Steve
05-31-2005, 11:13 PM
I am always flattered and intrigued by the nature and number of questions I
receive about angling, whether of a local or general nature. I'd like to
present to readers some of the more interesting and relevant examples from
this year thus far.
I hope you find the exchanges both interesting and informative:
Q: "Why in the world would someone buy 20- or 30-pound test line to fish
for 2- or 3-pound fish? This seems like overkill at best and unfair at
worst."
A: Because they have to consider conditions as well as the fish itself.
Running your line in, around and over rocks, timber, lily pads
(surprisingly tough!) and other abrasives takes its toll on the best of
lines. You may begin your fishing day with 25-pound line and end it with 8
- even though it's the same stuff. Also keep in mind that some species
fight disproportionately well (salmon, bass, trout), whereas some species
are the opposite (walleye, crappie). Wise line choice must consider
conditions as well as specie.
Q: "I was out at Walborn the other day and was constantly preoccupied with
a sizable school of what appeared to be baitfish - possibly shad -
appearing at the surface close enough to me to afford the opportunity to
throw everything in my tackle box at them, with no response. Why wouldn't
the gamefish that were obviously chasing them hit something?"
A: Most likely, there were no gamefish chasing them. Fact is, in the fall,
gamefish do indeed put on the pre-winter feedbag and regularly herd
baseball infield/sized schools of baitfish surfaceward in the midst of
savage attacks highly visible to area anglers. These predators are not
always bass, pike or muskie, but when they are no lure is as effective as a
lipless crankbait (Spot, Rat-L-Trap) tossed past the visible activity
pockets by 25 feet or so, and then retrieved steadily after a 2- or
3-count. Sometimes you'll be surprised to find the pursuers to be crappie -
or even walleye. An example of this is the late fall-early winter shoreline
walleye bite off the Erie breakwalls, like at Huron and Vermilion. It is
about the closest walleye come to actually approaching honest
categorization as true gamefish.
Here's the contrary news: When you espy this same kind of baitfish activity
in spring, it is rarely predator-related. Baitfish - especially threadfin
shad - are notoriously temperature-sensitive, as witness the spring fish
kills along those same Erie shorelines, so prolific at times that locals
are forced to temporarily abandon their homes, so putrid is the smell.
Consequently, anglers who scored easily on the autumn bite are often
frustrated and incredulous at spring failures under apparently similar
conditions. The shad are literally forced by oxygen depletion into the far
upper reaches of the water column, not by bigger fish.
Q: "As I improve as an angler, I am more than ever intrigued at the thought
of joining a tournament circuit. What are the pros and cons?"
A: My initial response is to just say "do it." Some things to consider,
though I hesitate to label them necessarily as "cons," are: Cost; travel;
an amicable and reliable partner; an understanding or, even more
preferable, non-existent spouse; a reliable and appropriate craft for the
waters on the circuit schedule; time to practice - with your partner; and a
competitive nature.
Having said this, I would encourage anyone to whom fishing is their primary
hobby to fish a tournament circuit for at least a season at some level for
either bass or walleye, hopefully sooner rather than later. You can only
benefit from the experience of interacting with others of similar passion
for the sport. You'll learn more from osmosis than watching all the TV
angling shows for a month. The primary lesson you'll learn is to quit
making excuses for yourself. We all are ready with the excuses after a
failed day at our favorite fishin' hole: Bad biorhythms, moon phase, cold
front, inferior mojo, warm front and water clarity are only some of the
litany of alibis we've all used after a bum day. Well, if we really
believed in the potency of such factors, we'd have never went in the first
place, as those factors existed that morning as well. In tournaments,
someone always comes in with fish, regardless of the above variables -
usually more than a few someones. Deal with it. Learn from those better
than you on at least some waters at least some of the time.
Q: "Regarding rods - graphite or fiberglass?"
A: I hate to have to qualify things, but it depends on the conditions and
methods, if not the specie pursued itself. I'm sorry the answer isn't one
word, but it simply won't do. However, let me make it as simple as I can.
If I were employing a float (bobber), flinging a crankbait, trolling
anything, fishing buzzbaits or using spinnerbaits of any kind, I would opt
for fiberglass. Fiberglass of even generally equal cost as graphite will be
much stronger, far more durable and much more flexible for better flinging
artificials to be retrieved in horizontal fashion.
Conversely, if I am using any kind of jig, plastic worms, tubes or
bladebaits (Vibe-E, Sonar), I must use quality graphite. Graphite is
infinitely better for transmitting any subtle bites and/or hits to be
deciphered through a shallow or deep water column - i.e., tubes on Lake
Erie. A good soft-plastics angler can tell you if the bottom is gravel or
sand, or if that was a stump or rock you just came over. However, graphite
is no advantage when utilizing a bobber, as the bobber itself will signal
the strike. For instance, it is always comical to me the number of
steelhead anglers quick to brag of the cost of their chosen hyper-quality
graphite steelhead rod just prior to affixing a float above their egg-sac
or jig & maggot. For a fifth of the price of that prestigious, expensive
and now thoroughly inappropriately employed ego-stick, they could have a
fiberglass pole far stronger and more flexible, with a much better
parabolic action for flinging the smallish lures and light line best
utilized for steelies.
Any questions?
*
Jack Kiser is the host of the "Buckeye Angler" TV show on PBS and Ohio
Editor of "Midwest Outdoors" magazine. You may contact him through the
Record-Courier (126 N. Chestnut St., Ravenna, OH 44266), or at his Web site
at buckeyeangler.com.
receive about angling, whether of a local or general nature. I'd like to
present to readers some of the more interesting and relevant examples from
this year thus far.
