Being well prepared for your next fishing trip can help you put more fish in the boat. Part of being prepared has to do with having a variety of rigged rods that are ready to go. While some may accuse you of having too many fishing poles, there are many situations when those extra rods end up saving a trip. For example, if you're fishing for bass but happen upon a school of crappies, having crappie rods in your rod locker that are rigged and ready to go can make all the difference.

It's also a good idea to always keep a spinnerbait rod handy. While you're working the weed edges for fish on a quiet morning, you may often see bass and northern swirl on the surface as they are chasing down their next meal. These predator fish are quite easy to catch when they are in this mode if you cast a spinnerbait close to the surface swirl and start a slow retrieve.

Several fishing supplies manufacturers and distributors source product from Japan, such as Jackall Lures, and they have provided an update about their production and exporting in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami in that country.

Ty Ono at Jackall said the good news is that no one at the company was directly affected by the disaster and their facility was not damaged. They expect very little backlog or downtime as a result, but they do anticipate delays in exporting and importing materials to make baits. This is due to the fact that so many supplies and building materials will be coming into the ports to rebuild and clean the hard hit areas, so there will likely be prioritizing of what comes and goes. Jackall has a good supply of product already in the US in their California warehouse, so they don't anticipate it will affect US anglers as much.

Fly fishermen may be wondering why they are having trouble finding hackle fishing supplies to tie a Pheasant Tail or Hares Ear Emerger. "American Idol" judge Steven Tyler may be to blame, because he has it in his hair. As do actress/singer Miley Cyrus and thousands of celebrity fans who want to recreate these looks by wearing chicken feathers in their hair. It is reported that fly-fishing shops can't keep hackle in stock.

It's been" flying" off the shelf, as hundreds of hair salons are scrambling to keep up with demand for the latest hair trend featuring premium hackle as women's hair extensions. They are called feather extensions and are bonded to the hair with carotene wax. Chicken farmers can't keep up with demand from salons because each bird has 200 to 280 sellable feathers, and it takes a year to grow a rooster to a suitable plumage.