Preplanning is always an important aspect of an enjoyable and successful time spent outdoors. The internet features numerous websites of benefit to the outdoorsperson, places where you can determine weather, water levels, public access and much more.

Here are a few of the sites I've found most useful, some of which I visit on nearly a daily basis.

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Weatherunderground.com— There are a lot of weather websites on the net. Weatherunderground is easy to use and packs a bunch of features of interest to the angler and hunter.Besides the basic weather forecast, you can get a detailed look at the upcoming conditions. The day is broken into three-hour segments, with listings for temperature, probability of rain or snow, wind speed and direction, and cloud cover.Maps of regional and local radar can be consulted. Click on the animate option and you can judge the direction and speed in which the weather is approaching.Another map option provides a look at the precipitation history. This can aid an angler in determining how recent rains will affect certain flowing waters.A look at the marine weather forecast also can be viewed from weatherunderground. By clicking on various segments of the Great Lakes, you can find out what the wind and wave forecast is for near-shore and off-shore areas, a nice feature when the big water fishing season rolls around.•

Waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis is a page that will link you to one of the most valuable sites there is for anglers who fish streams and riversClick on the real-time data tab and you will see a map of Pennsylvania covered with numerous icons. These icons each represent a U.S. Geological Survey stream flow gauge. Such gauges are located at several locations on all of the state's rivers and many of its streams.Clicking on an icon will retrieve, in graph form, the past seven-day flow histories recorded at that gauge. Stream height and flow volume are provided.It takes a bit of field work to create a basis from which to judge this information. Say you fished Buffalo Creek one spring day during excellent conditions. Record what the flow was that day when you return home. That way you have a number to compare things to when you are planning a trip the following weekend.• Winter steelhead anglers should consider visiting the website

fisherie.com. This site has an abundance of good information for the angler considering a visit to Lake Erie country, which means steelhead fishing presently.Steelheaders will find fishing reports provided by anglers who have made recent visits to the streams.While some information on sites such as this must be taken with the proverbial grain of salt, you can usually determine items such as recent stream flow and color.The watersheds that drain into Lake Erie are short. They rise and fall rapidly. Stream conditions play a significant role in how well the steelhead fishing is in Lake Erie tributaries.In addition to the Lake Erie information,

fisherie.com also has regional fishing forums where anglers can post information relative to the fishing. The southwest and northwest regional forums typically are of the most use to anglers from this area.A high speed internet connection is necessary to properly navigate the sites listed.