Learnin' Without Daddy's Knee

[HeavyDluxe]

Hi all...

As I mentioned in my introduction post, I fished a little as a kid with my father and the stopped until just last summer. Last year, a neighbor was cleaning old tackle out of the garage, offered some to my son, and he started to get interested in fishing. Like any dad who wants to be with his son, that meant I started to get interested (again). And, because of my personality, that has blossomed into full-bodied addiction.

One of the challenges I think I have as an angler is that - when you get right down to it - I'm mostly as green as my son is as a fisherman. My father worked swing shifts, so fishing outings were relatively rare and, when we did go, dad wasn't really known for patience. So, I feel like I'm learning everything new while trying to help my son learn and enjoy the hobby. There are also a couple other kids in the neighborhood who are my son's age without fathers in their homes. They've started to occasionally tag along with us to either or the town's two ponds (though I do keep some time 'special' for just my son and I).

Anyway, all that is to say that I want to learn well so I can care for these young men. I'd like them to be able to learn with/from me in a way i didn't get to enjoy as a kid. Since my dad doesn't fish anymore and is hours away from my home, I get to turn to the internets for help. So, this thread is my attempt to get 'fatherly' advice from you guys. I hope you don't mind, and I thank you in advance. I will probably post a question to this thread periodically (so as not to overload the board with new threads), and I've placed it here in the "Other Species" subforum because, while bass is a lot of what we're after, there are lots of panfish, perch, trout, and other thing that need catchin'.

So, here's the first question for you guys... We're a nerdy, homeschooling kinda family, which may explain in part why I am so concerned with wanting to learn, learn, learn about fishing. What are your top books for general fishing knowledge? I'm specifically interested in species behavior/specifics that will help me 'think like a fish'. Starting with a couple solid books will help me keep the questions down for a while and fuel my second lust (books!!).

Thanks in advance for your help... I look forward to, perhaps, being able to be a resource to you all down the road.

- Dluxe

[J Francho]

To get started, the In-Fisherman Strategies books would be perfect for you. They are a little dated, and there are some pretty impressive mullets in the pictures, but everything is relevant and valuable to shortening the learning curve.

http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/0929384113

When you get to specific questions, post away here.

[roadwarrior]

For bass fishing, spend some time in "Fishing Articles" at the top of the page.

[North Ga Hillbilly]

Id also get some split shot, an assortment of cheap bait hooks and some floats. Then hook on some worms, I use these basic methods for panfish and trout, youll catch a bass every now and again too. Easy way to stay busy while you read up. Getting out and doin some fishing is also a great way to figgure them out. See where they will bite, then learn behavior from there.

NGaHB

[Lund Explorer]

To begin with, welcome to Bass Resource. It contains a wealth of information that is going to help you and your son become better fishermen. Besides this site, I would second the suggestion about In-Fisherman. Many of their older books and magazine articles were my source of reliable information back in the day. Much of what they have to teach you is still relevant today as to where to find various species. Quite often that baits they discussed have changed, but many of those old time baits or something similar still work.

I think your choice to target many species is a good choice. At certain times of the year, one fish will be easier to target than the others, so keeping an open mind should keep your success going during times when the bass may not be biting. I would suggest trying to keep your selection of baits rather simple at first so that you can start to collect baits that work on each of the fish in your area. As you gain experience, it will be easier to start adding to the collection of each group of lures. You may also want to consider keeping a written log of each trip. This website has a pretty decent one you may want to try out.

https://www.bassresource.com/fish/fishing_log.html

Keeping these logs will give you a source to review in the coming months or years. And just imagine the day that your son has the chance to shows all of those logs to your future grandson!

Here's wishing that the two of you enjoy this new pasttime.

[HeavyDluxe]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I wound up buying the In-Fisherman strategies book that you all suggested, I have been reading it whenever I get the chance on my mobile devices. (ain't technology grand?)

[BamaBassChaser]

I would also recommend youtube. I know you said you enjoy books, but youtube is full of instructional videos that you can use once you decide to really nail down a technique that you like. I also agree with North GA Hillbilly, get some small hooks, some splitshot weights, some bobbers and whatever bait is readily availabe in your area and go have a blast with your son.

[HeavyDluxe]

Hi, all... thanks for the continued responses.

NorthGA & Bama: Just to clarify, we're already do a lot of baitfishing with small hooks for panfish and the like. Interestingly, we've found that the panfish in our favorite pond will rarely bite anything suspended under a float of any kind. But, they'll bit just about anything we throw in there without one. We've had a ton of fun throwing hooks with nightcrawlers or even chunks of beat up Yamamoto senkos to them weightless or with a small splitshot to push it down. I grew up fishing for salt water weakfish (trout) on bottom rigs with spinning tackle, hooking my finger on the line just above the bail on my spinning rig to detect a bite. We've done similar with the panfish here.

A couple follow-up questions, if I could:

Are there any other species books for things like perch, panfish, etc similar to the In-Fisherman one you posted for bass? I'm liking that book a lot.

Also, I read a thread on here (which I can't seem to find [ed: HERE it is]) where roadwarrior was suggesting an approach for catching more fish... The gist, essentially, was to throw a texas-rigged plastic in one of the standard colors from the bank, parallel to shore, and fan cast from there - working the rig back to shore *very* slowly (like 10 mins between jigs).

That prompted me to want to ask about whether or not there's any merit to throwing something like a drop shot rig from shore. The angle's a little weird, admittedly, but it would seem like you ought to be able to keep a plastic mostly stationary by letting the weight settle and shaking the rod tip slightly. Periodically (like every few mins or so) you could drag it a few feet along the bottom.

Thoughts?

(Thanks, everyone, for the free education)

[BamaBassChaser]

A friend of mine used to tie a fly behind a floating rapala. He would use the rapala as a weight to cast the fly and would absolutely clobber bream and the occasional bass.

[webertime]

Get the kids down to the Brattleboro Retreat setbacks on the Connecticut! It's a menagerie down there!

PM me your address and I'll mail you some books that are really helpful (for all species) borrow them for as long as you want and send them back (I'm no more than an hour and a half from you). Lake Fairlee and Morey are VERY good spots near you as well. My other suggestion would be to join a club and learn from more experienced guys first hand.

While my mom did get us out there as often as possible (single mom with 3 kids) we (my brother who is a Guide in NZ and in VT. I'm a tournament guy) were basically self taught, what you are doing for the kids is something that is more valuable than you realize... Thank You!

[mrmacwvu1]

make sure they have quality equipment

when you are constantly having to fix rods, reels and baits it can be pain for you and turn the kids off from fishing