Why Your Line Goes Slack During the Retrieve
A beginner-friendly guide to diagnosing slack line during the retrieve and keeping better contact with a lure in wind, current, and changing water conditions.
Read articleIndependent field notes
Hooked For The Weekend
Fishing tips, tackle talk, and stories about the ones that got away.
Caleb MercerHi I’m Caleb, a recreational angler who would rather spend a quiet morning by the water than just about anywhere else. I write about practical fishing techniques, dependable gear, and the lessons I’ve learned through years of tangled lines, missed strikes, and the occasional fish worth bragging about.
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Recent articles
View archiveWhy Your Cast Lands Beside the Cover Instead of Under It
Diagnose accuracy problems and practice casting angles for docks, trees, reeds, and other targets.
Read articleWhy Do I Keep Missing Fish on Topwater Lures?
Common timing, hook-setting, line, and lure-position mistakes that cause missed topwater strikes, with practical fixes.
Read articleWhy Are Fish Following My Lure Without Striking?
How to diagnose speed, size, color, depth, retrieve, and approach issues when fish track a lure but refuse it.
Read articleWhy Does My Bait Wash Off the Hook?
Common causes of bait loss in current, casting, and small-fish attacks, plus better hook placement and presentation choices.
Read articleWhy Does a Sudden Increase in Current Sometimes Improve Fishing?
A practical look at why a rise in river or tidal current can trigger feeding, where to find fish when water starts moving, and how to tell a productive change from a situation that calls for caution.
Read articleWhy Do Fish Stop Holding on the Upstream Side of a Boulder?
An explanation of why fish shift away from the upstream side of a river boulder as flow changes, plus practical ways to find the softer water around the rock.
Read articleWhy Do Crappie Move Higher in the Water Column on Cloudy Spring Days?
A practical guide to why crappie often suspend shallower on cloudy spring days, how light, cover, temperature, and forage affect their position, and how to adjust presentations on Southern and Midwestern lakes.
Read articleWhy a Warm Rain Can Change a Fishing Trip Overnight
A practical guide to reading the effects of warm rain on freshwater fishing, including runoff temperature, water color, inflow, current, and bait movement.
Read articleWhich Reel Size Makes Sense for Inshore Fishing?
A practical guide to choosing 2500, 3000, 4000, and larger spinning reel sizes for beginner inshore anglers on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
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