I hope you find the exchanges both interesting and informative:
Q: "Why in the world would someone buy 20- or 30-pound test line to fish
for 2- or 3-pound fish? This seems like overkill at best and unfair at
worst."
A: Because they have to consider conditions as well as the fish itself.
Running your line in, around and over rocks, timber, lily pads
(surprisingly tough!) and other abrasives takes its toll on the best of
lines. You may begin your fishing day with 25-pound line and end it with 8
- even though it's the same stuff. Also keep in mind that some species
fight disproportionately well (salmon, bass, trout), whereas some species
are the opposite (walleye, crappie). Wise line choice must consider
conditions as well as specie.
Q: "I was out at Walborn the other day and was constantly preoccupied with
a sizable school of what appeared to be baitfish - possibly shad -
appearing at the surface close enough to me to afford the opportunity to
throw everything in my tackle box at them, with no response. Why wouldn't
the gamefish that were obviously chasing them hit something?"
A: Most likely, there were no gamefish chasing them. Fact is, in the fall,
gamefish do indeed put on the pre-winter feedbag and regularly herd
baseball infield/sized schools of baitfish surfaceward in the midst of
savage attacks highly visible to area anglers. These predators are not
always bass, pike or muskie, but when they are no lure is as effective as a
lipless crankbait (Spot, Rat-L-Trap) tossed past the visible activity
pockets by 25 feet or so, and then retrieved steadily after a 2- or
3-count. Sometimes you'll be surprised to find the pursuers to be crappie -
or even walleye. An example of this is the late fall-early winter shoreline
walleye bite off the Erie breakwalls, like at Huron and Vermilion. It is
about the closest walleye come to actually approaching honest
categorization as true gamefish.
Here's the contrary news: When you espy this same kind of baitfish activity
in spring, it is rarely predator-related. Baitfish - especially threadfin
shad - are notoriously temperature-sensitive, as witness the spring fish
kills along those same Erie shorelines, so prolific at times that locals
are forced to temporarily abandon their homes, so putrid is the smell.
Consequently, anglers who scored easily on the autumn bite are often
frustrated and incredulous at spring failures under apparently similar
conditions. The shad are literally forced by oxygen depletion into the far
upper reaches of the water column, not by bigger fish.
Q: "As I improve as an angler, I am more than ever intrigued at the thought
of joining a tournament circuit. What are the pros and cons?"
A: My initial response is to just say "do it." Some things to consider,
though I hesitate to label them necessarily as "cons," are: Cost; travel;
an amicable and reliable partner; an understanding or, even more
preferable, non-existent spouse; a reliable and appropriate craft for the
waters on the circuit schedule; time to practice - with your partner; and a
competitive nature.
Having said this, I would encourage anyone to whom fishing is their primary
hobby to fish a tournament circuit for at least a season at some level for
either bass or walleye, hopefully sooner rather than later. You can only
benefit from the experience of interacting with others of similar passion
for the sport. You'll learn more from osmosis than watching all the TV
angling shows for a month. The primary lesson you'll learn is to quit
making excuses for yourself. We all are ready with the excuses after a
failed day at our favorite fishin' hole: Bad biorhythms, moon phase, cold
front, inferior mojo, warm front and water clarity are only some of the
litany of alibis we've all used after a bum day. Well, if we really
believed in the potency of such factors, we'd have never went in the first
place, as those factors existed that morning as well. In tournaments,
someone always comes in with fish, regardless of the above variables -
usually more than a few someones. Deal with it. Learn from those better
than you on at least some waters at least some of the time.
Q: "Regarding rods - graphite or fiberglass?"
A: I hate to have to qualify things, but it depends on the conditions and
methods, if not the specie pursued itself. I'm sorry the answer isn't one
word, but it simply won't do. However, let me make it as simple as I can.
If I were employing a float (bobber), flinging a crankbait, trolling
anything, fishing buzzbaits or using spinnerbaits of any kind, I would opt
for fiberglass. Fiberglass of even generally equal cost as graphite will be
much stronger, far more durable and much more flexible for better flinging
artificials to be retrieved in horizontal fashion.
Conversely, if I am using any kind of jig, plastic worms, tubes or
bladebaits (Vibe-E, Sonar), I must use quality graphite. Graphite is
infinitely better for transmitting any subtle bites and/or hits to be
deciphered through a shallow or deep water column - i.e., tubes on Lake
Erie. A good soft-plastics angler can tell you if the bottom is gravel or
sand, or if that was a stump or rock you just came over. However, graphite
is no advantage when utilizing a bobber, as the bobber itself will signal
the strike. For instance, it is always comical to me the number of
steelhead anglers quick to brag of the cost of their chosen hyper-quality
graphite steelhead rod just prior to affixing a float above their egg-sac
or jig & maggot. For a fifth of the price of that prestigious, expensive
and now thoroughly inappropriately employed ego-stick, they could have a
fiberglass pole far stronger and more flexible, with a much better
parabolic action for flinging the smallish lures and light line best
utilized for steelies.
Any questions?
*
Jack Kiser is the host of the "Buckeye Angler" TV show on PBS and Ohio
Editor of "Midwest Outdoors" magazine. You may contact him through the
Record-Courier (126 N. Chestnut St., Ravenna, OH 44266), or at his Web site
at buckeyeangler.com.