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Posted 08:58, 1 February 2010
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I was writing a magazine feature the other day and I got to thinking about how much fishing can be used as a kind of measurement for real life. Somewhat deep and meaningful for a Monday morning perhaps, but if you think about mapping a chart of your fishing life, I bet it would follow the same kind of trends as one of your actual life – depending on what kind of person you are of course. Of course it’s this bass fishing thing that has really got hold of me these last few years, but I can’t believe how much fun it is to keep on learning so much all the time. I was thinking about the kinds of things I was writing about bass fishing say two years ago, and then one year ago, and then what I am actually writing now. Learning all the time……..and both proud and happy to admit it.
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Fishing to me is just so much about learning all the time, indeed just as I think at times that I am coming to some kind of “comfortable plateau” where I can rest up a while and feel secure in how much I already know, then something comes along to show me just how much more I need to learn. Kind of like life if you ask me. We get to 18 and we are convinced we know it all. Hell, we do know it all. The arrogance of youth. Then we get to 21 and realise just how little we actually knew at 18. And on it goes…………much like fishing is it not ? I love it.
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I’ll tell you how much I love this learning curve in fishing – the actual act of catching fish means a lot to me, but if my fishing was only about actually catching fish then I think my interest would have waned years ago. The fact that fishing offers so much more than just the actual act of catching fish is part of the reason I am sure why so many anglers out there have this lifelong addiction to this wonderful sport. Think about all that we learn. Think about how this growing knowledge allows us to grow as people, and how it helps us to appreciate the simpler, less complicated things in life. Fishing connects us with the outdoor world.
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But, as in our everyday lives, there is always a percentage of people who will never strive to learn any more than they already know (or sadly don’t know) and who will never be able to open themselves up to new experiences. Being closed off must be so boring. Doing the same things all the time would drive me completely mad. Change is good. An open mind is vital. Fishing mirrors life does it not ? I think I need a bit more sleep !!
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Posted 06:00, 29 January 2010
- The more I learn about lure fishing, the more articles I write about it for various magazines, and the more research I do into the subject, the more I am realising how many different terms there are for all kinds of lure-speak. And to be perfectly honest, it's confusing the hell out of me !! It's like going to South Africa and smashing "kingies" or kingfish, when to most of the world they are in fact the trevally family. Confusing eh ?, and it's similar with lure terminology. So the more I delve into this murky world of technical lure fishing, the more I am making an effort to "standardise" my terminology in my articles. Here's a bit of what I am coming up with so far :
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- Lure category - jerkbait, minnow or minnow-type lure - in my mind these are the huge family of minnow or sandeel shaped diving lures that so many of use so much of the time. If it dives under the water, needs to be retrieved, and looks remotely like this sort of lure above, the Duo Tide Minnow 120 Surf (thin to thinnish and long, like a sandeel or minnow), then in my book it's a jerkbait, minnow, or minnow-type lure. Nice and easy.
- Lure action - rolling, rocking or wiggle - really hard this one, but most of these minnows tend to have some kind of rocking, rolling or wiggle from side to side action. I accept that this is a huge generalisation, and some minnows have far more pronounced actions than others, but in general the shape of the lure's face promotes this kind of rolling, rocking or wiggle. Hold your hand up sideways and roll or wiggle it from side to side - this is what I am trying to describe.
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- The name for that jutting out bit at the bottom of the face of the lure above - has to be a "bib" in my mind. Nice and simple. The fact that there are so many different shapes and angles of bib is a whole other matter, but the actual bit (whatever it looks like) is a "bib" to me.
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- Still a minnow or a jerkbait, but you will notice that there is no "bib" jutting out - this specialist ultra-shallow diving minnow in my mind has a "cut face" instead of a bib (the IMA Komomo SF-125). Again, nice and easy. From now on, any lure I see that has sections cut out from the face rather than a bit added (the bib) has a "cut face" to me. And note that I am calling the front of any lure the "face" or "head".
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- The Tackle House Feed Shallow is a jerkbait or minnow, and like the Komomo, it has a cut-face and not a bib - but this cut-face creates a different kind of action when you retrieve them through the water. Can you see how easy it is to end up completely confused and going round in circles ? A cut-face promotes a far more head shaking kind of action that creates a kind of optical illusion that looks a bit like a fast moving snake when you watch the lure swim in the water. - it is not a wiggle and it is not a rolling action though, not to me anyway. I have made up my mind to call the action on these cut-face lures a "head shake" or a "waggle" - not a wiggle though. Hold the middle of a pen between thumb and forefinger, waggle it from side to side, and this is the kind of action I am trying to describe.
- There is masses more to it (various surface lures, flutterers, tremblers, plastics, jigs, the list goes on), but I reckon that will do for the moment. Please do comment here if you strongly disagree with any of these terms that I am trying to standardise on, or especially if you have any more logical suggestions that we should be looking at. I passionately believe in making fishing come across as simple and as logical as possible, and one thing I do not want to do with all this explosion in lure fishing interest is to assist in confusing people. Ain't my style at all. Life's complicated enough already......
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Posted 05:53, 27 January 2010
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- I know what goes into producing books, so I take my hat off to the guys at the Bass Anglers' Sportfishing Society (B.A.S.S.) for bringing this outstanding publication out. If you have any kind of interest in bass fishing then I implore you to click here and order this book right now - and then settle down and lose yourself in the world of fishing while all that cold weather swirls around outside. BASS and B.A.S.S. is something that all bass fishermen should take a look at.
- What I admire most about this book is that they have not gone down the obvious route and simply produced a book full of bass fishing stories and anecdotes and nothing else - sure, there are plenty of "articles" by many of the classic names in bass fishing, full of passion and dreams, and there are also a number of articles by BASS members who successfully convey their love for chasing bass. But the clever thing about this book is that they guys have successfully woven in a huge amount of information about the kinds of things we need to know more about - bass habits and behaviour, what the society gets up to within sportfishing and conservation, all kinds of tips and techniques for all kinds of bass fishing, plus research and views on sustainability. This is all done in a way that feels very natural to me, in that I found myself wanting to read as much about actually catching bass as I did about say research and bass characteristics. Learning as much as possible is my goal in all this, and this book is a mine of information and enjoyment.
- One of the sections I enjoyed the most was reading about various BASS members' striped bass fishing exploits over in the US - that is some very serious fishing when it fires, and it's great to hear about UK bass fanatics taking their skills and knowledge over the pond and scoring on the stripers. Something I simply must do in due course. There are also some great articles on some of the members' many trips over to Ireland - seems like anybody with bass on the brain is going to end up fishing those hallowed waters at some time or another.
- It is impossible to come away from reading this book and not feel inspired, and I can't personally think of a bigger complement to give it. I am proud to be a member of BASS and I would hope that more bass fishermen out there will think hard about joining up and giving these people as much chance as possible to actually make a real difference. There are some good people out there doing a huge amount of (unpaid) work on our behalf, and whilst they mostly go unheralded, the least we can do is to join a society like BASS and help out a little bit. They have kindly asked me to give a talk at their AGM on Sunday 21st March and I am looking forward to meeting a bunch of the members then. Hopefully not too many people will fall asleep during my talk !!
