A couple years ago, Micah Carrick asked himself that same question.

Green Tackle, his answer, is the greatest, environmentally friendly online retailers of lead free tackle, biodegradable plastic baits, and other choice gear. You’ll find find a variety of gear for the fly angler, the surf fishers, trollers, all anglers will find something that will make their tackle box just a bit more kind to waterfowl and the environment. Micah and the folks at Green Tackle actually use the gear they sell – so you know it works.

So what are my favorite things? Well, I’ll start with the BioLine. BioLine degrades in approximately 5 years. That means the line that you snagged up, wrapped around a branch, will be gone in just a few seasons. That’s much better than your standard monofilament which will hang on the tree for hundreds of years. BioLine seems to have a refraction index similar to fluorocarbon and seems to just disappear in the water. Until recently I’ve had just one rod with BioLine, and I realized it was the BioLine that made that rod so hot when trolling for trout. I now have it on several reels, and some extra for leader material.

I’m also a huge fan of the UltraSteel weights. They make a sharper sound than lead, giving you a better attraction to bass as the weight clacks against a bead in a carolina rig. If you’re carolina rigging, you may as well pick up some TriggerX Worms too! TriggerX worms are phthalate-free unlike most other soft baits. They’re also packed with pheromones to help you find the bite.

I encourage you to check out Green Tackle at www.GreenTackle.com and spend some time checking out their online store. Like I mentioned, you’ll find something there you can use, and put your lead away. Micah and Green Tackle also have a wealth of information on their website. Learn more about eco-friendly fishing, and what you can do to be a steward on the water.

6 bags of Ouzo Baits – brand new
2 Lure sets from Secret Weapon Lures – brand new
Boomerang Tools machined pliers – brand new
CRKT knife – brand new
Gerber knife
Daiwa sealine 40H – new to me
Kokatat Temptest dry pants and top
Couple dozen Rapalas
Couple dozen jigs
bunch of other various soft plastics
Couple dozen spinner and buzz baits
couple dozen kastmasters
handful of tools and trinkets from ICAST
6 spools of braid
2 spools of mono
3 spools of fluoro

and i’m sure there’s more that I don’t even recall just yet…

www.Click2KnotUSA.com

Boomerang’s lightweight aluminum pliers also feature replaceable carbide cutting blades which have no problems cutting 4# mono or 65# braid – not to mention wire ties. The pliers I have also feature crimps for putting together the large lines, and a hooked nose I found useful when removing hooks from fish, and helped with split rings when I didn’t have my split ring pliers handy. They have several different sets of pliers to suit your needs.

I’m really excited by the prototypes though

Coming soon is a non-folding safety knife, and a folding serrated knife. Knives of this type have been featured on YakAngler.com before, and I consider them a necessary safety tool for every kayak angler. Boomerang Tool brought their prototype folding knife to ICAST and I must say that I’m eager to see them hit the shelves. This knife can easily be attached to your PFD, and the long kevlar leash will allow for easy use should you find your self in that hairy situation that requires cutting anchor ropes, or whatever might threaten to pull you under.

Both knives feature a blunt tip to avoid injury or cutting your dry gear by accident. The folding knife features a serrated and straight edge, while the one piece features a serrated on one side, and non-serrated on the other. This non-folding safety knife is by far my favorite safety knife, and I’ll have Boomerang Tool knives on all my PFDs as soon as they’re available.

While playing with the prototype folding knife, I found the retracter on the kevlar cable was not as strong as the retracters on the pliers. This will keep things from snapping back too quickly – something you don’t want to worry about when playing with knives! I’m glad to see Boomerang thought about that one, and didn’t use the same retracter as they do all their pliers.

Other awesome tools include their linesnipper. This easily cuts line and tag ends, and features a LED light. Boomerang Tool also offers linesmen pliers, golf tools, and phototools, so you can easily find a gift for anyone you know – even non-anglers.

See mroe Boomerang Tool Company products at their website www.BoomerangTool.com.

The first thing to get over was the heat. The host city of Las Vegas was suffering what their weatherman called “hot” weather, with most days over 110F (43C). Fortunately the Las Vegas Convention Center was fairly well air conditioned and we were able to forget about the heat until it was over and we had to leave every day.

Inside the convention center, the bustle of business, the examination of prototypes, and the hype of product demos kept things hot. There was way too much of everything for one person to absorb, but I did my best anyways.

Over the next couple weeks I hope to bring you reports and reviews of some of my favorite items from ICAST. There’s equipment to be used, abused, and reviewed. Prototypes to research a bit more. And just cool stuff to talk about. Companies like Temple Fork Outfitters, FethaStyx, and Colt Rods. Diablo Paddlesports, RAM Mounts, and Precision Pak. Hobie, Angler Innovations, and Gill.

