Angling's great frustrations are not fickle weather or stubborn fish. What really gets under our skin are those irritating little equipment breakdowns or our own errors. You know the type: You're trying to fish a short river run and begin snagging bottom every other drift. You skillfully work a terrific bass out of the thick vegetation only to lose it at boatside. Your new line pops and you were fighting the fish like you would handle a hollow hand-painted Easter egg.

Such blood boilers are doubly bothersome because unlike weather and fish moods, we expect that they should be controllable. Actually many are. Here is a handful of little problem-solving tricks I like to call the frustration busters; they're aimed at eliminating or reducing specific problems we all have periodically.

Take that business of snagging an irregular bottom when drifting a lure or bait down a river for walleyes, steelhead, salmon, or bass. It can cause newcomers to spend most of their time muttering, breaking off, and re-rigging while vets philosophically accept a certain amount of lost time and terminal tackle as the price of the game. If you're drifting close to bottom, which you must do to catch fish, nothing will prevent snags completely. One sinker rig, however, will slip over and through snags where plain or eared split shot or pencil lead will hang. It's the so-called slinky made of a short section of nylon parachute cord or polypropylene woven casing into which split shot are stuffed. You make up a batch of these little items with various amounts of weight beforehand, sealing the ends of the tube casting with a lighter or other heat. Open a snap swivel and push the wire through the woven fabric at one end of the slinky and close the snap. Then you can run a leader through the snap-swivel eye (for a slip-sinker set-up). For a non-sliding bottom bouncing rig with monofilament, tie the eye of the snap swivel (attached to the slinky) to one eye of a three-way swivel. The shot-filled tube drags through and over most bottom debris and rarely hangs up. Your bait, fly, or lure runs behind. Fly fishers can utilize sections of and old fast-sinking fly line in the same fashion.

Now how about brand-new monofilament that breaks in strange places. Skipper Barry Gibson is a long-time friend who loves to work striped bass on light spinning tackle in the rivers and their rugged outflows along the Maine coast. He was having line failure on six-pound test when he didn't think he should have. "The manufacturers tell you to cut off and retie after casting awhile. I did that. They tell you that line fatigues from passing over the guide, or after enough stress from casting. My line was breaking lower down. I thought maybe it was getting frayed in a line roller or something. Finally I used a magnifying glass to check my line-holding finger. It was rough. It was acting like sandpaper, fraying the line. Now after fishing awhile, I cut off down below where my finger grabs the monofilament above the bail. That takes care of the line from that point up, too."

Another danger area for line fray is the loop knot you tie to give various swimming plugs better action. Many anglers prefer a line loop to hardware like snaps or snap-swivels. Check mono loops regularly and retie as needed.

Fish lost at boatside are a disappointment even if you plan to release them on the spot. Usually you like to take a photo or at least gloat a moment, holding up the prize before releasing it. Most bass anglers have mastered the trick of thumbing largemouth bass--grabbing the fish by the lower jaw. Concerned anglers now are realizing that the stress of lifting a big fish that way can do serious damage to the jaw, and they are using their other hand to help support the fish. It's often more difficult to get a thumbhold on smallmouth bass with their more diminutive mouths. One trick, if you aren't using a net, is to scoop your hand beneath the fish, and turn it upside down. Now begin lifting in the belly-up position. Smallmouths will usually remain fairly calm in the inverted position. You can then work your thumb in for the jaw hold. The trick works on trout and other species as well.

If you use double-prop topwater plugs like the famed Nip-I-Diddee or Bass Agitator, you've doubtless been frustrated when a loop of line wrapped around the front propeller. Not only does it kill action on the retrieve, it can also cause line fray. Bass researcher and skilled angler Doug Hannon simply removes front prop or uses rear-prop baits only. There are times, though, when the added commotion caused by a double-prop bait is desirable. What to do? Topwater bass expert and lure designer Sam Griffin has another answer. Cut open a small diameter rubber band, tie it tightly around your line using an overhand knot. Trim the ends to about 1/16 inch, then slowly (to avoid friction-caused heat), slide the knot so it's an inch ahead of the lure. When using light line (up to eight-pound test) in windy weather, try tying on two pieces of rubber band next to one another. According to Griffin, the rubber bands add a bit of weight and cause the line to stiffen slightly at the points where the are tied on. The result is the line is less likely to flip over the propeller.

Hooks tangled in a landing net are a pain to work free when fish are biting. Net-tangled hooks can also result in a fish you intended to release being kept too long out of water (don't keep him out longer than you can hold your own breath). Pinching down barbs--especially on treble hooks--is one answer to quick release from net meshes. This is especially true with fish like pike that tend to twist wildly in a net. Rubber meshed nets are far less likely to tangle. A common saltwater technique can avoid nets entirely when dealing with big northerns, muskies, catfish, salmon, and other trophy-size fish. Use a release gaff. There are many small gaffs on the market or you can make your own with a size 1/0 Mustad Round Gaff Hook and a wooden handle.

When the fish is at boatside, simply insert the hook in its mouth and then bring the hook down and around strongly so it pierces the lower jaw and holds the fish against the side of the boat until it quiets down. The small clean wound will heal as quickly as the jaw wound from catching the fish. And it entirely avoids the dental work of toothed species. If you want to spend about a hundred bucks for a lifetime tool that grips a fish without injury and weighs it, too, check out the Boga Grip in better tackle shops. Take another tip from saltwater anglers and wear a cotton glove on one hand for a good tail or body grip on the fish.

Tennessee rod handles, those plain cork grips with no reel seats, are popular with many bass anglers. Your spinning reel is taped to the cork grip. Problem is the reel feet often shift under heavy casting or the stress of fighting fish, and the reel yaws dangerously at just the wrong moment.

To securely tape a reel to the grip, try this tip from the late tackle tinkerer and manufacturer Bing McClellan. First tape on the reel feet with strapping tape, that cream-colored plastic tape with non-tearable fibers running through it. Then cover these wraps with the traditional black plastic tape for a tight and smooth finish.

Tight quarters and heavy cover present problems for all lure presentations. Anglers using casting reels and a flippin' or pitchin' technique overcome the inability to make normal casts. What about the spin fisher who suddenly finds himself in a tight canal, heavy brush, or timber. Not to worry. A gentle version of the old so-called bow-and-arrow cast will get your bait or lure where it needs to be. Right-handed anglers simply open the bail of a spinning reel and hold line with the right forefinger in the normal way. The left hand grabs the bend of the rear hook on the lure. Then pull back the lure. You point the rod at the target, open the left hand, and release the line from your right-hand forefinger simultaneously. Your offering is catapulted low to the target and will land gently. And this is an accurate cast. Fly casters in places too tight for a roll cast will find they are also able to work a variation of this technique--though not to the same distance--to flip poppers or wet flies beneath obstructions. A back-handed cast also helps fly casters when obstructions occur behind them or on their casting-arm side.

To do it, face away from target and begin false casting. The presentation will be behind you. If you find you're not getting good distance on the backcast, make sure to shoot a little line when making your final lay-down cast the way you normally do when casting forward. It will also help accuracy.

Keep this little collection of tricks tucked away. They╒ll assuage a hot temper and get you rapidly back to fishing.