Camping Uncovered

Saving yourself the cost of costly bait is one of the most important factors in fishing success for many carp fishermen. It can take quantities of pricey readymade bait to accomplish great results and if you’ve a way of making this very swiftly and very cheaply then you can save yourself untold fortunes and catch as many if not more fish than on readymade baits. Once you have a few basic bits of information on making baits you are free to create one-of-a-kind economical baits for big fish for years to come and save yourself a real fortune!

For the more technically minded fisherman, carp do not get their energy needs from carbohydrates but mostly protein and also fats and oils in their natural diet. Being aquatic they are extremely well adapted to extract far more energy from protein foods than humans on land. The very basic protein stipulations of carp are extremely significant in terms of making effective baits because these are composed of basic building blocks called amino acids, some of which carp essentially need to consume in order to survive.

Proteins are composed of amino acids which carp can easily detect and find stimulating; and there are around 10 plus essential ones which carp cannot synthesise in there own body and must consume in their food to survive. The carp essential amino acids list includes: Histidine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, tryptophan, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine and arginine and carp will eat foods and baits containing any of these as they are essential to them. Exploiting protein ingredients in your baits is obviously a good thing as you are offering something fish need to survive.

Our bodies and carp bodies have evolved and adapted to extract energy in the most efficient ways from food found in our natural environments. With carp we can simulate or even boost the natural attraction and stimulation of substances found in their natural foods in our baits. The range of ingredients, extracts, liquid attractors, flavors etc we can use to exploit carp natural food detection senses is phenomenal and ensures we can always make one-of-a-kind homemade baits!

In fish experiments the essential amino acid requirement of very few fish has been established, but those of carp are known and can be exploited in our baits to good effect. But you don’t need to know how to create a balanced profile or high protein bait to catch fish. It does help to use protein foods like hens eggs, fish meals, caseins etc which are high protein sources, because they provide many essential amino acids and are extremely well proven bait ingredients.

There seems to be some snobbery in regards to protein based baits compared to using cereal or carbohydrate based baits for example based on wheat or semolina or soya flour. In fact many very economical baits can be made from these ingredients which will just keep catching carp on many fisheries for years. All you need to do to keep catching carp on many waters is to keep changing your attractors regularly as in flavours, various specialist protein extracts, and proprietary fish stimulants and so on.

Often artificially stocked fisheries contain fish which now treat anglers baits as natural food and these fish literally live on them as opposed to just natural food which might or might not be readily available. Homemade baits will catch on the easiest overstocked or richest or under-stocked waters; what do think the early bait pioneers used? Why keep buying readymade bait for 10 pounds when you can produce your own unique baits for a fraction of the cost and very tiny time or effort when I’ve found over the last 30 years that you can catch against any readymade bait using homemade baits no matter what they’re based on!

Other ingredients like bird foods containing hemp and corn, crushed seeds and nuts etc, can be utilised to make very nutritious stimulating baits simply bound together with eggs to make a dough and boiled in water. You can combine these with both carbohydrate and protein ingredients to make any recipe of bait you so desire and bait making does not have to be rocket science to catch fish! However, if all you remember from this article is that carp love amino acids and it is recommended you treat your bait as an amino acid carrier, then you can leverage this fact in your homemade baits and readymade bait dips for the rest of your life; and for more consistent huge fish catches!

By Tim Richardson.

Hiking in California during certain times of the year is so fabulous that you’ll want to go all the time. You may want to take a weekend or maybe a whole week to see the different places to go. There is hiking available around rivers, glaciers, deserts, the coastline and in the grasslands. Take your pick.

If you choose Mount Tallac you’ll have a 9.4 mile round trip hike with elevations reaching 9,735 ft. with a gain of 3,255 ft during the hike. Make sure you bring lots of water, you’re working hard and your body needs to have the fluids replenished to sustain the healthy level you need for this type of hike. There are both wooded areas and flatlands for you to care about on this hike. It is considered to be one of the ideal hiking trails at Lake Tahoe where you will enjoy the beautiful views from the summit. When you get to the switchbacks toward the top you will experience a real change to hot, just be ready for it.

