Fishing: Trout Fishing With The Best Fishing Lures

Fishing for trout? Having some difficulties with your fishing game? If so, chances are very high that you're not using the right fishing lure or bait. Now how can I be so sure?

Trout are quite voracious. They are insatiable eaters. If you present the proper lure, they'll gobble it up most efficiently and with impressive speed. The first thing then is being able to make that fish bite the hook. And if you're armed with the right powered fishing rod and a fishing line with the correct flexibility and strength, catching trout will be a simple pleasure.

We know that trout are ravenous eaters. To be precise, they are carnivores who have a fondness for live small creatures that are willing to put up a good fight. No creature, aquatic or terrestrial, is ever safe with this fish. A trout would even feed on smaller fishes, providing that they could fit into its comparatively large mouth.

Based on these facts, the following are considered to be the most excellent baits for trout:

ª Dry flies. These artificial flies are crafted to look like real flies. When tugged upon, they can even imitate the movement of their living counterparts. Considering a trout's voracious appetite, dry flies are perfect baits for its perpetually hungry mouth.

ª Sinkers. These are nymphs and wet flies that have been prepared to sink to the bottom of the water. Because trout feeds beneath the surface of the water most of the time, sinkers have improved odds of capturing the target's attention.

ª Emergers. Trout are predators. They know when their preys are most vulnerable. Can there be any more fragile condition than that of an invertebrate which has just emerged from its nymph stage into young adulthood? (Lo, the circle of life.) By replicating these "emergers," lure-crafters manage to garner the attention of trout greedy for a satisfying meal.

ª Streamers. These are lures that are intended to descend rapidly so that they may attract and appeal to an aggressive trout. Streamers are among the most popular artificial fly baits. This category includes the woolly buggers and the sculpins.

When fishing for trout, as when hunting for wild game, you always have a better chance of getting a good catch when you know how your intended prey behaves. Not only that but your chance for success will significantly increase if you also know about your prey's location. As with most things in life, the more you know the better.

When it comes to fishing lures, you shouldn't ever just settle for the first lure that becomes available. Study the list above and plan a strategy based on that. You'll have a much better chance at having a great fishing trip with a more abundant yield.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Len Q. is a master blade sharpener and an adventurer who strives to protect the natural world. If you would like to find out about ª Knife Sharpening: How to Sharpen Knives, Maintain and Store Them ª Sharpening Other Edges (e.g. Lawn Mower Blades, Chain Saws, Gardening Tools, Axes) Find it here at http://www.MakeKnivesSharp.com .

Attack Of The Bear

She talked about it; she dreamed about it, she never let it go. This was how a friend of mine regarded her fear of coming across a bear when we would go hiking in the wilderness areas of Idaho. Her character is strong in all other ways. She is kind, hard working, intelligent, prosperous and loving. But when the word “bear” crosses those ears of hers, she turns to Jell-O. In other words, her life is somewhat Un-Bear-Able!

We were hiking last spring in the Coeur d’Alene mountains going for a 10 mile excursion to visit one of the beautiful alpine lakes that are plentiful through out this part of Idaho. We packed a lunch, threw on our backpacks and set off for a glorious day of exercise and becoming one with nature. My friend, however, was nervous and carried a canister of bear spray (kind of like pepper spray only for bears) with her just in case. I assured her that bears were harmless in this area. Only black bears roamed the woods here…no grizzlies I told her. Yet she was set out to believe that a bear was a bear and in her mind, they were all very very bad.

After about an hour of vigorous hiking we sat down for a minute to take a drink of our water and take in the natural beauty that surrounded us. SNAP! went a tree branch just up the trail and there it was…everything she ever imagined in her worst nightmares was in front of her. It was, you guessed it, a big black 10 foot growling snarling bear! Actually, that is how she remembers it. It was actually a small female black bear just crossing the path about 50 yards in front of us. My good friend screamed, grabbed a hold of me and started to shake. I joined in with the screaming part because the first thing you do when you come across a bear is make a lot of noise to scare it off. So I figured, what the heck, I might as well scream too to make her feel better.

Well, the bear scurried off, my friend almost fainted and I laughed till I cried. I gave her a few minutes for her heart to slow down from it’s 160 beats a minute and then I calmly and gently said to her, “You see, bears are not going to hurt you”. She calmly said to me, “We got lucky this time buster”. Well, needless to say, this experience did not help her fear of bears but only increased the intensity of her phobia.