In the meantime, I’ve not been fishing in 2 weeks. Its time for me to hit the water. The car is loaded, I’m getting caffinated, Jewel is awake. Time to do some Buoy 7 crabbing!

If you haven’t heard by now, then you’re not following me on Facebook or Twitter. I’m heading out the door tomorrow to attend the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, better known as ICAST, in Las Vegas, NV. ICast is the largest sportsfishing trade show, and I’m excited to attend as a member of the media.

Please stay tuned to this website, and most definitely follow me on Facebook and Twitter as I share live video, photographs, and articles on some of the hottest gear coming in the rest of 2010 and 2011.

I’m already excited to meet with Colt Rods and see the latest innovation in fishing rods. And, naturally, I’ll have to meet up with Redmond, WA, based FethaStyx and check out their new NASCAR licensed fishing rods. If my sister found out about them, and I didn’t check them out, I might be in trouble.

I don’t know that I could be any more excited, though, than to meet up with Diablo Paddlesports and check out their unique fishing kayaks. I will most definitely see if Hobie has something new to their line up too. Last year the Hobie Pro Angler was unveiled and won Best of Show! Maybe Freedom Hawk Kayaks will have something better. I dunno, but they’ll all be there, and I’d suspect Ocean Kayak will be represented by Johnson Outdoors…

I can’t wait!

This time I brought a crab pot with me. I’ve never tried crabbing out there before, but I usually see one other crab buoy, so I figured I’d give it a go. I just took the one pot (oregon limits 3 pots/person) just so I didn’t have to worry about all the extra gear for nothing.

I found a spot on my Navionics software that showed a sandy bottom area just a halfmile from where I focus most of my PC fishing. Dungeness Crab prefer the sand, so I really wanted to make sure I had it set. There are Japanese Red Rock crab all over the place too. While they’re perfectly edible, and tasty, they’re a PITA to deal with.

Its just barely over a mile from the launch site, which is in the upper right part of the beach, and yesterday I had a good outgoing tide that helped me move along. I got out to the area and put the trap together

Once the trap was in the water it was time to get to fishing!

I started my paddle back up to Haystack but stopped here and there when I found some structure.

At one point the birds on the rock (which there are THOUSANDS) freaked out, swarmed, screamed, and finally settled in the water about a halfmile from the rock! They weren’t diving to indicate bait, so I just sat back and watched. Then something happened…

Yeah, I dunno what happened to my measuring board. I’ve not found it since I got home.

I kept working my way closer and closer to the rock. Fishing was decent, but not nearly fast-and-furious as I’ve seen it before. That was the only ling I saw on the day. From there on it was just cabezon and rockfish.

Then my rod doubled over.

It was a fight, and sorry, no video this time. Twice I had nearly had the fish to the boat when it turned and headed back down to the bottom. What surfaced was a big ol’ Cabezon. I didn’t know how big, but I knew it was much bigger than any other I had before. He went on the stringer and I continued fishing.

Every once in a while, while hanging off the side of my kayak, that fish would try to free himself from the big game clip running through his jaw. Every time he did, I thought I was able to be tipped over by a sea lion. Holy crap that thing was strong.

Eventually I snagged up enough to call it a day. I only had a few left over leaders tied up from the Oregon Rockfish Classic, and hadn’t tied up any more. I stowed the gear and made the paddle back down to the crab pot.

Can’t run the video and pull crab pots at the same time so nothing from that. But there was BIG dungeness and one lil one. I didn’t even need to bother measuring the big one, I knew it was legal, and the lil one was way too small. Two crab in the pot after a 3 hour soak – that’s good enough to me! Next time I’ll bring all three pots with me.

Thats the big cab!

When I landed on the beach I was greated by a ODFW biologist, her measuring board, scales (yes, she had two) and her notebook. The cab ended up at 24″ and 9.5lbs! Definitely a pig.

and, there’s the crab, which are not photogenic when being held in the air in such a fashion

If I can get out next week, I think I’m heading way out for deep water – gotta find myself a halibut!

The app Good-Fish has turned out to be one of the best fishing journal/log applications I’ve found. If you remember correctly, I complained about every fishing journal app I tried. They were slow, clumsy, or just didn’t work. Good-Fish turns out to be opposite of everything I’ve ever used. It is fast, easy to learn, and even has a website backup – actually, it does BETTER than a website back up (more on that later).

Good-Fish works great as an iPhone app. The app is very easy to use. Open app, take picture (or use an existing), attach your GPS info (the app will pull this from the phone automatically, or you can move a dropper pin on a Google map manually), tell us what you caught, the size, how you caught it (fly, jigging, etc), what you used as far as bait or lure, and submit! If you want you can also give a little bit of additional information as well.

