Fishing And The Internet

I’ve always been an avid fisherman, but for the last two years I’ve just been too busy to pursue my hobby. I decided that this year, I was going to get back into “tournament Bass fishing.” The problem was…I wasn’t quite sure where to start. So, I turned to the Internet.

The first thing I needed to know was if there were any local Bass clubs in my area. I brought up Copernic www.copernic.com (my favorite search engine) and searched for “Bass Clubs Indiana.” If you’re reading this in Illinois, Kentucky or Tennessee, just substitute your state for Indiana. Copernic returned a slew of listings. One of these was Bass Clubs Online at www.blacklakeny.com/links/linksclubs.html. I found several clubs listed within 25 miles of my hometown.

I was able to log onto these club’s websites and get all the information I needed as far as what it cost to join, upcoming tournaments, what they paid and what it cost to enter them. I was even able to download a membership application online.

Next, I needed a boat. I looked in the local newspaper but didn’t find what I was looking for. I wanted something special…an inflatable Bass boat. Not exactly a common item in my area. I didn’t want to have to fool with a boat trailer and the associated costs of licensing and insurance. An inflatable boat would fit in my trunk. So I fired up Copernic again and searched the Web for “inflatable boats.” I found a company called Sea Eagle in New York that had exactly what I wanted. And being early in the season, they had it on sale for $549.00. Before I purchased it, I decided to check out my old standby eBay. Sure enough, the same boat was being auctioned there and by the same company. I won the auction for $429.00. The exact same boat!

Now, I had a boat, was a member of a Bass club, and had listings of upcoming Bass tournaments, but I still needed a few more items. For one thing, I needed to get my State fishing license. Again, using Copernic, I searched for “Indiana fishing license” and found that I could buy my license right over the Internet. Log onto: www.ai.org/dnr/fishwild/licenses/buylic.htm. ($14.25 for fishing only)

While getting my fishing license, I remembered that I still needed to register my boat. In Indiana, log onto www.state.in.us/bmv/watercraft/regfaq.html. This site has all the information you’ll need to find out if you even have to register your boat. I found that I could fish any of Indiana’s public lakes without registering, including State parks as long as I didn’t use any kind of motor on the boat. I wanted to use a trolling motor, so I did need to get my boat registered. This one I couldn’t do online. But I was able to get all the information (including downloadable forms had I needed them) from this website.

I had one last thing to do and I’d finally be ready to “go fishing!” My rods and reels hadn’t been used for almost two years and I wanted to get them professionally serviced. I got back on the Net and searched for, “reel repair Indiana” and as usual, Copernic came through again. I found a certified repair shop for my Daiwa and Abu Garcia reels only a few miles away in Linton, Indiana www.buckcreekrodandreel.com.

That about did it. I now have a registered boat, fishing license, club membership, and “like new” fishing reels- all, because of the Internet. Now, if I can just catch some fish! Reach me at randy@randybenjamin.com.