INCREASING YOUR FISHING SKILLS
Several years ago I fished the fabled Manistee River in north-central Michigan, one of the very best brown and brook trout streams in the Midwest. My host was a local guide who knew all the tricks for catching these fish, even when conditions were tough and they didn’t want to bite. We had chosen one of those days!
We were fly fishing, and our delicate dry flies had tempted only a few small brookies. The bigger browns were no-shows!
My guide wasn’t to be denied. When our dry fly presentation failed to produce, he started poking around in his fly box, and he came out with an ugly-looking wet fly called the “Skunk.” After tying it on, he started picking up brown trout by casting the fly upstream of deep holes and root wads and allowing it to sink down to where the fish were sulking in the shadows.
It didn’t take long for me to bum a Skunk off my teacher and start copying his “dead drift” method of offering it to the trout. Regardless of its ugly appearance, this fly was the perfect imitation of “dinner” served to the fish. It changed a slow day into one I remember now for its fast action and “tempestuous trout.”
One of the best ways to learn more about fishing is to hire a guide for a day of on-water instruction. Go with the objective of learning about fishing, and don’t be afraid to ask your guide questions about his methods.
What’s the lesson here? When it comes to fishing, you’ll never know everything! You’ll never be too smart to pick up new information or tricks that’ll help you catch more fish, regardless of species. Savvy fishermen are those who continually add to their knowledge and skills, who master new techniques, and who dare to try new waters and species. Learning to fish should be a never-ending process for both beginners and experts. Beginners just have more to learn.
After you’ve mastered the basics, it’s time to expand your knowledge of fishing. The following instructions will serve as a guideline to help you do this.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT . . . ALMOST!
Anglers are athletes, even though their sport doesn’t demand the strength of football players or the stamina of long-distance runners. Fishing requires a unique combination of mental and physical skills, plus a measure of finesse. One common thread binds fishermen with other athletes: The more they practice, the better they become. If you fish a dozen times a year, you’ll be better than if you fish only twice a year.
Fishing practice does two things. First, it increases your mental sharpness. You learn from your mistakes, which are inevitable. Practicing allows you to experiment with different baits and techniques, to build an inventory of spots, baits, and methods that have produced fish in the past. In essence, frequent fishing trips build a storehouse of experience from which to draw when presented with new or different situations.
Second, practice develops the physical coordination and “feel” you need to be an effective angler. You’ll learn to be more comfortable with your tackle and better able to tell when you’re getting a bite. You’ll also know when to set the hook and you’ll be more in tune with the total fishing environment. This all combines to improve your consistency in making good catches.
CASTING PRACTICE
Over the years I’ve fished with many of North America’s top fishing pros, and I’ve asked them, “What do average anglers need to work on most?” The most frequent answer has been “casting accuracy.” In many fishing situations, getting a bite depends on being able to drop a lure or bait in exactly the right spot—not two feet to the side, back, or front.
That’s why beginning fishermen should work at learning to cast accurately. You can do this in spare time by practicing in your backyard. Set up a target—bucket, garbage can top, etc. Next, tie a practice plug onto the end of your line. (A practice plug is a plastic, teardrop-shaped weight with no hooks.) Back away from your target and cast to it over and over. When you’re able to hit the target consistently, move back to 15 yards, then 20, then 25.
Begin casting by holding the rod in front of your nose. Line it up with your target, and make your cast. When you’re comfortable with this style, add sidearm, backhand, and underhanded pitching casts. Practice low skipping casts for those times when you have to get a lure under obstacles such as boat docks and overhanging limbs. For skip-cast practice, use a long driveway or sidewalk to emulate water surface.
Practice frequently, but keep sessions short—approximately fifteen minutes. Concentrate on making smooth casts or pitches, allowing rod action to propel the plug. Don’t overpower it. Accurate casting is a matter of easy coordination rather than strength.
ATTEND FISHING SEMINARS
Fishing seminars are held throughout the country, usually in late winter or early spring. Most seminars take place in tackle shops, sport shows, large retail stores, colleges, or similar sites. Some are free to attend, while others require an entry fee. These seminars feature experts who can give you pointers on local fishing. When you attend, take notes, ask questions, collect available literature, and analyze how the tips apply to your fishing spots and methods. Watch for seminar notices on TV, in tackle stores, in the local newspaper, and in magazines and other advertising outlets.
FISH WITH A GUIDE
Another way to add to your fishing knowledge is to take lessons from a pro. Golfers, tennis players, and other athletes take lessons, and anglers should consider doing likewise.
The way to take lessons in fishing is to hire a guide for a day of on-the-water instruction on a lake or river you want to learn. This is better, though more expensive, than attending seminars. In this case, the “classroom” is a lake or river, and you get to learn “hands-on.” A guide will answer your questions and show you proven spots and techniques. Overall, this one-on-one session can be the greatest shortcut to fishing success that you will ever take. Look for a guide’s advertisements online or in a local newspaper.
Expect to pay about $100 to $250 per day. If that’s too expensive, perhaps you can share the cost with a friend or relative who also wants to fish.
