bass fishing tips

ESPN (the magazine), formerly an abbreviation of Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is published bi-weekly and owned by an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting mostly sports-related programming twenty-four hours a day. The company was founded by Scott Rasmussen and his father Bill Rasmussen, along with Donny Stanley and his son Cardell and was first launched on September 7, 1979 with the show SportsCenter (which aired its 25,000th episode on August 25, 2002).

ESPN was originally owned by a prestigious joint venture between the Getty Oil Company (which was purchased by Texaco later on) and Nabisco. As of 1984, the entire family of ESPN networks and franchises are owned by ABC and the Hearst Corporation. ESPN was started as an alternative to standard television news broadcasts and the information that is usually found in the Sports sections of newspapers. It was begun as a fairly small-fry operation at first and they had to broadcast unorthodox sporting events such as the Worlds Strongest Man Competition, the short-lived United States Football League (USFL) before ESPN landed a contract to show National Football league games on Sunday evenings in 1987.

ESPN the Magazine, like the industry leader in sports television that created it, is big, bold and brash like most of the athletes that it portrays and it uses its oversize format to show off very striking full page images and splashy sidebars. Contributors to the magazines include familiar on-air talent such as Dan Patrick, Chris Berman, Stuart Scott, Rich Eisen, Linda Cohn, Peter Gammons, John Clayton and many others (including the athletes themselves).

In comparison to other sports magazines, ESPN gives you broader features such as playoff previews, personality profiles, photo spreads with a major emphasis on basketball, football, baseball, hockey, soccer and some newer extreme sports. ESPN mainly targets young, active men whose lifestyles include watching sports, attending games and participating in different types of athletics. The editorial focus of ESPN Magazine plays off the news and includes what happens in sports and which match-ups and young players to look out for. Also, ESPN emphasizes both the humor and fun of both mainstream and off-beat sports.

Bass fishing in the United States has a rather interesting history - instead of being influenced or derived from the European sport, US bass fishing has developed mainly on its own. In fact, Europeans - especially the British sea bass fishermen - have actually adapted many US freshwater fishing techniques to improve their own performance.

Bass fishing first for sport first became popular in the early 1800s. While many sport fishermen sought out trout and salmon, it was the sustenance fishermen - those fishing to eat or to sell their catches at market - who caught bass. They used poles and live bait, and it was these fishermen who "invented" the sport of bass fishing. In fact, most of the terms, concepts, and literature of today's bass fishermen have their roots in this historical form of bass fishing.

Artificial lures first became available in the mid 1800s as the sport of bass fishing evolved. While the first artificial lures developed were used for trout and salmon, fly patterns specifically aimed at bass were soon developed. These lures were heavier and built to be used with fixed-spool casting rods. These artificial lures were updated even more in the late 1800s as poppers and other types of floating lures were first developed.

Another major development in the sport of bass fishing was the expansion of the US railroad system to cover a larger portion of the country in the 19th century. This newfound mobility not only allowed humans to cross the US more quickly, but also led to new types of bass being shipped across the states. Fishermen discovered that bass were capable of surviving in barrels, making them the perfect fish to transport on trains. Largemouth bass were stocked in the many artificial lakes and ponds created by the dams that were built to provide water for the trains' steam engines, while smallmouth bass were released in rivers from states in New England all the way to California.

From 1890-1895, the US Department of Agriculture actually suggested farmers stock their ponds with largemouth bass as a means of sustenance and economic incentive. The department even assisted some farmers with constructing their farm ponds, bringing these bass to new areas around the country. Following World War II, fishing became even more popular, leading to the first large-scale bass fisheries. Even the introduction of fishing licenses and fees for them did not discourage bass fishers - especially in the south where the largemouth bass multiplied quickly in waters that were simply too warm for other game fish.

Another cause of an increased interest in bass fishing occurred in the east. Many rivers had been dammed up due to industrialization, which caused their waters to become polluted or warmer than usual, killing off a large number of trout. With waters too warm for most game fish, smallmouth bass were brought to the rivers as a replacement. While the pollution did cause a decrease in the smallmouth bass population over the years, improvements in water regulations have seen the smallmouth bass regain their popularity and their large numbers today.

The 20th century has witnessed the creation of specific bass fishing rods, reels, and other tools to assist fishermen in their quest to capture bass. These advances have continued to modern times, keeping fishing for bass of all types a popular sport for fishermen across the country.

The author writes about bass fishing for http://BassFishingTechniques.net, a site providers readers with extensive advise on bass fishing techniques.

The next time you drop a line in the water off the side of a boat equipped with the latest sonar devices, dig into the cooler beside your feet for a favourite beverage and kick your feet up to enjoy a relaxing day of fishing.

Fishing is one of the oldest activities known to man. Archaeologists have found ancient dumps of shell and bone, cave paintings depicting fishing and even hooks made from bone. There is even a theory that states we might be closer to the fish we try and catch than we think. The "Aquatic Ape Hypothesis" contends that human beings spent a time living by and catching their food from the shallows of lakes and oceans. The controversial theory contends years of living that helped us to look different from the apes and chimpanzees thought by some to be our ancestors because of this time evolving by water.

The ancient river Nile was an angler's paradise. The Egyptians relied on fresh and dried fish as a staple in their diets, and the various methods they used have been well represented in many ancient representations from their lives. Although they had some tools like nets, baskets and even hooks and lines, the fish caught were often clubbed to death. Perch, catfish and eels were among the most important catches in the Egyptian times.

The other bed of civilization, Greece, did not share Egypt's love of fishing. Still, there is a depiction on a wine cup from 500 BC that shows a boy kneeling over a stream with a live capture net in the water below him. It's unclear why the boy was 'fishing' however, since the device is clearly for live capture. There is also evidence the Romans fished with nets and tridents off the sides of boats. One of their most famous Gods, Neptune, is depicted usually with a fishing trident. There are references to fishing in the Bible, too.

Perhaps the most recognizable tool for fishing is the hook. No one knows for certain, but it's quite probable prehistoric man was using some form of a hook over 40,000 years ago. Experts have had some problems pinning down exact dates since they know most of the materials used back then were most likely wood and not very durable. British Isle anglers catch fish with hooks made from the hawthorn bush, right up to the present day. Although Stone Age man had the tools necessary for making bone hooks, it is hard for scientists to get exact dates since bone does not define its age well. The oldest known hooks have turned up in Czechoslovakia, but others have turned up in Egypt and Palestine. The Palestinian hooks are believed to be over 9,000 years old, proving that fishing has been around for a very long time indeed.

Indians on Easter Island made their hooks from a gruesome material. Since human sacrifices were abundant in the area for some time, the natives made their fish hooks out of the most plentiful material around - human bone. Fish hooks made of human bone were the norm there until missionaries arrived at the turn of the last century. In addition to hooks made of stone, bone or wood, ancient man often combined material to make composite hooks with barbs that kept the bait on.