Growing up fishing at small farm ponds and lakes around our town was common in my neighborhood. My dad would wake me up early and we would sneak over to our honey hole. Just a quick hike through the empty wooded lot across the street and we were lakeside.

Most of my childhood memories of fishing include thrashing my rod around in the tangled brush while my dad "whisper yelled" at me to be quite. There was one trip when I hounded him relentlessly to use a new rubber worm with built in hooks he had gotten at the store earlier. He finally gave in to shut me up and tied the worm on my line. After a few thrashes, I was able to execute the most perfect cast you can imagine a five year old making. Just a few turns of the reel and......BAM!!

He was a beast of a fish! He jumped and pulled...but I held the rod tight. Upon the realization that I had a live fish on the end of that line, my dad bolted up and began shouting instructions like some crazed fishing guide. I reeled...and the fish pulled....and so on. Until at last he was landed by my dad in the knee deep shallows with me at the reel. A fierce one and a half pound largemouth bass that any five year old could be proud to call his first.

Of course when I was a kid, my favorite setup was a Zebco 33, a plastic bobber, a split shot weight, and a small hook. On the hook I would add a delicious minnow or earth worm. Maybe even a cricket if there were some bream under the dock. Now that I'm grown, my adult friends make fun of my bobber and minnow setup. I've tried the classic rubber worms with some success. I've tried all the lures, plugs, and stink baits. I just have better luck and catch more fish with my childhood favorite. So I fish like a big kid....so I like it and I'll stick with it.

I did read about a new lighted lure in the Georgia DNR regulation book this year. It is a minnow type lure with a led light in its butt that flashes when you jig the lure. The article stated the lure had been banned in at least one state already. I think I may try this one out just to see what it's all about.

I have recently been introduced to jug fishing, and I love it. Some might call this a lazy man's way to fish, but they have never tied and baited 50 jugs in one night. I have also recently fell in love with noodle fishing. This is similar to jug fishing, except you tie your hooks to a small piece of foam noodle.

The noodle fishing can be exciting when your chasing a swimming noodle across the lake. To make some noodles, just buy a couple of foam swimming noodles. Cut the noodles into 18 inch lengths. Use a roll of nylon string to make some 24-36 inch lines. Tie a line a couple times around the center of each noodle. Tie a hook on the end of each line. Use some big trot line hooks with eyes large enough to handle your string.

Bait your hooks with fresh cut shad. Just cut them in half and use one half per hook. If you can not catch shad, use large live minnows. Chicken liver and stink bait can be used, but you will catch smaller fish. Find an area of shallows (2-5 feet) near a deeper channel. Troll across your spot and throw the baited noodles over board. Now you will have to wait for one of them to start swimming. We use this waiting period to set our jugs. You want to check your noodles often, however, because they will float away.

Jugs will not float away, which is one advantage to this method. Fish are able to get off the hooks easier, as they have a weight to pull against. These are easy enough to make with old milk jugs. Tie a brick to a roll of nylon string and drop the brick to the bottom. Cut the string and tie it to your jug. Tie another 24-36 inch string to the jug with a hook on the end. Bait and wait. Check these every two hours as the fish can easily pull away from the hook if the brick gets stuck.

Here's a few tips that may help:

> Always use fresh bait that you catch live in the same water you intend to fish. You can get a cast net and catch bait pretty easy.

>Shallows that drop off to deep channels will produce larger fish. Fish use the channels like highways, and often move into the shallows to feed on smaller bait fish.

>New and full moons will always produce more fish.

>If the wind is blowing hard, do not set your noodles out.

Maybe some of the information here will help. These are some interesting approaches that can be fruitful. I landed a thirty pound blue cat at Weiss Lake this past summer on a jug line. We also had a big stringer during the August 2009 new moon. 75 pounds total stringer, including a 15 and two tens, among others.

   If you fish as much as I do, bait can be a major expense.  I suggest investing in a cast net.  You can get them at wally world for about thirty bucks.  Get out in the yard and practice throwing the net using the included instructions.  A little practice and you will be catching free bait in no time.  This bait you catch at the fishing hole will be fresh, lively, and a common forage food for predator fish!  Try to throw in shallows where the bottom is clear of debris.  Snagging your net on a rock can easily tear a hole through which precious bait will escape.