Fishin The Net By Joe Danzl Publisher and Webmaster of Chicago Fishing Links

In a recently released ad campaign, a popular computer retailer uses some well-known celebrities in a variety of television commercials. While using celebrities isn’t unusual, what is unusual is who the celebrities are. They range from Alice Cooper to George Hamilton. If you’re wondering how Alice Cooper can help them sell computers, you’ve fallen right into their hands. The ad campaign shows a group of celebrities that the general public would otherwise believe to be computer illiterate.

It then proves to you that looks can be deceiving by showing the same celebrities using computers for a variety of tasks pertaining to their particular talent or interest. Thus delivering the "If they can do it, anyone can do it" style of ad campaign. But what if the company decided to use everyday people instead of the obviously more familiar celebrities? Who would fit the mold of the computer illiterate poster child of the 21^st century? Would they have picked on the farmers? How about construction workers? Or how about athletes and outdoorsmen? To tell you the truth, in this day and age computers are being used in nearly every walk of life. This is especially true with today’s outdoorsmen, fishermen in particular.

In recent years, there has been a surge of fishing related web sites being developed and introduced around the world. Fishermen everywhere now jump on the computer to access the Internet and their favorite sites several times a week. They do so not only purchase equipment, but to also check out the latest fishing conditions of their favorite fishin’ hole, plan their next fishing trip, check current or upcoming weather conditions, or to learn any one of the thousands of proven (and not so proven) fishing techniques. They even use it to purchase live bait.

Who would have thought ten years ago that one of the most important and useful electronic devices an angler could purchase would be a computer? Now day’s it is more common for an angler to own a computer than a boat. And while the pricey boat dreams of some fishermen include the best boat on the market, and as many "toys" as the boat can hold, the cheapest of computers can introduce him (or her) to a world of knowledge and opportunity that would have otherwise seemed incomprehensible in years past.

Realistically speaking, shopping and reading on-line is only the tip of the iceberg. By utilizing the Internet, anglers have found a new means in which to communicate with each other. Gone are the days of getting the best fishing reports from the local bait shop or from week or month old outdoors sections of the local newspaper. Anglers now use message boards, newsgroups and chat rooms to communicate directly with each other in regards to thousands of fishing related topics. Up to date information can now be obtained after spending only a very minimal amount of time on the computer. The end result enables the angler of today to venture out to the most recently productive body of water, know the best time of the day to fish, and know which baits or lures have been the most productive. All of which greatly increases an angler’s odds of catching the most or biggest fish possible.

Unfortunately, there are a couple downsides to all of this. The most obvious is that even best computer on the market will never actually catch the fish for you. Another is that even the most Internet savvy anglers are still prone to the same old fish tales that have been told in bait shops and bars since the days of the caveman. No longer can you judge the truthfulness of a fish tale as you look into the angler’s eyes and see the sweat dripping down his face as he tells you of his latest battle with nature’s best. Keep this in mind when you read the latest post from "SuperAngler", who brags about his 30-LB King that took over 2 hours to reel in on only 2-LB test (bare handed, of course). You’ll quickly find that the only difference between this fish tale and the one he would have told you in person, is that you can’t watch his nose grow bigger than his alleged 30-LB King as he nervously recounts every grueling detail of his greatest triumph ever. I guess it’s "back to the old drawing board".