Just An Observation

[Stan Wright]

An Observation

I've noticed a lot more people we fish with....  especially kids....  are fishing like they were competing in the Bass Masters Classic.

Let me explain.  When a fish strikes,  they set the hook (cross the fishes eyes) and then  skip the fish accross the top of the water and swing it up into the boat.  If the fish is a little larger and tries to jump....  the angler thrusts the rod tip into the water and sweeps hard to keep the fish from jumping,  all the while screaming. No! No! No!  The "fight" with these fish might last every bit of 3 or 4 seconds.

Maybe it's just me....  but this isn't my idea of fun fishing.  I'm thrilled if a fish is large enough to pull drag and make the reel sing.  The best part of hooking a fish is to see it come out of the water, head shaking, gill rattling, tail walking accross the surface.  Wow.  Then after a few minutes of back and fourth tug of war....  reaching down and gently cradling the fish in your hand or grabbing the lip....  now that's what memories are made of for me.

We've scaled down our tackle to match the size of the fish. (our average fish is 2 pounds, with a 3 to 5 pounder not that uncommon)  Using 4# and 6# test spinning tackle adds a little challenge and skill into the mix.  When you finally get a 2 pound peacock or largemouth to the net,  you feel good.  And it took a lot longer than 3 or 4 seconds to do it.

(the last 8 pound peacock bass on 4# test took 35 minutes to land.  That fish weighed twice the breaking strength of the line,  something few anglers have done.)

And since we're using lighter line and smaller lures,  we tend to catch more fish.

The average tournament fish weighs less than 2 pounds.  Most tournament anglers don't even catch a full limit of fish. Look at how thrilled Mike is on that City Limits fishing show to catch a limit of 5, 12 inch fish. 

Now if your fishing in a big money tournament,  that's one thing.  For the other thousands of anglers out there,...  relax, have fun.... slow down and smell the roses.

Just a thought,

Aloha,

Stan

[Fishing Rhino]

The difference in what you describe.

One is "meat fishing", the other is sport fishing.

[SirSnookalot]

Could not agree more................

[Big Al23]

Stan, I also agree with you. I've been told that you don't want to let the fish fight too long though because it will wear them out so much it will leave them vulnerable and weak when you release them.

[SMfisher]

the smallmouth that i catch i have to play the fish, they are in swift water and i use #6 line. it takes a little while to get the fish in they will break water sever times, i have even caught the same fish the same day and thats after a long fight. i know i have caught the same fish several times during the year thay might be a mile from where i caught them before, so fighting the fish don't seem to hurt them unless they are hooked deep most of them will make it i very seldom hook one deep, i have even caught these fish again. one of the things i do is make sure the fish is ok and able to swim off on its own which they do quickly. when its hot it takes a few more minutes to make sure the fish is ok. i think fishing in swift water helps. 

[flyboy]

Stan

Tell us a little about the fresh water fishing in Hawaii.  I was based at Schoefield in the late sixties and got hooked on offshore fishing in Kona.  I spent way too much on going over there every time I saved enough.  A guy I knew talked about the reservoir by Wahiawa but I never gave it a chance.  Do you have Peacocks there?  What else?  I feel bad I never explored the fresh water opportunities.

[roadwarrior]

Selecting the appropriate gear is all about where

you fish and what you throw. In open water, light

tackle is fine. On the Tennessee River we fish for

World Class smallmouth with spinning tackle for the

most part. However, this gear would be totally

worthless cranking a DD22 through rough structure

or cover. If we are just talking about bass, the

fish itself has very little to do with the tackle

you choose.

8-)

[salmicropterus]

Another point of view:

It is great fun to play a fish but keep in mind that your fun is putting great stress on that fish. To me it's all about the fish-the fisherman can take care of themselves but when a fish is in our control it depends on us to take care of them

[RBoyd]

A buddy and me were fishing a small private lake years ago in the spring.

I threw a crankbait down the side of a log, a bass hit just after my first crank, and started to pull drag.

I knew it was a big fish, it surfaced several times and it was the biggest fish I had ever hooked. My biggest fish I have caught is 8.5 lbs. this one was around 10 lbs. my best guess.

My buddy had put down his rod and was waiting for me to tire the fish.

The fight lasted probably 4-5 minutes, I was laughing and enjoyed every second.

As the fish came up along side the boat, it appeared to be played out, however, it made one last head shake and the crankbait came flying out.

I thought my buddy was going in after the fish, he cussed and raised all kinds of cane. I just laughed and told him that I got all the good out of that one.

I fish because its fun. 

[Paul Roberts]

I too see the tournament influence on bass fishing. It's different than it was amongst young people today than when I was a budding angler. Not that we weren't influenced by what we read, but media is so much more pervasive today, and the tournament world has the biggest chunk of media time.

When I find a new fishing buddy I have to say I get tired of the comparisons -the "who can catch more fish" thing.

"Wanna pretend we're in a tournament?"

"No."

For me, it's about learning stuff about waters and fish -I'm simply mesmerized by the details of how a fishing day develops, and catching is only part of that. There was a time of course that I was all about catching, and it bruised when I couldn't catch. But I've got a lot of catching under my belt now. Now, I'm apt to discover something and either experiment with it, or may just leave it altogether for something else. Sometimes I spend much of my "fishing time" mapping water or taking temperatures or even netting 'minnows' and 'bugs'. Such time spent accrues. It's well worth it.

I liked Al Lindner's response to why he veered away from tournament fishing, something like, "'Cause sometimes I like to chase carp!"

The other things I see is the 10lb bass syndrome. Seems every young stick has caught a "10lber". DD's are almost entirely, for all practical purposes, a southern thing and I swear it comes directly out of the media. Creates pretty skewed expectations.

