1. Always carry a small pair of fingernail clippers with you... They are much safer to clip the ends of your fishing line with than a sharp knife.

2. Keep an assortment of those decorative sewing beads in your tackle box.. If the fish aren't biting very well, try stringing a few of these beads on your line above the lure.. Sometimes the variation in color and noise will entice those reluctant fish to bite.

3. You can make a very cheap but effective mold to make your own sinkers.  Take a cake pan and fill it with moist sand. Press the sinker, the shape and size you want to make firmly into the sand. Make some small loops out of thin wire. Melt down the lead, pour it into the mold, insert the loops of wire and let cool.

4. Don't throw away your old dull finished lures or spoons... Sometimes a very dull finish on the lure will be just what the fish is looking for.

5. Cold winter month bass usually become more active just after a heavy spring rain warms up the water a little bit. Try fishing at the mouth of small drainage ditches that empty into the pond or lake as there will probably be more food in this area due to the run-off of the heavy spring rain.

6. If you want to keep your bait livelier longer, try using a thinner wire hook. The bait will be a lot more livelier with the less amount of damage that you cause.

7. Remember to check your line frequently for nicks, cuts and other damage. Every time that the line slides across an underwater rock or snag it could be damaged. This is probably the biggest reason that you loose that nice fish due to a line break.

8. Remember when buying those top water flies and bugs for pan-fishing, that the foam type, floats much longer than the sponge type because it absorbs less water. Carry a wide selection of both. Sometimes the fish will hit a slow sinking bug better than one floating on top water.

9. Set your drag on your reel by pulling on the line from the end of your rod and not right next to your reel. This gives it a more lifelike pull on your line. Try not to adjust the drag n your reel while you are fighting a fish, instead try applying different pressure on the fish by raising or lowering your rod tip. It is very easy to lose the fish by accidently turning the  drag the wrong way or over tightening it.

10. Remember to only reel in your fish when it is not fighting hard against you. This will create less tension and twist on your line. Instead pick up the rod tip to turn the fish towards you, or use a pumping method by raising the rod tip and then reel the fish in as you lower the rod.

11. You can make your bottom running lures and spoons more snag-free by cutting off the bottom portion of the treble hook. By doing this the other 2 parts of the treble hook will point upwards and should slide over rocks and sticks on the bottom.

12. When transporting your landing net, take a heavy rubber band and place it around the handle. Then tuck the tip end of the net under the rubber-band. This will help keep the net from getting tangled up in brush and many other things, such as your reel handle.

13. To keep your ice fishing holes from freezing up. Take a small plastic jug (those small juice bottles work great for this) and paint it flat black. By placing the painted jug into the hole, it will absorb enough heat from the sun, to keep the hole from freezing.

14. Top-water panfish bugs work best on calm flat water. If the water gets to rough, the fish wont be able to see or hear the lure as well, so change to a different type of lure.

15. Monofilament line is very subject to heat deterioration! So you should start each season with a fresh new spool of line. Don't leave your rod and reel in the hot trunk of your car or in direct sunlight. Try carrying a cheap cooler with you to store your reels in.

16. Install a few of those spring loaded clips to the reinforcement struts on your boat. They work perfectly for carrying your fishing rods in an upright position. This prevents them from being accidently stepped on and also leaves more room in the boat.

17. When you buy live minnows at the baitshop and notice a few dead ones in the dealers tank. Ask him to throw them in too. They wont cost you anything, and they make perfect catfish bait.

18. When ice fishing DONT just take the dead minnow off your hook and toss it onto the ice.... Lay it aside, re-bait with a fresh minnow and get your line back into the water. NOW get out your knife and scale the dead minnow and cut the minnow up into very small pieces. Use this for chum, when you drop this into your hole, all the oil and flesh will act as a fish attractant. The small scales from the minnow float very slowly to the bottom and will reflect light and entice crappie and walleye into biting!!! You can also use oatmeal or crushed eggshells as chum.

19. Make sure you keep those little clear plastic box's that hooks, sinkers, and swivels come in.. They come in very handy for an emergency clear bobber, when the turtles decide to use your regular bobber for a sign that your bait is just below it.

20. Carry several small pieces of contact paper in your tackle box. If you accidently tear your raingear, this comes in handy for repairing it. Just cut a piece to fit and stick it on the inside of the tear. It sticks real well to the dry inside of the suit and is pretty waterproof.

21. You should always carry a pair of ice creepers with you while ice fishing. They will give you better traction on the ice and they may save you some unwanted bumps and bruises.

22. Have you ever accidently slammed the car door or the trunk lid on your fishing pole and broke the end off of it? Well don't throw it out!! Simply rework the end and use it for a winter ice fishing pole.. These rods work great for deep water walleye, pike, and crappie!

23. Take a day off from hunting in October and go bass fishing... Bass start moving into shallower water and start hitting on top water lures as the water cools down. They can also be caught just about all day long and not just in the early morning or late afternoon.

24. When ice-fishing, remember that fish such as walleye, perch, and crappie bite better in low light conditions. So don't be afraid to keep your lines in the water until well past dark.

25. When stream fishing a fish will often follow your drifting bait for a ways before he strikes. If you miss him don't just keep casting were the hit occurred, instead cast back upstream and let the lure drift its way to him. The fish will often return to the same spot he was before it started following your bait the previous time.

26. Line the bottom of your boat with an old piece of indoor/outdoor carpet. This will greatly deaden the noise of your feet on the bottom of the boat and you wont spook the fish as bad.

27. Instead of crimping your sinker to your line and take the chance of weakening it, tie a short piece of line to your line and crimp the sinker to that.

28. This will not damage your line and if the sinker gets snagged a quick little jerk of the rod and the sinker will slide off the added line. thus saving the hook or lure you are using.

29. It isn't necessary to cover the point of your hook when bait fishing, it is however very important to make your bait look as natural as possible. Worms do not move through the water in a ball, they are all stretched out. So try just hooking them once through the head or through the collar area. You will also get much better penetration when setting the hook.

30. Remember when gathering nightcrawlers that they are very sensitive to light and vibrations. So wear soft soled shoes and use a very dim light, and do not shine the beam of the light directly on the crawler. Try to take your time and don't put too much pressure on them when removing them from the ground. just grab them between your thumb and forefinger and keep a slight but steady pressure on them and let them work themselves out of the ground otherwise it is very easy to pull them in half.

31. When buying a new paddle or set of oars for you canoe or boat take into consideration how you use it. Buy a set made from lightweight spruce if you are using your boat on ponds or small lakes and from heavier ash or maple if you are on rivers or streams.

32. Before you new oars or paddles ever hit the water, remember to apply several coats of wax to them. The wax will keep water from soaking into the wood and greatly extend their life.