By the how I mean tying good knots, paying attention to all the things going on at the end of your line, long casts with great accuracy, and maintaining your tackle to the highest level.
The why includes knowing the optimum water temperature for the type of fish you are trying to catch; learning how the tides and currents work; why, when, and where fish migrate; how fish perceive color, sound and taste; knowing why different types of structure attract different types of fish.
To demonstrate what I am talking about, let me cite two examples. The first is when someone decides that the bluefish arrived during the first week in May last year, so they take the first week of May off this year. That person ends up very disappointed when the blues show up two weeks early or two weeks late. Had they kept track of the water temperature, they would have known the blues would be early or late depending on when the temperature hit their favored level.
I recall a conservation I overheard several years ago while standing on the dock at Indian River, DE. A new-to-the-area couple came in and when asked how the fishing had been, they reported it was pretty slow. Seems the week before, they caught a good number of flounder while drifting by a small island. This week the island was gone, along with their fishing success.
The island in question was a small shoal that is exposed on low tide, but underwater on the flood. Had our disappointed fishermen taken the time to learn about tidal flow, they would have known that flounder are most likely to be found in channels like the one alongside the shoal during low tide and tend to forage on the shallow flats during the flood. Apparently, this knowledge is not needed to catch pickerel in Pennsylvania.
As this is written, the outside temperature is 23 degrees, the wind is northwest at 30 gusting to 40 knots, and there is skim ice on the pond. By the time you read this, the weather will probably be even worse. This is the ideal time to learn more about your favorite sport and be ready to catch more fish this summer.
In the past, you would need several books to find out all about fish and their environment. Today all that knowledge is found in one tome. David A. Ross, Ph. D. has written “The Fisherman’s Ocean” published by Stackpole Books. This book has everything you will ever need to know about saltwater fish and all the forces that control their lives.
Dr. Ross is a scientist emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and an avid angler. I am sure he is more than able to write in the goobly glop that only his contemporaries can understand, but in this book he uses plain language than even I can grasp.
The book is available online for around 20 bucks. I can’t think of a better investment for any saltwater angler.
There is another book that can be useful for everyone who operates a boat. “Chapman’s Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling” has a wealth of information that we may have known at one time, but is now stored so far back on our hard drive that a refresher is not out of the question.
I am not suggesting that you read the book cover to cover, but on those cold nights when there is a warm fire going and you are comfortable in your Laz-E-Boy, pick up Chapman’s and just leaf through the pages. I promise you will uncover so many interesting things that you will keep the book in a special spot next to that Laz-E-Boy.
Books are not the only source that can improve your fishing and boating knowledge. Perhaps you have heard of the Internet. There are so many ways to learn about everything, from knots to rigs to how to change the starter on your motor, available for free that you could spend the whole winter staring at your smart phone or tablet.
In other words, you could behave like my 16-year-old granddaughter., which is not a bad thing at all.
by Eric Burnley
Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - 08:30
My step-father told me a long time ago that the man who knows how will always have a job, but the man that knows why will always be his boss. The same is true when it comes to fish. The angler who knows how will catch fish, but one who knows how and why will always catch more.
By the how I mean tying good knots, paying attention to all the things going on at the end of your line, long casts with great accuracy, and maintaining your tackle to the highest level.
The why includes knowing the optimum water temperature for the type of fish you are trying to catch; learning how the tides and currents work; why, when, and where fish migrate; how fish perceive color, sound and taste; knowing why different types of structure attract different types of fish.
To demonstrate what I am talking about, let me cite two examples. The first is when someone decides that the bluefish arrived during the first week in May last year, so they take the first week of May off this year. That person ends up very disappointed when the blues show up two weeks early or two weeks late. Had they kept track of the water temperature, they would have known the blues would be early or late depending on when the temperature hit their favored level.
I recall a conservation I overheard several years ago while standing on the dock at Indian River, DE. A new-to-the-area couple came in and when asked how the fishing had been, they reported it was pretty slow. Seems the week before, they caught a good number of flounder while drifting by a small island. This week the island was gone, along with their fishing success.
The island in question was a small shoal that is exposed on low tide, but underwater on the flood. Had our disappointed fishermen taken the time to learn about tidal flow, they would have known that flounder are most likely to be found in channels like the one alongside the shoal during low tide and tend to forage on the shallow flats during the flood. Apparently, this knowledge is not needed to catch pickerel in Pennsylvania.