We still go on hikes together and now my friend is more at peace in the wilderness like never before. No, she did not get over her extreme terror of bears. No, her dreams have not stopped. No, she has not made peace with this precious animal. When we returned to our city dwellings after that last hike, my dear loveable sweet caring friend immediately called up a shooting gallery, enrolled in a class to learn how to shoot a gun, and now carries a pistol on her side whenever we roam the hills and valleys of bear country (just in case, she says). My friend feels less nervous and seems to enjoy our hikes like never before. Me, I feel sorry for the poor bear.

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Staying Focused on Your Decorating Project

Very often we begin a project with a specific goal in mind, only to find ourselves sidetracked. It happens every day in every way. The phone or doorbell rings, one of the kids needs help, or your spouse hollers something unintelligible from the basement. Anything can and often does happen to break our concentration. Murphy's Law is alive and kicking.

However, one can stay focused on the current project. Focusing on the current project to satisfactory completion will enable you to move on to the next project, without that nagging realization that you didn't finish this one. Returning to a previous enterprise in order to tweak or fix something is actually a waste of your time whereas, if you had been focused, you wouldn't have to "do" it again. Isn't it amazing how often it is that we have the time to do it again, but often don't have the time to do it right the first time?

In order to stay focused, one should prepare an outline. Preparing a written outline is a surefire way to stay focused on your project. You can prepare different plans for separate projects, with several projects ongoing at the same time. During some projects you may encounter "waiting times", for any number of reasons. Having different project outlines available will ensure that "waiting time" does not necessarily mean "wasted time".

When writing an outline, it's important to cover each aspect of your project, from start to finish. Always ask and answer the Who, What, Where, When and How questions. This may sound elementary, even redundant, but it works. And no-one can fault what consistently works.

While preparing your outline, ideas will pop into your head. The "what ifs", and "could be's" will enable you to see a great many possibilities to incorporate into your project. Or not. Whether or not you use those ideas will determine the completed product. Those ideas and their quality may or may not be incorporated into the final product, but having those ideas now is certainly better than wishing you had planned for them, when it's too late. You may need to revisit some aspect of your outline. It's much easier and less costly to revise the plan, than to revise the project after beginning. An outline will enable you to "see around corners", so to speak. To look ahead and foresee possible problems. It all comes from writing it down. Most of us don't plan to fail, but very often we fail to plan. Failing to plan is tantamount to planning to fail.

Your outline doesn't need to be fancy. Depending upon the intricacy of your project, a numbered or bulleted list may serve your purposes. Of course, the more intricate your project, the more intricate your outline will become. You can even incorporate check boxes, so that when those distractions come, as they usually do, you'll know exactly where you stopped.

Your outline should flow from beginning to end just as if you were actually working on the project. This will help you keep the various phases in perspective. You may need to plan the various phases in detail. These phase plans will become part of your overall plan. For the purposes of building your outline, pretend you're building a house. The foundation would naturally come first, then the walls, finally the roof. Your outline should follow this "building code". All worthwhile structures follow this example. The fleshing out of your outline would be the same as the landscaping and decorating of your house. Save them for last. In other words, start with the basics: What, When, Where, Why and How, (the foundation). Then move on to the tools, resources and knowledge, (the walls). Next comes the finish (the roof).

The "outline" stage of your project is where you'll do most of the learning required to reach a successful conclusion of your project. For example: What tools do you need? Where will you find those tools? How much do they cost? What resources can you find to help you? What resources do you have? Where can you go, or who can you see to gain the necessary know-how? These questions and many more need answering before you can expect to be successful in your project. When you ask yourself these questions and get them answered, often you'll find the project is within your capabilities. When you write down and follow your plan, one step at a time, the project becomes less daunting. The longest journey begins with one step. When you write your outline and re-read it a few times, your memory will be "unlocked" and sometimes you'll be amazed at what you already knew.

Now you're ready to go back and flesh out your outline. (The landscaping and decorating.) This is where you can get bogged down with the details if you lose sight of the "big picture". Take your time with the details; after all, quality is also part of your project. But put together the details in such a way that they can be changed. This is an outline, not a plan carved in stone. You can make revisions, additions, deletions, substitutions and corrections. It’s easier to make those changes now rather than later.

Open ended projects have a tendency to stay "open". So unless your project is collecting Manchurian artifacts, or some such, it should have an end date or time. You may need to extend the completion date or time, but you'll be much closer to the end if you have a completion schedule, than if you don't.

