Fishing is one of the most popular outdoor sports. Often you will encounter people who are ready to go to any extent to get hold of a good catch. But like any other trip or vacation one must plan well before going on a fishing expedition. You can have a ton of fun if you spend the time to plan out your trip beforehand. Of course, there will be situations that are unexpected, but you will be prepared to face them. Planning plays a vital role if you are going with your friends or family and especially if you have kids with you. You have to take into account of the motive of each person so that the whole group has fun.

While planning for the fishing trip you have to consider a lot of different things. The first thing to decide is what type of fish you want to catch. Based on this you will have to decide whether you have to go to the cold waters or warm waters. You should discuss with your party as to what they want from the fishing trip because each person's taste will vary. For some, the amount of fish they catch will be important, while for others the size of the catch may matter the most. It is important to decide your location accordingly to make the most of it.

Once you decide your location make sure to check the weather. Make sure that the time of year you are going is not storm or hurricane season. Picking the wrong time of year and getting caught out at sea can be very dangerous.

The team will also have to decide on the style of fishing. There are different types of fishing, such as trolling, deep sea fishing, bottom fishing, and more. The next important issue that the team must decide is the budgeted cost for the trip. You will have to decide on accommodations, like whether a camp or a cabin, local guide, charter boat, food/drinks and bathroom facilities are available.

Out of the different styles of fishing the most exciting is usually deep sea fishing. While deep sea fishing you truly feel united with the water and its glory. The best way to experience deep sea fishing is through a deep sea fishing charter. Once on the sea you will have to be well equipped with the appropriate deep sea fishing gear. You should try to be familiar with the fishing gear beforehand if possible. The most important aspect is to maintain a balance in the size of the rod, the reel, and the line. You should also select the bait carefully. They must be fresh and you should minimize the handling.

The greatest attraction of deep sea fishing is the vast variety of fish that one can catch ranging from cod, haddock, and tuna to swordfish and shark. But one should also make sure to select a fishing charter company that is respected, has a license for at least two years, has proper safety equipments, and has proper permits and insurance. Do not feel embarrassed to ask for the proof of their credentials. Remember it is a matter safety for you, your family and your friends. By doing a little extra research online before contacting a charter company you can narrow down the selection based on exactly what you're looking for. You can also go to websites that have user reviews/feedback on the various charter companies to see what other people think about them.

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"Will you take me fishing Grandpa?" My 8 year old grandson Ben had been asking me to take him with me to the lake for almost a year. Tomorrow would be that day! He was so excited about going to the lake with me that I knew it would be hard for him to sleep tonight. I'll admit I was a little excited too! What better thing could a grandfather do for his grandson than to take him on a fishing trip; the male bonding thing! I was already giving myself the Grandfather of the Year award.

Morning arrived and it was beautiful. God must have really meant for this day to be something special. It was a gorgeous morning; with a Robin's egg blue sky and small cirrus clouds drifting across the sky. I'd loaded the boat the night before with tackle boxes, rod and reels and an ice chest. We filled our carry cups with coffee and hot chocolate and headed out the door. We'd hooked the trailer to the back of the truck the night before and now we were on our way to the lake.

Across from the boat landing where we would launch the boat, there was a store that masqueraded as a gas station/convenience store/ restaurant/tackle shop. For the fisherman it was a great place to visit and spend lots of money! They had everything one would ever need to stock a tackle box, grab a couple of sandwiches and fill up the gas can for the outboard motor. After we filled up the bait bucket with crickets, we drove across the road to the boat dock.

After launching the boat and pulling the trailer into the appropriate parking spaces, we were ready to move down the lake to a spot where I had caught a lot of blue gills the year before. While I knew that Ben could swim, due to all the hours spent in the community pool, I still strapped around him a smaller version of my own life vest.

We were fishing for blue gill bream. They were bedding and with the mirror smoothness of the water, we would be able to see those beds from our boat. They wouldn't be very deep because bream spawn in very shallow water. Bedding, or spawning fish are easy to catch, if you can get a fish hook anywhere near those beds.

I cut the engine and drifted toward a little cove I recognized from the year before. Sure enough, before me there were dozens, if not hundreds of the small hubcap sized circles scooped out of sandy clay bottom of the lake. I moved within casting distance of the beds. My grandson was anxious to get his hook into the water, snatching his rod and reel out of its holder even before I could get the boat anchored.

This is where the fun begins, I thought as I began showing my grandson how to cast the spinning outfit I had given him. Having grown up with Game Boys and cartoons 24 hours a day, showing him something new was difficult; he thought knew everything there was to casting a bait 30 feet out into the water.

He cast and the bait with bobber flew about 10 feet straight up into the air and landed in the boat. No problem! On the next cast the cricket only sailed 3 feet from the boat. He was getting impatient. By now he was more attentive and after I explained how the reel worked, he began to improve upon his casting. I let him practice casting the bait off the side of the boat that was not near the bream beds.

On his first cast with a cricket, the bobber went under almost as soon as the bait hit the water. He brought the large bluegill into the boat. It was a beauty! This was the first of many fish we caught that day, but he'll always remember that first fish. It wouldn't have mattered how big it was, it was the first fish he had ever caught all by himself. He wouldn't forget it and neither would I.

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