If you choose to hike Upper Yosemite Falls you’ll be on a 7.2 mile round trip hike with an elevation at the summit of 6,526 ft and an elevation gain of 2,700 ft. This hike is ideal if done from May to July because the waterfall is at its full force during this time and the view is beautiful. This hike will take you through a section of switchbacks through the forest and then you’ll enter the flat area of the trial with your first view of the falls. The mist from the falls will be heavy as you get closer and then you’ll encounter another set of switchbacks before the summit. These are very steep and the most difficult area to climb so be prepared to work hard here.

Desert hiking is a little different. It’s hot and yet beautiful when you go to Mosiac Canyon. The trail is just 2.5 miles round trip but you’re in the desert so it is hot. Bring plenty of water with you. The formations of the canyon are stunning; you will be able to see nature at its ideal and maybe even some desert wildlife while on this hike. This location is the hottest place in the US so be ready to be super hot and drink plenty of water (not sodas or other stuff, water to hydrate your body!)

Mt. Shasta is the most challenging hike in the whole say of California. The trial is 12 miles round trip of body assaulting climbs. The elevation at the summit is 14,179 ft with a gain of 7,259 during your climb. You’ll need to plan this hike from between May to mid July due to the weather in the spring that can come viciously crashing in on you without much warning and in the summer the lava rocks and rolling boulders offer a hazard since they have the ability to come crashing down the mountain at any time being washed loose by the melting snow. Due to the chance of altitude sickness don’t do this hike alone, take a partner for safety and practical reasons. If you aren’t in superior shape, pass on this trail. Read all you can about it before beginning so you are prepared for the challenges you will face.

For the hike at Mt. Shasta you will want to bring sunscreen, sunglasses, and ice axe, shelter (remember, you’re going way up and the weather may change in a minute where you need protection.) Bring your crampons, helmet, summit pass, winter boots, and extra layers of clothing and plenty of water. Don’t plan on “ice melt” for water; bring it with you since most of the snow around Helen’s Lake is contaminated by urine…yes, human and animal. Sweet.

The 16 mile round trip hike of Half Dome has an elevation gain of 4,800 ft. It reaches the summit of 8,842 ft. This hike is ideal between late Might and early October. It is a difficult hike which brings people from all around the world to Yosemite National Park. If you aren’t in excellent physical shape with lots of hiking and climbing experience behind you don’t attempt this climb. The switchbacks are rocky and many ankles are hurt here so be super careful. When you reach Nevada Falls you’re at the halfway point of the climb. Here you should take the time to assess your strengths and skills to see if you’re prepared to continue on. The climb gets tougher so be ready. Not only is the climb tough but the altitude change will require some adjustment of your body so give it a little while. Rest, and then go on. The continuation is very steep, excruciatingly long to reach the back of Half Dome rock. Your body is continually assaulted on the switchbacks during this phase. The Half Dome cables will fill you with shock and fear, they should! Now, assess your capability to continue on and if you are sure you are willing, the success of the climb will give you stunning views of Yosemite Valley below. This hike is only for those that are in good, if not better, physical condition. If you aren’t then don’t do this one. There are several other trails that will superior fit your capability.

When you use carp bait blind without knowing how it works you’re using blind faith. In contrast, if you understood far more how and why key aspects of that bait induced bites and had the power to manipulate these potent effect far more then your catches will definitely improve. Read on to find out more…

Confidence in a bag, (or bottle) when it come to bait is one of great personal views for each angler, because the truth is everyone has different experiences even on the same baits, at different waters, and many anglers with put down other baits although they’ve never even used them, which is a tad bit short-sighted perhaps. Confidence mostly comes from perceptions in fishing, and certainly not from first-hand experience. But it is first-hand personal experience that is the only thing you can truly trust as fact, but I don’t mean by this that claims about commercial bait quality and effectiveness are not true.

