|
There are three key secrets to making sure you catch your share of fish.
Actually, they aren’t secrets. What they amount to is exercising control of the few variables associated with sports fishing that we can do anything about.
Perhaps tomorrow morning you’ll head out for a bass fishing adventure. Keep something in mind when you get to the lake. It’s that you can't do one blessed thing about air temperature, water temperature, wind direction, wind velocity or whether the day is going to be cloudy or bright. Each of those situations is beyond your control.
But there are those other things I mentioned that you do have opportunity to control. Until you know what they are, and then build them into your angling procedures, you’re not going to join that elite 10 per cent of anglers who catch 90 per cent of the fish.
The first variable I have in mind is to develop your ability to cast accurately. The second is to match your tackle to the problems you're up against. The third is to know how to best use the lures you select for the desired results. This time around let’s look closely at that first variable.
 |
I had to put my lure in exactly the right spot to get this nice largemouth to grab it. |
I've written before about the importance of practice as a means of developing casting accuracy. Practice is the answer to developing skill with any kind of fishing tackle, but darn few anglers are willing to recognize that fact. It's hard for me to understand why that is because we accept practice in so many other kinds of participant recreation all across this wonderful country.
There is one exception and it's fly fishermen. For some reason serious users of the long rod realize how much practice can help. It's not uncommon for them to take lessons and to spend time at practice. You almost never see anybody doing the same thing with a bait casting reel or a spinning outfit.
It certainly isn't because fly fishing is all that much more difficult. I'm convinced it's actually easier to learn fly casting, provided you have quality, balanced equipment, than it is to achieve pinpoint accuracy with the level wind reel.
I'm forever having someone come up to me at an outdoor show to say they would like to learn how to use a level wind reel but the one they have backlashes all the time. Invariably, when I ask such an individual if they own a practice casting weight or if they've ever used one, the answer is no.
Had that same individual bought a new fly rod, he'd probably have practiced with it. Why fishermen won't accept the same need for practice with a casting rod and a level wind reel escapes me
 |
| Do you have a set of these casting weights? If you don't, you should. The time you spend developing casting skills with these practice weights will help you put more fish in the boat. |
If I had to rate the different kinds of equipment as to the degree of difficulty in learning how to use them, I'd say spinning was easiest, followed by fly casting. Using a casting rod with a level wind reel would be most difficult.
Mastery of your equipment is essential to consistent fishing success. The sooner you accept that fact, and do something about it, the sooner you’ll put your share of fish in the boat.
In my next two columns we’ll take a look at the other controllable variables I mentioned in the beginning---the need to match your tackle to the problems you’re up against and how to get the most out of the lures you’re using.
-To Be Continued-
|