Are fishermen made or do we just come that way?

I’m of the opinion there are a bunch of folks out there who feel as I do where that question is concerned.  My contention is the majority of us who love to fish were “hooked” from the time we first drew breath.

Here's additional proof that Connor Mitchell knows what a nice sized kokanee looks like.

I’ll bet Tammy Mitchell would agree.  So would Connor, Tammy’s 11 year old son.

Connor Mitchell may only be 11 years old but he's already a darn good kokanee angler.  The youngster was recently named "Junior Angler of the Year" by California's Kokanee Power organization.

Tammy and her son live in Kelsey, California.  They live there, that is, when they aren’t off fishing somewhere.  And fishing is something this mother and son team does a bunch of.  Most often they go after kokanee in one or another of the Northern California lakes that hold these good eating landlocked salmon.

Have they been successful?  You can believe it!  If you need proof just consider that young Connor was recently named the “Angler of the Year” for the junior division of California’s Kokanee Power organization.  You win that award by earning points given for fish caught in Kokanee Power tournaments.

Kokanee Power is a non-profit organization of members and volunteers who are dedicated to the enhancement of California’s inland kokanee, trout and salmon fisheries.  The group has more than 1,000 men and women who volunteer their time and donate financial resources to accomplish the organization’s goals.

Like other members of this California fishing group, Tammy and her son participate in other activities besides taking part in the tournaments.  They’ve provided tackle and helped with the teaching of other youngsters just getting into fishing.

Not all members of Tammy’s immediate family of four are all that fired up about fishing.  Bill, her husband, is a geologist and really not into angling.  Neither is Tre, Connor’s older brother.

Visit with Tammy as I have and it doesn’t take long to discover that here’s a woman who takes her fishing seriously.  What she doesn’t know about it she sure as heck suspects.  One of the things I found out in a hurry was the regard both she and her son have for the Mack’s Lure products they favor for their kokanee angling.

Wedding Ring spinners are right at the top of their favorite lure list.  “Connor,” Tammy says, “regards the Mack’s Lure Kokanee Pro Wedding ring as his secret weapon.  He favors a pink color best and I like an orange shade.”

Connor Mitchell says a Mack's Lure Kokanee Pro is his "Secret Weapon" when it comes to catching kokanee.  It's also a favorite of his mother, Tammy.  Connor and Tammy having been inseparable fishing partners ever since Connor learned how to walk.

I asked this likeable California lady exactly how she presented her Kokanee Pros to the fish she and Connor are trying to catch.  “First,” she says, “we attempt to determine where the fish are feeding.  That may vary, depending on water temperature and plankton growth, from near the surface to as deep as140-feet.”

They get their lures where they want them with a downrigger.  “We use a dodger ahead of our Kokanee Pros,” Tammy says. “We use from 16 to18-inches of leader between the dodger and our lures. We find that this set up gives our lures the action we want.”

While husband Bill isn’t into fishing himself, he has encouraged Tammy and Connor to pursue the sport they both so obviously love.  Tammy and Connor now have their own boat and motor and everything that’s necessary to go with it. They take their boat and trailer wherever they choose to go and do their own launching as well as take out.

Tammy has loved to fish for as long as she can remember.  “I first fished with my grandpa as a child,” she recalls.  “I loved it.  Grandpa was also the one who introduced me to the Wedding Ring spinners.  Once we found them we got rid of the heavy metal blades we had been using.”

Connor also needed no encouragement where fishing was concerned.  “I started taking him almost as soon as he could walk,” Tammy says.  “Like me, he’s loved it from the very beginning.”    

And that’s why I posed that question in the beginning of this column---just what is it that makes some of us want to catch fish from Day 1 while other family members don’t give a toot if they ever pick up a rod.  Again---I think some of us are born that way.

I know I was.  I’m convinced Tammy and Connor Mitchell were too.

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