Why would you care of you knew anything more about bait anyway; after all you catch fish right, and you have confidence in your baits? The difference between you running against an Olympic champion and anticipating to win is you can try hard as you can with the amount you already have or know, but the Olympic champion has prepared in as many ways as fully as possible for a very long time; and that’s why he’s the best; talent at the top isn’t enough! In many ways use of flavours is like a race, where so many are simple taste or flavour carriers and mere attractors, (not feeding triggers) but others are like live rocket fuel by comparison, but you could spend your life missing out by not finding out; because most anglers keep secrets to themselves…

Science is tricky and seemingly irrelevant for many anglers until they realise the enormous significance that chemicals change in solution with water and many substances are simply not the same in water as air, and fish are experiencing different chemicals all over their bodies and not just on the tongue like humans. Envision garlic on the tongue; it is mixed with air and saliva, but in mixed just water, garlic produces different compounds and the tastes and smells we experience as humans will be different ones that carp experience. This means that the flavours or pungent smells we might imagine impact on the fish may well not be present in the same form at all, and this might mean that something else is triggering a response from carp, even an internal one where something in garlic is acting to produce thermogenic (metabolism and digestion speeding-up effects for example,) and even have very potent antioxidant and antimicrobial impacts etc.

Carp may be influenced far more profoundly by internal impacts on their bodies than a simple flavour or taste offers and many proteins are thermogenic involving extra releasing of energy, and salmon is a very successful example of this, but poultry too for instance, but bait ingredients and substances impact on the brain, some far more powerfully than others! I tried an experiment today by eating wheat-free biscuits and an wheat-free doughnut too! However, after even the first bite, even though ingredients were virtually the same as the wheat-containing biscuits and doughnuts (but for only one key aspect,) taking another bite was more of a pain than a pleasure. All those good sweeteners, taste-enhancers, fruit flavours etc should have made me want to eat more right, but they did not, because I had got used to expecting something else to happen that did not; a release of feel-good hormones in the brain…

What a disappointment it was to eat the wheat-free foods and not want more! Even though they still have all the same ingredients like the flavours, sweeteners and enhancers etc, something vital was missing that made me want to keep on eating and this is why I only had one doughnut; Homer Simpson would have been shocked to say the least! There was no key vital substance in the food to make my brain release a rush of feel-good hormones that occurs naturally in the wheat-based foods.

Just imagine eating a food for years without that feel-good feeling after each morsel; making you want another one, and then eating one which does have this effect. Which one would you select?! I don’t think you would have much choice; your brain will decide for you, and that’s one reason why over-weight comfort food eaters who binge on cakes, biscuits, chocolate and many other foods, regularly can’t help themselves.

Many foods are made with substances that further impact on the brain to eat you to eat it more because it means the producers make more money and you actually get into a habit of eating it, and finding foods without such habit-inducing chemicals can be quite a hard thing to do if you try to rid your diet, body and brain to become free from their influence! Think tiger nuts or peanuts, now these are not exactly the most packed nutritional foods on the planet, but although hemp is a super food in its own right, it too has substances with brain influencing impacts and practical consideration these aspects of bait ingredients, flavours etc can really get you the edge over fish, and other competing baits. You can term it using habit-forming or addictive substances to manipulate fish behaviours or just call it good use of what a bait should really be - i.e. addictive! The bait secrets ebooks author offering this has much more to reveal to those wanting better baits and larger catches but this will certainly help you!

By Tim Richardson.

When you’re thinking about an Arizona vacation you are more than likely thinking about the Grand Canyon. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and one of the greatest assets in the Natural World. The Canyon floor runs 277 miles with beauty that you’ll be in awe of while you’re there. Not only is there the Grand Canyon to see in Arizona but a number of other options in Northeastern Arizona await your visit too.