When you submit, this information is stored on a database that you can access on your iPhone or the Good-Fish website! The website works much the same as the iPhone app for submitting or editing your catches.

Now, Good-Fish.com and their app do something a little bit more. Lets say you’re going to fish someplace new. Maybe you’re going on vacation, or a road trip, whatever, and you’re not familiar with the area, or where to fish. Even if you know where to fish, what if you don’t know what type of fishing is in the area? How about the hot bait or lure?

Good-Fish has all of that information stored on its database, thanks to its many subscribers.

In the weeks that I’ve had the app on my phone, I’ve loved it. When I first got the app, I found it had problems when moving the dropper pin on the Google Maps. It would cause the app to crash, and I’d have to start the entry all over again. Fortunately entering your catch is a very quick and easy thing to do! But I sent them a message telling them what was going on. Within HOURS they had a software update on iTunes that FIXED the problem! Now if only I could get that type of service from anywhere else!

The guys at Good-Fish have a good thing going. I couldn’t tell you how impressed I’ve been with the application, the support of the website and app, and even the little competitions Good-Fish runs. The ONLY downside of the app is that it does require a 3G or Wifi connection, but that is the case with any internet based application. But I find it nice to be able to sit down after a day’s fishing and reflect on each catch as I upload all the info. It really helps put the final touches on a good day’s fishing.

Find out more information on the Good-Fish website at http://www.good-fish.com or on iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/good-fish/id371260507?mt=8

Get the app now, while its free! The information this app will be able to supply might end up being priceless!

With the Oregon Rockfish Classic just a couple days away, I thought it might be fun to take a moment and show you what I’ve been doing for the last two months.

Half the fun, to me anyways, of a tournament is getting prepared. What’s it like for me? Well, you know those movies/real-life when the girl is getting read for some big date or whatever? Yeah, it’s probably like that.

First off, I have to focus on what I’m fishing for. My next tournament is just a week away – the Oregon Rockfish Classic. Our target is rockfish and lingcod for the most part. Some might try for halibut since it will be open and legal. This is a single big-fish event.

Since we know what I’m targeting, now its time to get all the gear together. Big saltwater jigs running 2 to 8 ounces, 5 and 6 inch swimbaits, 4 to six inch hoochies (squid bodies),6 to 11 inch grubs… that type of thing. For bottom fish like lingcod and rockfish, I run the state maximum of 3 hooks. At intervals above the big jigs, I run two 7/0 shrimp flies, or hoochies. I tie these onto dropper loops, with a duo-snap at the bottom. With all of these pre-tied, I keep a bunch of pre-tied leaders in baggies, and then snap on the jig I want to use.

I buy all the jigs in bulk, then bring them home to paint. Some get black, some get white, some no color at all. They ALL get covered with a UV reactive clearcoat. I also have a couple diamond jigs which get the clearcoat on every-other-side which I hope brings a UV flash attraction to the rig. While i’m doing this, I also replace the trebel hooks on the diamond jigs with big single siwash or circle hooks (in the 4/0 to 12/0 varieties). All my leaders for this tournament are tied to 30 or 40# fluorocarbon.

The tackle I really don’t spend a whole lot of specific time on tending. I usually just get bored while watching TV and tie some stuff up.

What takes a good amount of time is Map Study and other research. NOAA provides their nautical charts online and I give them a lot of going over. I’ve starred at these two maps long enough to pretty much have the coastline memorized http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/18561.shtml http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/18520.shtml.

I don’t need to know the maps to know where I’m going (though it does help!), but I’ve studied them as much as possible to be able to identify good fishing locations. I’m looking for rocky outcrops, reefs, sharp dropoffs, etc. Unfortunately this area of the coast hasn’t been very closely charted, so I know there are things missing.

Fortunately, if you look hard enough in your research, you’ll find some great information. Google the area your fishing and spend time going through 30+ pages of the results you get back. You don’t have to go to every link you turn up, but spend some time here! You really don’t know what you’ll find. In this situation, lets say I found a map, very similar to the NOAA charts above, with circles, notes, and X-marks-the-spot fishing info.

Yes, its true.

Now I turn to the GPS on my fishfinder, and start marking points. I do the same with the Navionics software on my iPhone. With the Navionics software, I am able to map out the whole paddle, mark points of interest, and upload my paddle plan to the interwebs and share them on Facebook. To me, it’s important to have a plan that family can find in case of an emergency. Two clicks on the computer and they can know exactly when and where I had planned to be. I duplicate this information on my GPS as well. Ideally I use the GPS on my fish finder as my primary, and the GPS function/Navionics on my iPhone to be my backup method of mapping.