With the outline you've created, you can go on to create a formal plan with all the diagrams, drawings, measurements, etc. All an outline really does is give you a starting place. If your project is fairly simple, maybe this is all you need to use as a guide to finish your project. In any case, you now have that first step.

Cowboy Up with Western-Style Home Decorating

Itching to add some western-style or cowboy-style home decorating?

Great choice! There is something timeless and enchanting about this style of home decorating. Closely related--and possibly the same--are rustic style, log cabin style, and mountain style decorating.

Regardless of what you call it, this type of interior design will center upon the use of natural materials. The first thing you'll want to do is evaluate how you can add more natural wood, metal, rock, and leather to your room.

When it comes to furniture, Western style is most often large and bulky, but simple in design and structure. Look for lots of bare wood. Fabrics tend to Native American prints, Cowboy prints, or outdoorsy-kinds of prints. If busy prints are not your cup of tea, consider matte-finish leather, denim, suede, or nubbly weaves.

Colors should be those found in nature, such as rich browns, dark greens, dark reds, golds, etc. Other colors might include rock gray, metal black, and cream.

Add Western motifs such as knickknacks, blankets, wall hangings, pillows, and more. This would include motifs such as cowboys, saddles, horses, Native American crafts, wild animals found in forests and mountains, rivers, wildflowers, etc.

Vintage items will go well with Western home decorating too. Look for bold-colored quilts, old saddle blankets, barrels, weathered farm tools, and so on.

If you're crafty (or know someone who is), you can really let your imagination run wild when it comes to cowboy (or cowgirl!) home decorating. Use old horseshoes as candle holders on your wall or as bookends. Take bandannas and sew them into pillows, quilt squares, or even lampshade covers. "Plant" dried flowers in old Mason jars and scatter them around on your side tables and bookcases.

Your floors in a western style home should also be natural... preferably hardwood or recycled plank flooring. But they could also be made from flagstone. Be sure to scatter western-style area rugs around though, because natural floors can be cold!

If you can, don't use window treatments... just leave them bare, especially if you have a great view of the mountains or other natural settings. But, if you must use window coverings, keep them simple, such as plain valances, straight panels, or shutters.

Lighting needs to go with the western style of your home decorating too. Vintage lamps are great, but you can use almost any lamps made from wood and metal. Lampshades made of stretched rawhide will really add to that cowboy feel. But the rule here is plain and functional.

Other decorative details might include beading, fringe, twig accents, nailhead designs, metal drawer pulls and doorknobs, and anything made from logs. Pottery and stoneware will also enhance the look.

So, do you see how easy it can be to add western and cowboy touches to your home decorating? Whether you go "whole hog" into it or just add a few touches here and there is up to you. Whatever changes you make, though, are sure to give your home decorating a whole new look.

Tips For Accessorizing Your Home Or Cabin

Accessorizing your home is a very important aspect in the decorating process. When you buy a new outfit it is greatly enhanced with jewelery, scarves and purses for women and ties or watches for men. A home is no different! You can add character and beauty to a home in many ways just by following a few inexpensive changes.

First look at your home and decide what theme you want to accomplish. Is it a contemporary, country, southwest, traditional or ethic style that would suit your personality? Look in magazines, books or the internet to get a flavor of the accessories you would like to see in your home. Have at least one piece you treasure in every room! Purchase accessories that go with the theme and color of your room. Color choices should compliment the main color in the room.

Occasionally it is simply a matter of rearranging some of your accessories on a shelf. It is recommended to group your accessories in odd numbers rather than even numbers. Different heights and textures are also attractive. For example, a night side table can have a lamp, picture frame and small pot of flowers as a grouping.

Entry ways should be uncluttered. This area of the home is the first hint at what the rest of your home is like. A side table with your most dramatic or unusual accessories will set the tone in this important area of your home!

Pictures or art work are often hung too high. The rule of thumb is the picture should be hung so that the middle of the picture is at eye level. Art work should be placed no more than five to eight inches above the sofa or seven to ten inches above a table. Try to align pictures in different geometric shapes (vertical, circular, triangular or rectangular groupings) in various sizes for a different effect.

Bookcases are often found to be too cluttered and full of small knickknacks. Try to vary the size of the shelves vertically for interest. Vary the heights of books with the tallest in the middle. Don't put small books next to tall books. Take off dust covers from books to show their often rich colors. The upper shelves can be used for candles, family pictures, fancy bowls or larger ornaments in odd number groupings of 1, 3 or 5 pieces. You can also mix and match books with ornaments, but make the books the focal point. Don't leave a gap between the ceiling and the top of the bookcase. Place a plant on the top shelf for balance.