With lots of other things to see in Arizona you’ll want to visit the city of Flagstaff and see the beautiful mountains surrounding it. There you can enjoy shopping, music and wonderful dining as well as visit the Meteor Crater Center where you will see displays of the never-ending process of impacts and collisions in our solar system by the Meteors. If you are there at the right time of year you’ll be able to see the Oldest Hopi Art Show. Of course there’s also the Painted Forest in the area which shows the beauty created in petrified wood by nature.

You can start you day headed for the Grand Canyon. Start out driving north of Flagstaff on Hwy 89 toward Hwy 64. You want to take this route because it takes you the less crowded East entrance of the park. It will save you fighting for parking and walking in crowds of so many people. When you arrive at the Canyon you should take the drive on Desert View Drive which is the longest stretch of road open to the public along the South Rim of the Canyon. Sit back, in the evening, and watch the beauty of the sun setting at the Canyon setting off the stunning colors differently than other times of the day. Each hour shows you a new view when you are at the Canyon, regardless of the time of day. Enjoy them all!

When you leave the Canyon area you may want to go to visit the John Wesley Powell Memorial Museum. Here you will learn the history of this explorer’s voyages along the Colorado River. This was done in a boat like the replica long boat on display at the museum in the years 1869 - 1871. There are also Native American and pioneer artifacts for you to see too.

Now you may want to take a ride on a boat at Lake Powell. You can find different offers in Page. This community overlooks the dramatic views of the great Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam. Page also is right next to the Navajo Nation where you might want to spend another day, visiting the area and learning about the Navajo history. That is for tomorrow for this day enjoy your boat ride on the 180 mile long Lake Powell with its over 90 canyon to explore and beautiful scenery of the shoreline.

While you’re in the area you will be able to visit Rainbow Bridge National Monument. This is the largest sacred natural bridge in the world. You can walk on it from the docking area of your tour boat. It spans 275 ft across the river and stands 290 ft tall.

The Canyhon de Chelly National Monument offers you rugged cliffs to see and stunning views. There are jeep tours that you can take and explore the Anasazi ruins. The Anaszi Indians are the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians. They were in the area as early at AD 1 and AD 1300! There are artifacts of their baskets, pottery, cloth ornaments and tools remaining for you to see.

Take a jeep tour of Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Here you’ll be surrounded by sheer cliffs and hundreds of Anasazi ruins. There are also modern Navajo homes and farms in the area. The Anasazi Indians are the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians who settled and farmed in the Four Corners region between about AD 1 and AD 1300. They made fine baskets, pottery, cloth ornaments and tools. They left behind a wide array of artifacts for you to study while you are in the canyon. This will be a fabulous stop on your trip.

Washington has increased its number of wineries by 400 percent in the last decade. Connoisseurs and the average wine consumer have found a new place to get great wines.

Regardless of the advancement in technology to reduce the work of picking the grapes and making great wine it still boils down to the skill of the wine maker to produce the quality wines Washington is now known for producing.

No, you aren’t in France in the region of the great Bordeaux and Burgundy wines, you are in Washington where the same latitude applies to give the same great growing ability for the grapes to produce fabulous wine. Many of the areas of Washington have been designated as American Viticulture Areas with more under consideration.

Taking a wine tour in the state of Washington probably isn’t something that you think of right away, but with all the great wines being produced in the vineyards of the say, all the different types of wine and all the different wineries you certainly should think about the opportunity for an off the beaten path wine tour. You will be so glad you tried it that you’ll return time after time.

It might be dinner time at your house and what better way to set a resting environment than to have a wonderful glass of wine with dinner. Perhaps you’re having something that a dry white will enhance or maybe you want a full bodied red to wake up your taste buds. Either can be obtained from one of the wineries in Washington.

Swirl it, Smell it and Slurp it! Get your wine glass, pour in your favorite wine, then swirl it around the glass to get the air to it, smell the wonderful aroma of the wine and then slurp (quietly, gently please) a little to add more air to bring out the full flavor of the wine. The experience will be totally delightful.