With the map all planned out, its time to look at the boat and related gear. Fortunately my kayak requires little maintenance. First and foremost I drain and fully recharge the batteries on my VHF radio and fish finder/GPS. These two items (GPS and VHF) will be two of the most important safety tools at my disposal, so I need to make sure the two of them will be fully functional for the tournament. I also replace the backup batteries for my VHF radio. Even if they’re not used, batteries can drain, especially if they’re exposed to large temperature changes (like sitting in the car for a few weeks of sun, rain, etc), so I choose to just replace them. There’s always a use for them around the house.

There isn’t a whole lot more that needs to be done with the kayak. I give everything a once over. Make sure screws are tight, the seat is adjusted properly, pool noodles in the hull are out of the way, that type of thing.

I suppose thats it! It really doesn’t sound like much, but there’s a good amount of time involved. The amount of study alone is probably in the neighborhood of 80 hours. I spread things out over the course of several weeks.

Since this is just getting posted today, I can tell you the Oregon Rockfish Classic was a success! There will be a full report coming soon.

But, as I’ve played with the iPhone (which replaced another phone lost in the Willamette River), I discovered a wealth of apps and podcasts that anglers can greatly appreciate. Here’s a few of my favorites, and more!

First and foremost, I think anyone spending time on the water should have Navionics maps. If you’re not familiar, Navionics gives you detailed depth charting, waterway navigation, and more. It operates similarly to the GPS that might be on your fish finder, and Navionics is featured on a lot of high-end sonar units! When I first loaded iTunes on my computer, this app was expensive. Now it’s just $10. Navionics breaks their tables up based on area, so I have two different apps – One to cover the Saltwater, and the other to cover Freshwater. The software can also pull up local tide predictions as well. More at their iTunes store: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtistSeeAll?ids=294013906&softwareType=iPhone&dkId=11

I often fish alone, so its nice to have music from time to time. Then there’s times when you just want to talk fishing. At times like that it’s great to have some podcasts loaded up one your iPhone or mp3 player (ok, truth be told, I use my Microsoft Zune for mp3s and podcasts. I just like it more!)

Fish Bait Radio and TV is actually a live broadcast found on BlogTalkRadio. James Smith hosts the near-weekly show which is streamed live over the internet. If you’re unable to listen in, Fish Bait Radio archives can be found on iTunes (or Zune) within minutes of the show ending! Bass fishing, kayak fishing, red fishing, bait, tackle, the works, this show is great. I try as much as possible to listen to the broadcasts when they’re live, and join the chatroom that is open will broadcasting. There’s a lot to learn and some great news and entertainment as well. You can also join the Fish Bait Radio website where James Smith also runs a fishing forum, blog, special sales deals, and more! Check out Fish Bait Radio at http://fishbaittv.webs.com. From there you can find links to the live shows, archives, forums, etc.

There is little question that conservation is on of the hottest topics in fishing, and has been for many years. Fishing conservation is just one topic covered nearly weekly by the guys over at The Fish Schtick Podcast. This podcast is hosted by Teeg Stouffer of Recycled Fish non-profit and Brian Bennet of the Moldy Chum fly fishing website. Teeg and Brian, along with their producer, photographer Michael Mauro, talk fishing, news, conservation, and enjoy chats with a different guest each show. The Fish Schtick is one of my favorite podcasts, fishing or otherwise. http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id317397756

The TideApp is but one of MANY tide prediction apps on iTunes. While Navionics also offers tide predictions, TideApp is free. Its also one of the only related apps I’ve used that can give me information about tide-influenced rivers, such as the Willamette River in Portland. Like I mentioned, its free, and it really does work great! http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tideapp/id288399415?mt=8

There are a number of other fishing apps out there for the knot heads featuring animated and other how-to knot diagrams. Oddly enough these are all pay apps, staring at $.99. I have the knots I feel I need in my head, and since I have an iPhone, I could go to animatedknots.com and get whatever else I might need.

You can also find a number of apps that help you keep logs and journals of your fishing trips. These are more pay-apps, but a couple have “Lite” or free versions that I’ve tried. In all honesty, I haven’t been impressed. If you wanted to log the catch of one fish, it takes more time to log that single catch then it likely did to catch it! Logs and journals are best kept to the “old fashioned” pen and paper anyways.

There are a number of other podcasts out there. If you’re into bass fishing, or live in Florida, I’d say there’s a TON of podcasts, both video and audio. Some of the ones I listen to include Wired2Fish (bass), Awesome Fishing Radio (Florida), FLW Outdoors (mostly bass), Chumlordfishing (east coast), and more.