How Do We Learn Fishing?

[Johnny wilkins]

Do people really want to learn how to catch fish? Describe how you initially learned to catch fish.

[Johnny wilkins]

Well - it is ok to disagree - but I actually said what we learn from parents is what they know - so do we truly learn or do we just get a little passed on that THEY knew. Sometimes a generation doesn't fish. I DO say parents tell us what to do when fishing - but in the end, they are passing on to you only what they know.

The premise of this and the whole concept is - what is what they knew was all wrong?

What if the learning doesn't occur but only some thoughts are passed on. I guess this is learning. Good way to disagree too. Thanks for thinking about it and posting.

I am right around Chicago and we have 250 anglers per square mile up here if you do the math.... give 'er take based on the national average.

[Leo Nguyen]

3 years old: Caught fish (unknown species..appeared to be a small carp or cat), by accident, in my shorts while swimming through the shallow lily pad fields to catch frogs for dinner.

4 years old: triple strength sewing threads, a very long skinny young branch, and paper clips sharpen. Then got upgraded to used parachute strings, even longer bamboo pole, and paper clips. Then a short length used mono with used rusted hooks, refurbished, and 20ft bamboo pole.

5 years old: old equipment given by Vietnamese fishermen, which was from hand-me-down equipment from old army base surplus, new fancy new tech? Learn new tricks to fish from the old guy.

11 years old: garage sale equipment, with "new technology" at my disposal, taught by my uncle. Went nuts with new tech and old school methods ever since. Always a blend of old knowledge and wisdom, with new approaches and tech.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

"Went nuts with new tech and old school methods ever since. Always a blend of old knowledge and wisdom, with new approaches and tech."

I like this, Leo. It's a wise man who embraces both. To Johnny's point, (what I believe it to be, anyway), you have to adapt and welcome new ideas if you are going to get better. In other words, unless you have the knowledge already, you must obtain it.

First requisite for that is a humble and open mind. You got that!

[John Sheehan]

 I learned to fish better by losing a lot of fish and being disappointed .I finally started catching on and payed better attention.When I was a kid no one told me I had to set the hook ,or maybe I wasn't listening . I heard about setting the hook from a magazine,I think. Being out there on the water a lot and eventually  the wind, sun ,cloud cover etc.  started talking to me and implying where the fish could be .I found myself listening to other fisherman a lot better too as I started having success with newfound approaches and styles of fishing. Watching the surrounding nature intently and feeling the lure with more attention has increased through the many years since I was  a kid and so has my ability to keep a fish on once hooked.  

[Johnny wilkins]

I think when I learned fishing a lot of it was when traveling - we didn't fish so much near home. When we would drive to my uncle's house I would head off with my cousin to the local pond.

We had read our Fishing Facts Magazine and talked tackle - even made some of our own lures. We tried a lot of different tactics on this pond we threw the kitchen sink at it.

From all the trips to the pond - the only thing I can take away from it was that when we continued to shrink our baits we caught more fish.  Nearly none of the Fishing Facts Magazine helped us - except maybe an article on micro plastics.

Never was there an article on live bait that was accurate or maybe attractive to us - I think humans are attracted to bright colors more than fish are... packaging, bass anglers on packages in their bass outfits, patches and hats - they sell lures. They don't sell bait. They don't sell what fish eat so are THEY helping us - or themselves?

The next time I go to a tackle store, I am bringing a fish with me and will ask the fish what he prefers - see if he goes for packaging or Big Donny Tankerton - Bass Champion or if he picks out a tub of worms from the cooler. He's a fish. If he could talk, he could tell you to not pick up the magazine, don't worry about wasting :30 min. on the private lake tv show trying to sell a lure and he would also be there to tell you when you were getting really bad advice. I know fish can shake their heads - it is too bad they can't understand English. I would love a fish advisor. I am pretty much done with human advisors.

I wish the fish were there when we were drifting around when I was a kid - lost at "sea" on the big Canadian lakes. Fishless, hungry and lost. How do You Learn Fishing?

[jody call]

growing up within 300 yards of a river made me a fisherman. read all the magazines i could ,watched all the tv fishing shows that i had access to,but the main thing was time on the water.Now I take my nephews fishing and try to impart the "wisdom" that i've gained through the years,but just like everything worth doing in life,the only way to really learn is "hard knocks".....i can show you...but until you figure out the little things for yourself....you probably wouldn't appreciate it! this past summer both my nephews finally caught big fish,not because i put them on big fish,but because they finally figured out some of the "nuances" of the game,and now they hooked to the gills on fishing! SUCCESS,at last! fishermen forever!

[Walt Foreman]

Hey Johnny, were you reading the new Fishing Facts magazine which as far as I can tell is a regional publication not connected to the original? The original was, to my mind, by far the best fishing magazine there's ever been - and, they were very much into live bait fishing. One of their principal tactics involved using large nightcrawlers on a small light-wire hook with light line and no weight, with a bubble of air injected into the tail of the crawler to make it livelier. They even published an entire book on this tactic entitled, "Nightcrawler Secrets." Most of the best bluegill articles I have read were published in the original Fishing Facts. It was a beautiful mag too - the cover of every issue had a different painting of some freshwater species done by a noted wildlife painter, and man, were those beautiful paintings. The painter was evidently a bluegill nut because oftentimes even when bluegill weren't a focus of the issue there would be a painting of a giant bluegill in some underwater situation, rising to the surface to slurp in a mayfly, for example.

[Johnny wilkins]

Well - Fishing Facts magazine is now owned by the people that produce MidwestOutdoors magazine and MidwestOutdoors TV.

The publisher runs a strict budget and I don't think that there is much budget for the great covers they used to have so they are not what they used to be. Bluegills are beautiful.

I too was raised on Fishing Facts- we thought it was the cats' pajamas - but now they don't have staff righters - they have submissions and some are doozeys.  Their latest article featured tying a rock to your line for longer casts. Ouch.

[harald kronemeyer]

Having fished with my Dad for all my childhood it was pretty easy. Also learned alot when I bought a tackle shop. Always asked questions and listened to all the old timers. They have tons of info they love to share. Just put on the coffee pot and listen to the BS. lol

[dick tabbert]

What a way to gather info the hard part is trying to remember it all, Harald did you take notes?

[jason grimm]

Trial and error, just wanting the most success everytime I go out, which always changes, so it keeps me going back to the lake and keep on mastering a new day with the conditions of mother nature. :)

[harald kronemeyer]

LOL Dick I didnt take notes but most of what I learned was about my Local Lake Macatawa. It has been very helpful. I should have recorded it. I could have written a book and made some money. lol