Go with the objective of learning about fishing. Ask your guide how he finds fish, why he fishes the way he does, and what tips are most important. You’ve employed a tutor, and it’s up to you to learn as much as you can from him. If you catch fish and have fun, that’s a bonus. But your main focus should be to gain as much practical fishing information as possible.
FISH IN A TOURNAMENT
You can also get on-the-water instruction by entering a fishing tournament. Nowadays many high school and college teams across the country participate in tournaments and an Internet search will help you find the program that’s right for you.
There are also open tournaments that you might be able to join as a co-angler. In these “draw” tournaments contestants are paired by random drawing. In this case, your tournament entry fee is similar to money paid for a guide. It’s your cost for sharing the boat and observing an experienced angler performing at his best.
There are risks in this. You’re taking a chance that you might not draw a good partner, though most tournament contestants will be seasoned veterans. You won’t be able to quiz your partner as you would a guide because he will be concentrating on fishing and won’t want to be distracted by your questions. But you’ll be able to study how he fishes and most partners won’t mind offering an explanation of what they’re doing.
Attending a fishing tournament—as a contestant or a spectator—is a good way to increase your fishing skills. As a contestant, you’ll get to match your talent against others and hopefully improve your self-confidence. Even by going to a weigh-in you can learn useful information by listening to anglers describe techniques they used to catch their fish.
If the idea of entering a tournament appeals to you, don’t be shy about following through. Just explain to your partner that you’ve entered as a learning experience and you’re willing to try whatever tournament tactics he wishes. Chances are, he’ll be happy not to draw a partner who wants to go somewhere else or veer from his fishing strategy.
Even if you don’t compete in tournaments, go to the daily weigh-ins and pay attention to what the contestants who bring in the heaviest sacks have to say. They often reveal how they caught their fish and what they were using. Such information can be very useful in the future.
BOOKS, MAGAZINES, VIDEOS, FISHING WEBSITES
Anglers who want to increase their knowledge of fishing also can buy, subscribe to, rent, borrow, or log onto instructional books, magazines, videos, or websites. Many of these are too technical to benefit beginners. But hopefully you are now beyond the novice stage and you’ve progressed to the point that you can learn and benefit from such teaching aids.
You can be selective because there are so many different books, magazines, videos, and websites available. There are publications, videos, and sites specifically about fishing for bass, crappies, trout, etc. Choose those that offer details about catching the fish you’ve selected as your target species and that are most relevant to the waters you fish. Also, it’s possible to find online fishing friends with whom you can chat and ask questions.
Don’t overlook the local public library. All libraries have fishing books and a variety of fishing and outdoor magazines. Most also have computers with internet access available to the public.
JOIN A FISHING CLUB
As noted, a number of organizations promote fishing through high school and college teams and tournaments. Look for them on the Internet. Many towns and cities also have fishing clubs and most welcome new members, though there might be a minimum age requirement. By joining, you’ll make new friends who share your interest in fishing, and you can learn a lot from other members. Beside looking on the Internet, you might be able to get contact information for a local fishing club through your state’s fish and wildlife agency or an area fishing tackle store.
Practice might not make an angler perfect, but it will certainly improve his skills. The more an angler fishes, the better he will become at such things as reading water, casting, detecting bites, playing fish, and so on.
KEEPING A FISHING LOG
To beginners, fishing might seem like a continuously changing sport. Fish move from place to place. They prefer different foods at different times. One day they’re active and biting anything that moves. The next day they’re inactive and they refuse the most tempting baits.
Over the years, though, you’ll learn that fish follow definite patterns. Learn as much as you can about their behaviour and use it to your advantage. At certain times of the year, under certain combinations of weather and water conditions, fish will be very predictable in terms of location, lure preference, etc.
Anglers learn to recognize these patterns and predict fish behavior in two ways: through years of fishing experience and making mental notes, or by keeping a written log and referring to it before each new outing.
The written method is more reliable than memory and it’s a faster way for beginning fishermen to put together a body of facts for future reference. I recommend that all fishermen maintain a log and update it after each fishing trip. Some tackle stores and mail-order retailers sell fishing logs, or you can keep your own on a personal computer. Record dates, locations, weather and water conditions, methods, baits and tackle used, fish caught, and other details.
Even little fish can produce big thrills, and anglers who can cast well will catch more fish—period! Being able to toss a lure into tight spots where fish are hiding is very important. Anglers should practice casting in the backyard to improve their ability to do this.
If you have a favorite body of water, keep updated on it with a map showing the location of fish caught by yourself and others. As the seasons pass, you’ll develop a network of locations that should be visited again and again.
Keeping a log takes effort, but it will help you recognize patterns for choosing the right spots and methods. Also, in years to come, a log will rekindle warm memories of enjoyable trips in the past.
Ethics & Etiquette
Good Bank-Fishing Manners
Don’t crowd another angler who got to a spot first. If somebody is already fishing where you wanted to fish, let him enjoy it. Go find another spot, or at least don’t fish so close that you get in his way. If another angler is casting his way down a shoreline, don’t circle and move ahead of him.
