My new year's resolution this year was to be a better fisherman. I really feel that I've been meeting that goal, though I still have a long way to go.I first learned how to catch fish when I was around seven years old. My uncle Mike took my brother and I out after sunfish and bass on Silver Lake in Wilmington, Massachusetts. I caught a sunny and my brother caught a 10 inch bass, which we cooked that afternoon.
After that I could pull in little bullheads on a certain pond while visiting relatives in Massachusetts in the summer time, but otherwise my fishing career was limited to sunfish and bluegills for a very long time. Most people never move beyond catching sunnies off of a dock and I might very well have become one of them. My father would take my brother and I fishing periodically and this usually consisted of tossing out worms on Zebco 202 combos. After a while, the idea of catching anything bigger or different became abstract and foreign. There were only sunfish. Still, I was pretty happy.
As a teenager I learned how to really hunt for largemouth bass in a pond behind our house after we moved to Virginia. However, I had no idea what these fish were even called. They were big silvery things that I had to stalk up to along the bank, keeping my steps light and my shadow off of the water. They were good to eat. I knew nothing about spinning rods or how to select the right lure or hooks. I kept using the same little Mepps soft rubber lures that I had sent $2 off in the mail for when I was 10 years old. I still have one of those lures, by the way.
In retrospect, I lost a lot of big fish because I was using undersized hooks.
Over the last few years I've really tried to up my game and become a real four season fisherman who can bring home many different species to put on the table, using a variety of means of take. This year is when everything finally clicked.
I don't hold myself out to be some type of expert fisherman, by the way. I still have a lot to learn. But when I go out fishing in a spot that I know well, as often as not I come home with dinner. There are a few things that have really helped me out this year that I'm going to share with any new or lapsed fishermen reading this. So many of us started out catching sunnies off of a dock and never moved beyond that and I want you to know that it isn't that hard.
1. Study the fish. Whatever species you want to catch, read about its whole life cycle and what motivates it throughout the year. How does it respond to changes in temperature, barometric pressure, underwater structure and food sources? Yes, equipment is important and the magazines are full of information about gear. But understanding your prey should always come first. Someone who knows the fish can still catch them on $20 worth of tackle, while a guy who didn't know anything except how to plunk down $500 for a state-of-the-art set-up probably won't catch anything.
2. If something isn't working, change it. Don't cast the same lure 100 times in a row if you aren't getting a single bite. Try something different. Sometimes the fish won't touch a spinner but will jump straight on a rubber worm. Other days its the opposite. Carry a variety of lures with you and change them out when things aren't working.
3. Don't be afraid to get snagged. Casting into open, unobstructed water is easy but isn't always where the fish are. In hot weather they want shade, just like you do. Some predators like largemouth bass will sometimes hang out under overhanging trees waiting for insects to fall off and hit the water. Crappie like to hang out in schools around submerged trees. The same stuff that catches your hook and line so easily also tends to attract fish. If you aren't risking snags much when fishing freshwater then you probably aren't doing it right.
4. Get interested in the fish that are there. So maybe you have a lake full of carp that other fishermen aren't interested in. Or a river full of redhorse suckers. Well, as much as I love to catch largemouth bass and as much as many people love to catch muskies, most fish are good to eat and fun to catch once you learn how. There are a lot of fishermen out there who know a lot about how to catch one particular species but their opinions on anything else should be totally ignored. Don't ever let anyone tell you that carp, bullheads, suckers, or any other fish is bad to eat or not worth trying to catch. Nine times out of ten, the guy who tells you that has never actually eaten the species in question. Cook it yourself, and then judge.
By the way, I still love to catch sunfish. This very afternoon I caught three largemouth bass, one of which measured an honest 16 inches. The pair of hand-sized sunnies that I caught and kept for dinner fought almost as well and will taste just as good. I will never be too proud to catch sunfish off of a dock, even if I have moved beyond the old Zebco 202.
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In case anyone is wondering, my basic freshwater bass set-up consists of a Shakespeare 'Ugly Stik' rod paired with an Eagle Claw brand 'Water Eagle' reel. The Water Eagle reel is nothing special and probably won't last through another season. But as cheap reels go, the Water Eagle reel has held up better than most others in its price range have for me. Shakespeare's Ugly Stiks are good rods for the money but the reels that come with their combos are junk. Pairing an Ugly Stik rod with another brand of reel is a good way to go on a low budget.
[Photo copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers. All rights reserved. This is an 18 inch bass caught by my friend Fergus Clare, who is holding it.]
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