A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO FISHING

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The fishing tactics you'll use will vary with the water you're angling in and the species you hope to catch. I'll deal, therefore, with specific strategies and techniques in a series of situations. Just choose the one that's closest to the setting in which you'll be fishing, and the advice should provide a reliable starting point. But don't let anyone's advice keep you from watching and learning from the fisherfolk around you. Every lake, stream, pond and river has its own idiosyncracies. You could fish one area for a lifetime and not uncover all of its secrets . . . so you're certainly not going to pick up everything you need to know here.

The Farm Pond

It's hard to imagine a more congenial setting for "jist sittin' an' fishin'." The air will probably carry the aroma of tilled soil and wildflowers (along with, perhaps, a hint of cow). Swallows will spin their hunting dances overhead, and the surface of the water may swell occasionally with the magical bulge of a surfacing turtle. Better still, farm ponds can be rich with fish. You'll commonly find bream, catfish of one sort or another, largemouth bass and such "trash" fish as carp or suckers. If the pond is deep enough to stay cold and oxygen-rich year-round, it may even be stocked with trout. (It goes without saying that you'd better get permission before fishing anyone else's pond. A wellmaintained, stocked pond represents a big investment in time, money and work, and the trespasser is as likely to catch a load of birdshot as a string of bream.)

The most common way to fish a farm pond, or any other small, still body of water, is with a bobber, hook, worms (either red worms or night crawlers) and a small splitshot sinker. Keep in mind that, as my grandfather used to say, "You can catch a big fish on a small hook easier than you can catch a small fish on a big one." I suggest starting with a number six or eight. Now simply thread the worm on the hook—leave enough hanging loose to get an enticing wiggle, but make sure the point of the hook is covered—clamp the split-shot a few inches to a foot or so above the bait, fix the bobber to the line at a point where it will float the worm just above the bottom or over any underwater foliage and flip the assembly into a likelylooking spot. It's a good bet to fish near cover of some sort: a dock, lily pads, etc.

Keep the line relatively tight, but not enough to drag the bobber along. An interested fish will probably first show itself by "nibbling," causing the float to tremble, jerk back and forth, or bob up and down. That's your signal to pay attention. But don't do anything yet. When the fish drags the bobber along the surface of the water with determination or pulls it under, give a short, sharp jerk of the rod to set the hook, and reel your prize on in.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print