I Was Just Assigned A Column At Advanced Angler!

[basslover12345]

I was just assigned a Column at Advanced Angler! I just Got off the phone with Dan O'Sullivan and he wants to have me do a column where I give him a piece every month for the Last Friday of the Month!!! Anyone have any ideas on things you want to learn about? Any tips? He wants to call it the "Youth corner"

[lkn4bss]

Congrats! Since it's a Youth column. I would do one on how to get young kids to the hobby of Fishing. Give some pointers on going to local lakes and basic tackle advise. Hope that helps.

[POPRG]

Good for you! If its for youth anglers,why not start out by your monthly fishing reports on how you did,good or bad..don't have to give up your spots,but just how and why you fished where you chose to.

Being a youth column,like lkn4bss said,push an open question policy and ask for it from the members. Just start w/ the basics,ie..knot/rig tying,what presentations for what areas,etc..

Have fun and good luck,the fish will always be there after a good education early in life!

[royal0014]

Stick to the basics. Think of the questions you asked in just the last few years. And stick to one or two subjects per column. Less covered at one time, the better in depth you can be.

Here's a good one to feel out: you are at the age where most States go from you are a child to you are a young adult. In other words, your legal standing changes and the State expects you to buy fishing license. Different in each State, too. Hit on requirements for Lifetime fishing/hunting license, too. In Alabama, the cost of Lifetime rises dramatically as you age.

Don't over-reach, use what you know.

Congrats, and Good Luck!

[jiggerpole]

The sky is the limit. You may want to try throwing in a fish Identification (Picture) in with your article and do a segment on each one as a series. Say Bass, Bream, Crappie, Catfish. You may even want to go a little in depth and break it down into species and sub - species. It will take a little research on your part but I think you have a great opportunity to teach kids in your column. Good Luck and have fun.

[Nitrofreak]

First of all congrats !!!!

Youth are full of questions, use that to your advantage, I would suggest keeping your articals simple and follow them up with a Q & A space, this does a couple of different things, the youth will get their name in the artical, along with their picture if it will allow and gives them a chance to be recognised so it helps hold their intrest, it gives you the oportunity to get out there and pose questions to other anglers all across this great country of ours who are starting at a young age, it will also aid in giving you different story line ideas for each month.

Remember you are writing for them, so I wish you the best of luck and we look forward to reading your articals !!!!

[bassfisherjk]

Congrat's! I can't add anything to all the great advice that's already been given.

[Tony Monticelli]

just cuz your a kid doesn't mean you now less than adults either LOL don't be afraid to remind us of what works..

heres a story..

i was fishing last year, just went out for bass for fun. and for an hour of nothing i was like really there should be bass right in there, there always in there. then this young kid walks up and is like your cast is perfect presentation perfect and the lure is good choice and how your fishing it is perfect but your not going to catch a bass doing that today, they will only shock strike, try throwing it right in there hard. i was like? ok now kids are teaching me how to fish and i whip it in there and bang i caught a fish? kid was fishing with just a line i was like wheres your rod, it broke last month and mom hasn't took him to get a another new one and it been tuff getting to the fish, i was like ok im going home here is a rod have fun.

so my advise is you can so called dum is down a bit for us but also reserve some space for the youth, when your in a store looking at lures and the people work there confuse you and then a kid runs up the second the guy leaves and is like you don't want that, don't listn to them.. you want this for that that for those days this color for that and this is that and thats a gimmick stick to these patterns and etc your like woah slow down kid i cant write this stuff down that fast.

[Crestliner2008]

One valuable topic involve bank fishing and how to "approach" a spot you aim to fish from. Sometimes I see younger fishermen stomping their way to the edge of the water, waving their arms about and generally being "noisy". All of which is counter productive if you are limited to fishing from the bank. Just a thought.

[Lund Explorer]

Congrats!

Here's hoping that this may just open a few more doors for you in the future.

Back in the Mid-1990's, I got the chance to write up a weekly fishing report for a local newspaper so I can understand it is kind of hard to find subjects to write about. With the need to fill so many column inches each week, I found that it required a pre-planned format that I would try to follow. Perhaps some of these ideas would help:

1. Fishing news. For me it involved what was going on with local lakes/rivers. You may have to expand this to cover a wider area based on your readership.

2. New Tackle/Lures. I would post articles on new fishing tackle and lures that the local sporting goods stores had begun to carry. For you, this might make a great way to get tackle from manufacturers to test out and report on. By linking the local sporting goods store to the story, the advertising dept found it easier to sell ad space. Remember who you are really working for.

3. Tournament results from local clubs. I always made sure to advertise coming events and tell readers how they could contact these clubs if they were interested in joining. Another way to give the advertising dept a chance to sell more space.

4. People results. Aside from the legal section or the obits, almost everyone is happy to get the chance to have their name show up. Stories on people who caught lunkers, or known as leaders in the field could make for good storylines. Remember that it is just as important to put a picture to these stories.

5. Perhaps interviewing the coach of a high school fishing club could inspire other teachers/schools to think about starting such a program in their local districts. If your readers could take those kind of articles to their school, it could show the need for them to get started.

Regardless of what your stories revolve around, make the best effort possible to provide a well written story. I used to drive my editor up the walls with some of my work. Make sure that you learn from any criticism/editing your work receives. And remember to have fun.