OutdoorSC.com

According to The State newspaper over the weekend, Pure Fishing, which owns Shakespeare, Penn and Fenwick among its 12 national brands, is moving to South Carolina.
With it will come 150 jobs in Columbia, and the plant should open by 2009.
According to The State, "the company came to South Carolina because of the state's freshwater fishing sites and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean," and "the company plans to host South Carolina fishing trips for tackle buyers.

When we first conjured up the idea for an outdoors page, the primary impetus was fishing. It was a no-brainer, really. How many boats are there in Beaufort County? And how many of those boats are trailerables? And how many of that segment pass you by on their way to one of the boatramps with fishing tackle lashed and bungeed down, guy in the front of his pickup with a smile on his face?
Like I said, it's a no-brainer.

I tend to fish alone. But I have some good fishing buddies, too: Bob, BJ, Ian and my father-in-law, Tom, to name a few. I've often thought about what makes a good fishing buddy. It's complicated. But the first rule is none of them jaw the whole time we're fishing. This is paramount. Because you're not going to catch fish if you're talking about what you watched last night on TV.

There is plenty of time to talk on the ride out and the ride back. And occasionally, to meet back at the truck or the tackle box to give a progress report:

"Lost one, but got a little speck."

I don't know how old I was or whether I opened a suspiciously long package tied up in gift wrap one Saturday morning. I don't know if the rod and reel inside that wrap was new or used, if it was old and had been polished by my dad or whether he bought it one night while he moonlighted selling lawnmowers at the Montgomery Ward just up the road from our house.

I don't remember the first time I cast it or the last time. I wish I knew where it was today.

Checklist:
Light, felt hip waders.
Shorts with a zillion pockets.
Long-sleeved shirt to keep bugs off.
Wide-brimmed hat.
Bandanna.
Sunglasses.
Bug spray.
Bamboo HDH fly rod.
6-weight reel w/floating line.
Graphite lite fly rod.
5-weight reel w/ floating line.
Extra tipped and leader material.
Box of flies.
Trout net.
Fly vest, fully equipped.
Fly-tying kit.
Knife.
Bottle opener.

I'm good to go at this very moment, but there are still four days before the trip.

I like talking with other fishermen. Some of them, anyway.

What I've found is that most fishermen around here don't fish and tell.

Well, they tell you what kind of fish they caught, but when you ask them where they caught them, they'll pinch their mouth with their finger and say, "Right about here," simulating the hook in the mouth of the fish they just caught.

Fishermen can be really secretive to the point where you barely believe them. Then they show you the photo, or, worse, the fish.

Learn the basics of fishing knots.

Cobia Rig

Bottom Rig

Dropper Loop

Modified Snell Knot

Clinch Knot