As this is written, the outside temperature is 23 degrees, the wind is northwest at 30 gusting to 40 knots, and there is skim ice on the pond. By the time you read this, the weather will probably be even worse. This is the ideal time to learn more about your favorite sport and be ready to catch more fish this summer.
In the past, you would need several books to find out all about fish and their environment. Today all that knowledge is found in one tome. David A. Ross, Ph. D. has written “The Fisherman’s Ocean” published by Stackpole Books. This book has everything you will ever need to know about saltwater fish and all the forces that control their lives.
Dr. Ross is a scientist emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and an avid angler. I am sure he is more than able to write in the goobly glop that only his contemporaries can understand, but in this book he uses plain language than even I can grasp.
The book is available online for around 20 bucks. I can’t think of a better investment for any saltwater angler.
There is another book that can be useful for everyone who operates a boat. “Chapman’s Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling” has a wealth of information that we may have known at one time, but is now stored so far back on our hard drive that a refresher is not out of the question.
I am not suggesting that you read the book cover to cover, but on those cold nights when there is a warm fire going and you are comfortable in your Laz-E-Boy, pick up Chapman’s and just leaf through the pages. I promise you will uncover so many interesting things that you will keep the book in a special spot next to that Laz-E-Boy.
Books are not the only source that can improve your fishing and boating knowledge. Perhaps you have heard of the Internet. There are so many ways to learn about everything, from knots to rigs to how to change the starter on your motor, available for free that you could spend the whole winter staring at your smart phone or tablet.
In other words, you could behave like my 16-year-old granddaughter., which is not a bad thing at all.
by Eric Burnley
By the how I mean tying good knots, paying attention to all the things going on at the end of your line, long casts with great accuracy, and maintaining your tackle to the highest level.
The why includes knowing the optimum water temperature for the type of fish you are trying to catch; learning how the tides and currents work; why, when, and where fish migrate; how fish perceive color, sound and taste; knowing why different types of structure attract different types of fish.
To demonstrate what I am talking about, let me cite two examples. The first is when someone decides that the bluefish arrived during the first week in May last year, so they take the first week of May off this year. That person ends up very disappointed when the blues show up two weeks early or two weeks late. Had they kept track of the water temperature, they would have known the blues would be early or late depending on when the temperature hit their favored level.
I recall a conservation I overheard several years ago while standing on the dock at Indian River, DE. A new-to-the-area couple came in and when asked how the fishing had been, they reported it was pretty slow. Seems the week before, they caught a good number of flounder while drifting by a small island. This week the island was gone, along with their fishing success.
The island in question was a small shoal that is exposed on low tide, but underwater on the flood. Had our disappointed fishermen taken the time to learn about tidal flow, they would have known that flounder are most likely to be found in channels like the one alongside the shoal during low tide and tend to forage on the shallow flats during the flood. Apparently, this knowledge is not needed to catch pickerel in Pennsylvania.
As this is written, the outside temperature is 23 degrees, the wind is northwest at 30 gusting to 40 knots, and there is skim ice on the pond. By the time you read this, the weather will probably be even worse. This is the ideal time to learn more about your favorite sport and be ready to catch more fish this summer.
In the past, you would need several books to find out all about fish and their environment. Today all that knowledge is found in one tome. David A. Ross, Ph. D. has written “The Fisherman’s Ocean” published by Stackpole Books. This book has everything you will ever need to know about saltwater fish and all the forces that control their lives.
Dr. Ross is a scientist emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and an avid angler. I am sure he is more than able to write in the goobly glop that only his contemporaries can understand, but in this book he uses plain language than even I can grasp.
The book is available online for around 20 bucks. I can’t think of a better investment for any saltwater angler.
There is another book that can be useful for everyone who operates a boat. “Chapman’s Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling” has a wealth of information that we may have known at one time, but is now stored so far back on our hard drive that a refresher is not out of the question.
I am not suggesting that you read the book cover to cover, but on those cold nights when there is a warm fire going and you are comfortable in your Laz-E-Boy, pick up Chapman’s and just leaf through the pages. I promise you will uncover so many interesting things that you will keep the book in a special spot next to that Laz-E-Boy.
Books are not the only source that can improve your fishing and boating knowledge. Perhaps you have heard of the Internet. There are so many ways to learn about everything, from knots to rigs to how to change the starter on your motor, available for free that you could spend the whole winter staring at your smart phone or tablet.
In other words, you could behave like my 16-year-old granddaughter., which is not a bad thing at all.
by Eric Burnley