With 1% of the wine being produced in the say of Washington being grown on the eastern side you would think that it was a poor area for such a production. Not so, the soil is right, the growing season long enough for full flavored wine grapes to be produced and the climate is nearly perfect. It will soon see a big increase in the wineries in that area of the state.

The French, Italians and Germans began planting wine grapes in the state as early at 1825 for their own use when they were settling the area. Commercial planting of wine grapes didn’t being in Washington until the 1960’s with rapid expansion of the industry occurring in the mid-70’s. Now there are new wineries opening every couple of weeks for your enjoyment.

Mississippi tourism can cover a wide range of things to see, from the Ghosts and Legends tour in Columbus to the “Candlelight Ghost Tour during Halloween Week in Vicksburg. Or you can go over to Noxubee County and visit the jail that was erected in 1907 and has operative gallows. Of course, there are things that are far less frightening to see in Mississippi such as the beautiful Magnolias mansion in Aberdeen with its antebellum architecture, exquisite mahogany staircase and beautiful furnishing. This home was built in 1850 and offers daily tours.

You might want to halt in at the Tom Bevill Visitors Center and Museum in Pickensville. This museum show the story of life on the river in this replica of an 1830 - 1860 Greek revival antebellum plantation mansion built on the Tombrigbee River.

Racing is huge in Mississippi and you can visit one of the tracks in Columbus, the Columbus Speedway where there is racing on Saturday nights from March through September. The 3/10 mile, high banked clay oval track will give you lots of thrills as the vehicles speed around amidst the dirt and noise! The track is just 7 miles east of Columbus on Hwy 82 so it’s simple to get to and offers a great Saturday night of enjoyment.

If you’re interested in the African-American Heritage of the area you might want to schedule your Mississippi tour to come during the month driving tour that celebrates Black History Month. Here you can take a tour of the African-American Heritages sites of Columbus. Friday night, during the celebration, you can enjoy “Catfish in the Alley,” featuring Catfish and blues music downtown on Catfish Alley. The driving tours are at 9 a.m. 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. with stops at historic sites around town. The tours on Saturday are free.

Take a Mississippi tour of the small town of Magnolia and visit the two National Historic Districts this community has to show off. There’s the Myrtle Street District which is a reminder of what life was like at the turn of the century and the Southtown Historic District which shows off a variety of late nineteenth century residential homes. You’ll be able to step back in time as you admire the three Mississippi premier Queen Anne residences and an antebellum Greek revival cottage.

The City of Magnolia can be reached by Interstate 55, north or south, at exit 10, from the east on Highway 48 from Hattiesburg, Ms., and from the west on Highway 24 from Liberty, Ms.

Now a Kansas Vacation can be one that is filled with history, beautiful lands, great museums, good sports, festivals, cultural events and attraction and great people! You can choose to spend you Kansas vacation in a big city like Kansas City or you can go to the many small towns in the say and get a taste of what makes Kansas special. Primarily, it’s the great people.

When I tell you that you can visit the small towns it’s no joke. Kansas has a large number of towns under 1000 people. Take Selden for example. Here, according to the July 2007 report there is a population of 177. Although there are small towns there’s huge pride and friendliness so stop in and say hello. There is land enough to give you some space, views that go on for “ever” and history that will keep you interested for hours on end. Try your luck hunting the pheasants at one of the ranches or farms that take you out during the season.

Ghosts, goblins and scary homes, that’s what you can expect when you visit the “Most Haunted Town in Kansas.” Atchison not only takes pride in this title but they’ve the Haunted Atchison Trolley Tour in September and October to take visitors around to the different homes that are acclaimed to be haunted. You will ride on the 1880 AT&SF trolley while seeing houses such as the McIntreer Villa where lights in the tower go on and off and there is not electricity there, ghosts appear in the windows and in family pics. Hear the footsteps that are in rooms where there is no one and doors closing in rooms that are empty. Scary! The one hour tour will show you a number of homes in the community that are claimed to be haunted…come and find out all about them.

