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| You darn well better have the right gear when you do battle with a smallmouth like this one. Bruce Holt, Chief Executive Officer for G.Loomis, took this beauty out of Tennessee's Dale Hollow Reservoir. Note the extra rods Bruce has within easy reach of his boat seat. Like other experts, he realizes having access to the right rod for the ever changing problems he's certain to face is key to consistent angling success. |
By Stan Fagerstrom
You just can't overemphasize the importance of matching your tackle to the problems you're up against when it comes to most kinds of sports fishing.
I've had that proven to me over and over in a lifetime of angling activity. That's why I've been comparing fishing to golf in my last two columns. The exper golfer always selects the club most likely to let him solve the problem he faces. The well equipped angler does, or should be, doing the same thing.
Some years ago I spent the day fishing with General Chuck Yeager, the famed test pilot. We were after salmon on Oregon's Wilson River. Buzz Ramsey, one of the best know steelhead and salmon experts in the Pacific Northwest, was our guide.
Had you been along that day, you'd have noted that Buzz had eight outfits rigged and ready. Two were set up for fishing natural baits like eggs or crawdad tails. Another pair was rigged with Luhr-Jensen Hot Shots. The rest were equipped for other specialized tasks.
Buzz had us employ different outfits to meet changing conditions. "Here, "he'd say,"this hole is perfect for a Hot Shot. Give me those rods you've been using with the egg baits. I'll put them away while you use these plug rods."
Ramsey's approach worked. He proved it to us. General Yeager got a beautiful 40-pound chinook early that morning. Just before we took out, I boated one the same size. The day was one of my most memorable fishing trips. Should the time come two chrome-bright 40-pound chinook on one trip don't turn me on, I'll quit fishing and take up golf myself.
You don't need 10 different outfits to enjoy a day of fishing. Even so, you'll never realize the tremendous satisfaction the sport offers until your rods, reels, lures and lines are suited to the demands you'll make of them.
I made a comment like that once in an appearance at the International Sportsmen's Exposition in Denver. A fellow came up after I completed my presentation. "I have a lightweight spinning outfit," he said. "I've caught fish with it all the way from Florida to British Columbia. You aren't going to convince me I need more than one rod."
That's all right with me. I don't give a tinker's toot if he fishes with that same outfit for the rest of his days. But can you see him handling a 30-pound salmon on light spinning tackle? Could he plunk the Columbia River's bars with it? What happens if he hooks a 7-pound bass in heavy pad cover on that light outfit?
As I detailed in my last column, a spinning outfit does indeed cover a good many fishing tasks. It's what I'd select if I had just one rig to work with. Be that as it may, there is a multitude of fishing tasks where other rods and reels work better.
Why limit yourself more than necessary when you face different angling problems? The fish provide enough handicaps of their own without us adding to them. Part of the fun of going into new areas is trying the variety of angling they offer. Change locations much and you'll find different kinds of fishing often deman different kinds of tackle.
For decades, I had the opportunity to take part as an observer in many of the nation's largest professional bass fishing contests. The bass pros making a living by competitive fishing carry an assortment of rods. They change outfits to meet changing situations.
As I've told audiences around the United States countless times, there is little we can do to control most of the factors associated with fishing. You'll be wise to control those things you can do something about.
Making sure you have the G.Loomis rods best suited to solve the problems you'll be facing is a super way to go about accomplishing a major part of that objective.
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| Fishermen accept the need to change lures to best suit different angling conditions as the angler pictured here is about to do. The same need applies where rods, reels and lines are concerned. |
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