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| That practice casting weight I'm holding here is one of the most important "plugs" an angler can buy. Casting practice is essential to attain mastery of a level wind reel. I always put a bright colored skirt (as I've done in this photo) on my practice casting weights. It makes the practice casting weight easier for the eye to follow as it heads for its target. |
Keys to Catching: Part 1
By Stan Fagerstrom
Are you getting your share of fish?
I’ve had lots of folks tell me they aren’t. I wish, in fact, I had a couple of bucks for each time I’ve heard someone bellyache about somebody else having all the luck. If I take the time to ask a few questions, it usually turns out luck didn’t have all that much to do with it. Far more often than not the guy or gal putting the most fish in the boat was simply an angler who was exercising control over those 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---developing the ability to cast.
I've written reams about the importance of practice as a means of developing casting accuracy. And I’ve practiced what I’ve preached at outdoor shows from Tulsa to Tokyo and from Birmingham to Brazil for the past half century.
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 helps. It's not uncommon for them to take lessons and spend time at practice. You almost never see anybody doing the same thing with a bait casting reel or a spinning outfit.
If you doubt the importance of practice, I hope you have opportunity some day to talk to the man who has won more casting championships than anyone else in the world. That man is Steve Rajeff, the soft spoken wizard who is the Director of Engineering at G. Loomis Rods. He’s one of the reasons rods carrying the G.Loomis label are the best you can wrap your fingers around.
Steve is best known for his skills with a fly rod. Let me assure you he’s every bit as good with either a casting or spinning outfit. And I’m willing to bet dollars to doughnuts he’ll say the same things about the importance of practice I do in developing mastery of your fishing gear.
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.
If I had to rate the three different kinds of angling equipment as to the degree of difficulty in learning how to use them, I'd say spinning was easiest. I think fly casting, provided you have the proper balance between rod and line, is in second place. I’d list attaining mastery of a casting rod and a level wind reel as the 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 two 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-
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| You're just not going to take trophy bass like this beauty unless you know how to handle your equipment. This guy does. He's Bruce Holt, the executive director of G.Loomis Rods. That's a 11-pound, 2-ounce El Salto Lake largemouth Bruce is holding. |
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