish fishing takes some patience but if you haven't gotten a bite in 30 minutes reel it in and check your bait. If you still have it cast again into a slightly different area. Repeat until you find that spot.

By: Douglas Burns
Doug Burns is founder of CatfishAngling.com. A leading source for tips, tricks and information on catfish fishing. Doug has been an avid angler for 35 years and cares about what you want.