I fish about a dozen "ordinary" ponds here in N CO, and they give me plenty of satisfaction (course I'm happy chasing chubs in a muddy little stream too lol). My PBs from these waters range from 17" to 21" depending on the pond and year.

I was with a kid a few years ago who was THRILLED with a nice "big" CO bass he caught. Then we weighed it: 4-1/2lbs. His heart sunk, you could see it. I felt sorta bad, and asked him, "Are you OK with our weighing your fish?" And he glumly replied, "No, of course not...Are you SURE your scale is right?" Two years later he had finally bought his own and was darned pleased with a nice 3-1/2lber he caught, and rightfully should be considering where he was -on an ordinary small pond in N Colorado.

[BigEbass]

Yeah, in alot of alabama waters with alot of cover, 3-6 lb that is able to turn its head and take drag will find a nearby heavy weedbed, tree limb, etc....

I can appreciate the posts intent - I absolutely love to fight the fish - but honestly for me, the bite and the hookset and knowing I tricked that big bass into biting some piece of plastic makes my day - the fight is a bonus for me and I love it, but I dont mess around, I use 10 lb test most times and If I got a 4 lber I dont let up and given them slack - if I do, I dont get them to the boat many times.  There is no way I will use 4lb test in most of my fishing locations, but in the fall out in open water, that would be fun for sure (as long as there is not closeby submerged timber etc....

My point is....to each his own.  Ike is a tournament fisherman, these guys win tournaments many times catching relatively avg. or small fish, and they are not gonna "waste" their time playing them....they say "no no no" because they dont want to lose that 3 lber that will win or lose them X thousand dollars. It is fun for them yea, but that is their money and livelihood, they care about winning only - and why not? (for them anyway, I agree for me it doesnt seem as attractive either).

[D4u2s0t]

I too see the tournament influence on bass fishing. It's different than it was amongst young people today than when I was a budding angler. Not that we weren't influenced by what we read, but media is so much more pervasive today, and the tournament world has the biggest chunk of media time.

When I find a new fishing buddy I have to say I get tired of the comparisons -the "who can catch more fish" thing.

"Wanna pretend we're in a tournament?"

"No."

For me, it's about learning stuff about waters and fish -I'm simply mesmerized by the details of how a fishing day develops, and catching is only part of that. There was a time of course that I was all about catching, and it bruised when I couldn't catch. But I've got a lot of catching under my belt now. Now, I'm apt to discover something and either experiment with it, or may just leave it altogether for something else. Sometimes I spend much of my "fishing time" mapping water or taking temperatures or even netting 'minnows' and 'bugs'. Such time spent accrues. It's well worth it.

I liked Al Lindner's response to why he veered away from tournament fishing, something like, "'Cause sometimes I like to chase carp!"

The other things I see is the 10lb bass syndrome. Seems every young stick has caught a "10lber". DD's are almost entirely, for all practical purposes, a southern thing and I swear it comes directly out of the media. Creates pretty skewed expectations.

I fish about a dozen "ordinary" ponds here in N CO, and they give me plenty of satisfaction (course I'm happy chasing chubs in a muddy little stream too lol). My PBs from these waters range from 17" to 21" depending on the pond and year.

I was with a kid a few years ago who was THRILLED with a nice "big" CO bass he caught. Then we weighed it: 4-1/2lbs. His heart sunk, you could see it. I felt sorta bad, and asked him, "Are you OK with our weighing your fish?" And he glumly replied, "No, of course not...Are you SURE your scale is right?" Two years later he had finally bought his own and was darned pleased with a nice 3-1/2lber he caught, and rightfully should be considering where he was -on an ordinary small pond in N Colorado.

I agree completely.  any double digit bass is knocking on the state record here, and if I catch anything over 3 lbs, I consider it to be a great fish for my lakes.  I'll never forget the guy that caught the "5 lb smallie" or whatever weight he said, I don't remember.  But it was MAYBE a pound and half lol.

[BigEbass]

To each his own - some people like the competitiveness, some, like to hunt dd's, some just like to catch anything, some just like to get out away from their normal life out on the water, some like to throw it in the boat, some like to play it out for 4 minutes

As long as your methods does not significantly effect my fishery, then I say do what makes you tick and have fun doing it

[burleytog]

I guess we fish for different reasons.  If I can't get the fish in the boat in less than a minute, I'm doing something wrong.

Time is money.

[Raul]

Can 't "play" a fish for too long in brush/timber/tule/lily pad infested waters for too long or ........ you will probably end up leaving a hooked fished wrapped around something 'til it dies, nope, I 'd rather muscle it in as soon as I can.

[Paul Roberts]

As to playing fish, I get them in as quickly as I can without having such a green fish I risk losing it. I make sure I can get him by waiting just long enough that I have control. A "small" fish on "heavy" tackle -I'll swing 'em aboard quickly and get it over with.

There's something to be said for scaled tackle too. I dislike being undergunned. For averaged sized bass I like 6lb test minimum and prefer 8 and above. A 4lb bass can give a show on 12lb. But I don't dally -I whip 'em, look em over in hand (very appreciative of a pretty fish), and then move on.

[BassThumb]

I know what you mean, Stan. Sometimes it is fun to downsize tackle for a good fight. It does take some skill and patience to land bass on L and UL gear, and it gives you an appreciation of the fishes strength after you've maybe started taking it for granted after hauling them in with ease on heavier tackle. I sometimes skip 1/16 oz finesse tube jigs to docks on L power rods and 6# line not only for the added challenge, but also because it's a killer cold front presentation. But for the most part, I try my best to get as many bites as possible, and lip every bass that strikes my lure. Getting the bass in my hands is what is the most fun for me, and I hate when they shake the lure. That's why I usually horse them in and toss em back after a few seconds and recast.