I was talking to a friend about Cape Hatteras. He had just left and was on his way up Highway 12 as we talked. As I often do, I was looking at the computer for the fishing report. In fact, the search had prompted me to make the call. As he described a dismally slow weekend, the web site glowingly went on and on about the number of fish being caught, describing how the bite was still happening, just not where he’d been fishing.

Everything that’s good has a bad side and the internet is no different. The worst thing about it is how you can plan to spend five minutes looking up a certain kind of fish hook and four hours later after looking at every rod, reel, line, lure, hat, wader, rod rack, tackle shop… well, you know how it goes, you realize you forgot to look up the hook.

OK, so I’m guilty of spending too much time on the web, myself. When I’m writing my column, I’m always plugged into the web. I can look up people’s names, locations, specifications on products, and which way the wind is blowing at this very minute. It is probably the best resource the outdoorsman has for getting long term or instant information. It isn’t perfect, but it’s the best thing we’ve ever had.

The sites vary from abysmally bad, self serving, advertisements to really informative up to date sources where you can get a complicated question answered within minutes. Some sites are just vanity projects folks put up as a monument to themselves; others are effective communication networks for special interest outdoorsmen where you can learn things that would take half a lifetime in a few nights of digging.

I’ve found the best sites are bulletin boards with a moderator and anyone who wants to log in being able to contribute. In these sites, the pretenders who are perfectly willing to spread folklore and what they’ve read as their own experience are generally sniffed out by the posters who have real knowledge pretty fast.

There are bulletin boards on almost any activity known to man and some you probably don’t want to know about. The best information comes from very specific boards. For example: if you want to know about an antique fishing reel, find a site that deals with just that. A regular fishing site will get your responses, but not accurate ones. Also, look for sites that are active. A really active site will have up to date posts on most of the topics and several people looking at the board at any given time.

One of my favorite sites is Double Gun BBS. At any time, there are more than a dozen knowledgeable people on this site about double shotguns. Some are interested in classic American guns, some in English guns, some in gunsmithing issues, some are collectors and some are shooters. With this broad base, I can get an answer that would have taken a lifetime before the net. Some of them have so much knowledge, I’ve tried to encourage them to write a book. There are hundreds of similar sites on different subjects.

On the bulletin boards, you can learn how to tie a knot, put your shotgun back together, find out if the ducks have come down yet, learn what the weather is across the country, or get opinions on which of three rifle scopes is the best. As with all human interaction, there is a certain amount of bias, but the bulletin boards often allow enough of a person’s personality to show through for you to decide if they’re biased in some way that would affect their opinion.

To look for a board that covers the topic you want to research, search for the topic description and type in that word and bbs. If you don’t hit anything on the first try, experiment with different words for the same thing or perhaps the activity the item is used for. For example, for surf fishing rods, you might start with surf fishing bbs.

On the commercial side of the internet, there are all kinds of functions like finding charters for fishing trips, places to hunt, guides, locations to stay, not to mention checking out and comparing products. If I were buying a shotgun for instance, I’d look at all the guns of interest, check out the bulletin boards that covered these models, look up some product reviews and then, if I was was sure of what I wanted, I might even shop online.

Opportunities for buying used items are also enhanced online. In fact, I rarely buy new online, due to shipping, transfer charges, and other hassles, but I’ve bought a lot of used items. With sites like Gunbroker, Guns America, Guns International, and Auction Arms, you can see what used guns normally sell for and often purchase what you’re looking for that’s very lightly used. For fishing items, Ebay is hard to beat.

Using the internet can make a difference between a productive trip and a washed up or blown out one. The ability to check weather all over the world, read fishing reports, download maps, use Google earth photos, check river levels, and buy hunting licenses online is just icing on the cake.

Having said all that, the temptation is to just get on the net and start surfing. You can do that and have a lot of fun. Just don’t forget that the real fun is outdoors. I’ll see you out there.