If you keep fish for the table, how you dispatch them matters — for the fish and for the plate.

A good reel is a precision machine, and like any machine it seizes up if you neglect it.

A full-length rod is a nuisance to travel with — it won’t fit in a suitcase, it’s awkward in a kayak, and it’s the first thing to snap in a car door.

Wading boots are the one piece of gear standing between you and a nasty fall on slick, unseen rock.

The knot is the weakest point between you and the fish — and it usually fails at the worst possible moment, on the best fish of the day.

If you have ever marked fish stacked at twenty metres on the sounder, only to troll your lures uselessly over the top of them, a downrigger is the answer.

A float is the oldest trick in fishing and still one of the best.

Spooling line by hand is one of fishing’s most frustrating chores — the spool slips, the line tangles, twist creeps in…

Your hands take a beating fishing. A full day on the water means relentless sun on the backs of your hands, slimy fish to grip, sharp spines and gill.

Catching squid is one of the most addictive forms of fishing, and the jig is what makes it work.