Lighting is an important element in accessorizing your home. Accent a large picture with a spot light to enhance a focal point in a room. Lighting creates ambiance and should coordinate with the theme you want to create. Get creative with an old lamp by adding tassels, beads or decorative finials. Use faux paint or wrap funky fabric around the base to give it a new lift.

Area rugs can define a space and pull a room together. Place furniture completely on the rug for a warmer effect. Area rugs used under a dining room table should be large enough to also accommodate the chairs when fully pulled out.

Use many pillows on the bed as this can add a splash of color in a bedroom. Vary the colors and patterns of the pillows and graduate the sizes from large to small. Pillows are also great on a sofa and will add tremendous character to a dull living room.

Mirrors are great to expand a smaller space. Try a large mirror that stands on the floor attached to the wall behind a small dining room table. Try leaning a tall mirror behind a bed as a head board for a dramatic look! These mirrors can be five to six feet tall. It has an amazing effect!

Bathrooms can have a spa appeal by placing clear glass bowls filled with colored soaps, bath salts or bubble bath beads on the bathroom counter. Candles are also nice on a bathtub. Low lighting with lit candles will sooth all your troubles away!

Kitchens also can be accessorized to create a gourmet feel. Hang copper pots and pans from a wire rack above to add color. Don't be afraid to hang plants from any bare ceiling corner to give a lived in feeling to a plain kitchen. Grow a few herb plants on a kitchen window sill to use in your cooking and add wonderful aromas. Accessorize your counter tops with small attractive appliances or cooking utensils. A large bowl of fruit on the kitchen table can be fresh or artificial. Prints are also a welcome addition on kitchen walls.

Have fun trying out new things. Shop around for different accessories for your home. Try antique stores, consignment shops or flea markets for ideas. There are many craft books available that you can also explore. First impressions are lasting. Do not mix beautiful furniture with cheap accessories. Accessories can make or break the ambiance of your home. Be creative and trust your instincts!

Bringing the Old West to Modern Home Decorating

 

 

 

What could be more fun when you think about it than incorporating the age-old story of cowboys and Indians into your home décor? For those who love a great story and have a wild sense of adventure this could be an incredibly fabulous design theme for your next home decorating project. This is a great way to bring the rustic charm of the old west into the modern world of today’s busy lifestyles.

 

Immediately visions of the hacienda with knotty pine and leather upholstered furniture comes to mind. Massive fireplaces and antlers everywhere are also first and foremost in my mind when this design idea pops into my head. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination and only limited by your budget in all honesty. This is a look that could be pulled off however on almost any budget for those that are willing to make a few thrift store purchases along the way while investing a fair amount of elbow grease.

 

One thing you want to be careful of with this particular theme is not taking it too far. This could be so easy to do and it will only subtract from the charm and appeal if you do so. Choose the accessories carefully but implement them minimally. This should also help with potential budget restrictions as well as keep you on track for finding the perfect accessories rather than picking up everything you see only to find later that many simply will not work with the style and design you are hoping to achieve in the long run.

 

Wood floors and wood paneled walls are a great statement for this sort of décor as well as stone for a fireplace (if there is a fireplace of course). You want solid furniture rather than something that appears fragile or dainty and you definitely want to keep the room masculine in appearance if at all possible. Home decorating in the style of the old west isn’t for bachelors alone but too much of a feminine touch will simply kill the appeal all together. In fact, the less feminine touches the better. Save these touches for a romantic bedroom or bathroom rather than the primary areas that friends and family will visit.

 

You will also want to take great pains to imitate the rustic nature of the old west within the kitchen. No delicate china patterns or tables with legs that look like they might fall off with a hard wind. This is a ‘mans’ style of decorating and it needs to look as though it will withstand any punishment a man can dish out in order to maintain the fun and light appeal of the remainder of the home. You can find modern sinks, fixtures, and hardware that are designed to resemble those of the old west and beyond if you look in the right places.

 

For those who are looking for something a little out of the ordinary this is one style of decorating that definitely fits the bill. See what wonderful schemes and dreams you can come up with and what sort of tall tale will go along with your old west design story then create the story within the walls of your home. There is no better way to go about home decorating than this.