If you enjoy the one-of-a-kind you’ll enjoy Henry’s Sculpture Hill near Augusta. Here are an array of sculptures created from steel and/or found objects which will enchant you and entertain you. Since this is a private hill, the creator has stopped giving tours for now because of “maintenance, insurance, old age, and attitude, [but] serious buyers who are looking for original steel sculptures are welcome by appointment.” So, if you see something you want to buy, make sure you go and talk to him, otherwise, just look and leave him alone for now. How refreshing to have someone of his artistic talent be so brutally honest.

Have you ever thought about being in the Garden of Eden? Well you can be, right there in Lucas, Kansas! This very special “log cabin” was guilt in 1907 by a retired school teacher and Civil War veteran and in the final 31 years of his life created this unforgettable legacy in three parts. The “log cabin” was built with logs up to 27 feet long and cared from limestone. Dinsmoor, the builder, call it “the most unique home for living or dead on Earth.” He gave tours of this 11 room home during his lifetime. Now tours are given daily May through October. Weekends in January & February. Weekdays March, April, November & December. The cost for the tours is just $6 for adults and $1 for age 6-12. The garden is built of limestone and 113 tons of concrete and tells the history of the world starting with its creation. Come and see the 150 figures plus other forms such as insects to 40 ft tall trees in this one-of-a-kind and fascinating garden in the small town of Lucas.

Manhattan and Junction City are the home of Fort Riley. Here you can experience the history of the past and see the current military strategies. You can tour the last cavalry training stables with its original cobblestone flooring which used to house 76 horses. Today it still houses horses for the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard where 20 head are ready for parade all the time. This facility was built in 1889. When you are through with this tour there are a number of others that will be just as interesting for you to see and enjoy.

Take the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway to see the true color of Kansas. Here the hills are filled with canyons, rolling hills, mesas and buttes in stunning color, right in central Kansas. The red cedar tress add a beautiful touch to the terrain. The land is red because it is full of iron oxide which is actually rust. Get off the paved roads to see the real beauty but keep in mind that this is open range so keep your eyes open for animals.

No one can state that those from Kansas don’t have a sense of humor. In the town of Canton there are two water towers, one Hot and one Cold. Now how many towns do you know that would do that? It’s great to know there’s such a place in Kansas!

It might sound strange to imagine a fish as a tongue, but that’s what they’re in effect in water; and exploiting this fact is well proven to catch you a shocking amount of fish! Too many anglers think like anglers instead of seeing and sensing things from a fish perspective and this often is the difference between an average angler and a big-name one! It’s the substances leaching and dissolving into water from your baits that seriously impact on specialised taste and smell cells, (plus other senses) all over the external and internal surfaces of fish and realising that this is similar to taste buds on your tongue is something you can hugely exploit with bait to absolutely transform your catches…

Carp and catfish often live in the same waters and are targeted by anglers fishing in similar ways for each so I’ll place these together. A good reason to use catfish and carp together as examples of tongues that swim is the sheer number of physical similarities in substance detection and also their shared quite similar essential nutritional needs that often means the same bait design can catch both; and very huge ones too! Many anglers know tiny about the specifically adapted cells in and outside of fish that enable them to detect substances in water on a chemical level even down to a few parts in a million or even billion, and this is one of the most powerful aspects of fish we can exploit with our baits to make them far easier to catch!

Humans tasting a bait substance is rather an exercise in personal taste and view as opposed to a scientific method of selection, as our senses have been severely dulled over the course of evolution and current cultural revolutions such as that of farming; but some indigenous hunter tribes eyesight is perfect at 20 / 25! Another point is that specially evolved cells called receptor cells are found in various concentrations on the external and interior of fish. These have many various special adaptations.

It is noticeable that carp will detect various substances using cells and groups of cells that are specially adapted for the purpose, detecting particular essential amino acids especially well in certain combinations for instance. To detect foods and your bait substances special cells are found in fish in the skin, the face and head, the lips, barbels, fins, nose, mouth, throat and so on. You might wonder how carp detect oils in water, but even these are very slightly soluble and adding lecithins is an important point here too!

