Your next big fishing adventure starts online

Get off the couch and go fishing!

Hands up everyone who has heard us make that call more than once or twice over the past few years.

Get the kids away from the computer and take them to the local fishing hole!

Sound familiar? Yes, we’ve pretty much made that our mantra at the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. (FFSBC).

OK, now we want you to ignore those two calls to action… at least for a bit… and pay attention to our new online fishing tools that are guaranteed to help you make you next fishing adventure even more satisfying. That’s right, we want you to use the computer the help you make your next outdoor adventure even better!

FFSBC has added two new, innovative online tools to its website to help experienced and aspiring anglers plan their next great fishing adventure from the comfort of their home computer. We’ve harnessed the convenience of You Tube and the power of Google Earth to create two nifty new online tools that are certain to make most anglers’ next fishing adventure more productive and more fun.

For the past four years we’ve been offering novice anglers free fishing guides and tips on our www.gofishbc.com website. The information is detailed and helpful, and we suspect that most people have printed the information and used it as reference material for their local fishing spots, or read it to learn more about fishing techniques.

Last year government began offering fishing licences and classified waters permits online so that anglers could just click on http://www.fishing.gov.bc.ca/ and buy a licence at any time of the day or night.

This year we’ve taken the next step and created a series of You Tube fishing tutorials that will provide aspiring anglers with detailed information in an accessible video format. Hosted by well-known fishing guru, Rodney Hsu (owner of the website Fishing with Rod), the tutorials offer detailed information on fishing techniques, tackle and equipment, locations and a variety of other subjects. We’ve got seven clips posted at the moment and we’ll be adding more in the coming weeks and months. So have a look at http://www.youtube.com/ffsbc and learn more about the best ways to succeed on the water.

FFSBC also has a new online tool designed to help anglers find information about which fishing locations best suit their needs. For the past few years anglers have been using our Fish Wizard tool to search for lakes by name and gather detailed information about the size and layout of individual fishing locations. If you haven’t tried it visit http://www.fishwizard.com/ and type in the name of you favorite local lake.

Now anglers can also use Google Earth to access a new FFSBC tool that provides a visual guide to just about every significant lake in B.C. (complete with the cool Google Earth dropping out of the sky effect!) as well as access to customized maps for trip planning, detailed information about current lake stocking activities and plans, and links to information about local services and amenities. It’s customizable so users can tailor the information to fit their specific needs.

So don’t jump in the car yet, get online and start planning your next trip using our cool new tools to make it a real success. Then, get the kids away from the computer, and get off the couch and go fishing!