Apart from cells involved in chemical detection in the water better known in olfaction and chemoreception, there are several others, such as the specialised lateral line pit cells. These continue from the tale, along the flanks and down around the eye and along the bottom of the jaw ending very near the mouth. These are so vital to Cyprindae fish for example, that the jaw of these fish is shaped to grant this distribution of nerves and sensory pit arrangements from millions of years ago in their evolution.

The potential food, opportunities and predator detection systems in carp and other fish represent a multipurpose aquatic scanner which we would be very short-sighted not to exploit using our baits for maximum effect! Knowing more about the sensitive systems of fish such as carp, can help us locate them in the water, and concentrations of carbonic acid or ammonia for example can lead to fish being located and feeding in one swim more than in others through different temperatures and seasons for example. The highly adapted cells in carp and other fish will often detect things humans can’t detect and often carp will appear to behave appropriately in advance of certain changing weather patterns, changing air pressures and temperature changes etc, and water density and pressure changes may be involved more than we might think.

Your bait substances in solution (in the water) are detected by many various cells not least by the vital barbels covered in very high densities of receptor cells that help carp locate and identify potential foods (and threats too!) Your bait is very much more effective if it pumps out high concentrations of stimulatory substances that are easily dissolved or imbibed by water, and so much more easily detected by fish olfaction and chemoreception systems (and by others too!)

Fish are able to detect these solutions and home in and follow the concentrations back to where they are highest and so find your free baits and hook baits for example. This is where balanced nutritional baits and nutritionally boosted readymade baits can really do manipulate fish feeding behaviours and dominate fisheries and catches! This is especially in the case where as many essential needs are covered as possible in a bait; so giving your fish multiple essential reasons to eat your bait and all the so-called bio-active substances used in baits all add to this impact!

This kind of bait exploitation of vital fish senses approach can even give your own adapted or homemade baits greater advantages over other anglers competing baits. So as you can appreciate, it will certainly pay you to find out more!

By Tim Richardson.

Getting back to nature can be a fun way to experience life. But finding out at 4 am that your tent can’t stand up to the elements is a lesson learned the hard way.

Camping in the wilderness requires the use of a good tent. There is nothing worse than deciding to “rough it”, only to find you’re exposed to rain and wind.

Camping tents can be as easy as a two-person pop up model, or an elaborate three-room family affair. What’s important is having a dependable tent that’ll save you from undue aggravation or danger.

There are lots of things to look for in finding the perfect tent to fit your needs. Think about the shape of the tent, along with the weight, types of poles and setup time. If camping alone, be sure to choose a model that’s simple to assemble. If you’re not sure, ask an associate at a sporting goods store or outdoor outfitters.

Finally, be sure that the tent will fit in your automobile, while leaving room for all of your other gear.

Size it Up

Size most definitely matters when it comes to choosing a tent. Make sure that there’s enough room for you, and your fellow campers. Everyone needs to have space to stretch out and to move around. You might be using air mattresses, so keep that in mind when judging the depth. The tent must be high enough to stand up, or at least sit up. Manufacturers tend to overestimate the number of people that can sleep comfortably in a tent. So, while it is possible to cram four fully-grown adults into a four-person tent, you’ll all sleep superior in a six-person model. Similarly, a two-person tent might be able to hold two people, but they’re clothes and food will have to wait outside.

Weigh Your Options

If you’re headed to a remote location and will be hiking or portaging to camp, you simply can’t take along a heavy tent. A large canvas tent has no business going along on a ten-mile hike. You’ll also be bringing all of your clothes, gear and food, so the last thing you need is to be weighed down even more by your tent. There are several lightweight models available that provide comfort and security. If, on the other hand, you’ll be driving to your campsite in a car that can handle plenty of cargo, then go ahead and pack a huge tent.

Material

Most of today’s modern tents are manufactured with lightweight nylon or taffeta. These are strong, durable materials that can stand up to all types of weather. Be sure that the tent you select is certified waterproof. You might pay a little extra, but it will be worth every penny when the storm clouds begin brewing.

Assembly Required

Ask to see the assembly instructions before you purchase the tent. Then, try assembling the tent at home before you leave on your camping trip. The tent you choose should be simple to assemble with few or new tools required. You’ll have a lot to do when you reach camp, and you don’t want to spend a lot of time fighting with a difficult tent. Camping is about resting and becoming one with nature, not stressing and struggling with a tent.

For many, camping is an activity that’s meant to be fun. However, you mustn’t lose sight of the fact that choosing a tent is serious business. Your tent must be comfortable and easy to use, while offering protection from inclement weather and curious wildlife.

The colors in the Upper Peninsula in the fall will be well worth the trip to see. There are nine different areas that are suggested. The first is a trip of 105 miles from Hancock to Lake Linden, on to Lac La Belle, Bete Grise and then to Copper Harbor. Leave Copper Harbor and go to Eagle River and on to Calument and Laurium and back to Hancock. The route covers Mackinac County with the peak color expected in mid-October, Chippewa County with the peak color expected the first two weeks of October, Luce County with peak color expected the first two weeks of October and Schoolcraft County with the peak color also being the first two weeks in October. This is called the Eastern Upper Peninsula tour.

Visitng the Central Upper Peninsula your tour would go from highway 107 to 64 where you begin at Silver City and on to Ontonagon. Now go to Highway 45 to Rockland and Victoria. Now you will have to backtrack a bit to highway 26 and on to Greenland. At Greenland you take highway 38 to Baraga and then hwy 41 to Chassel and Houghton. Now you take hwy 26 to Twin Lakes and back to Greenland. This tour will be approximately 200 miles. The season for you to see the peak colors of fall begins the first week of October and runs for about three weeks.

Now you can take the third tour which takes you on hwy 2 from Ironwood and Wakefield to Watersmeet, Iron River and Crystal Calls on the Western Upper Peninsula. Then take hwy 141 to Covington and then to highway 28 to Bruce Crossing and back to the beginning at Wakefield. Peak season for seeing this colorful route is the last week in September and the first week in October.

The 4th tour starts in Ishpeming on highway 29 and goes to highway 510 to Nagaunee and Huge Bay, take highway 550 to Marquette and then 29 to Munising, on to highway H 58 to H 15 for a drive to Singleton and then highway 28 to highway 94 to Chatham, Gwinn and then on 35 to Palmer and back to Ishpeming. All toll this route is 165 miles long.

Tour 5 is a little shorter beginning at Iron Mountain and Norway on Hwy 2 to Spalding, hwy 41 to Menominee and Hwy 35 to Cedar River and Escanaba. This is 125 miles long.

Now on to tour 6 which is from Esdanaba on highways 2 and 41 to Rapid River. Turn onto highway 2 and go to Manstique and Saint Ignace. Even though this tour is 183 miles it runs quite straight along the bottom area of the peninsula.

Tour 7 is form Whitefish Point to Paradise on hwy 123 then to Newberry and hwy 28 to Seney where you take 77 to Grand Marais and H58 to Deer Park and back to hwy 123 and Paradise. This is 150 miles long.

If you thought you had taken all the tours of this area you are wrong, there are two more stunning experiences for you to enjoy. Tour 8 starts at Saint Ingace on hwy 75 and toes to Kincheloe and Sault St. Marie. Now head south to highway 129 and Pickford to highway 48 for a visit to Goetzville and De Tour Village where you’ll get on 134 to Cedarville and then back to Saint Ignace. Another trip of 150 miles.

The ninth tour opportunity is off hwy 28 where you go to highway 123 and enter Eckerman. Following 123 north you will go to Paradise and then back to the intersection where you turn east toward Curley Lewis Scenic Hwy and follow that to Bay Mills and Brimley. This is the shortest route suggested for the fall viewing of just 90 miles.