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.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I have an app on my cell phone called, "My Fishing Advisor." It uses weather and satellite data along with on site info like water clarity, starting time, structure being fished and others. It then creates a "snapshot" for that. It gives both graphical peak hour results and recommendations on depth, lure and bait types.... Even where to position your self on your chosen body of water.
t was also free as an Android app. Will it work?
We shall see.

[Johnny wilkins]

Is the author in any way shape or form a fish? 
: ) 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Naturally, no LOL

But as I piddle with it I realize it is very thorough, if nothing else. It takes into account about every sort of information we are taught matters. It then applies it to about two dozen species and calculates the possibilities for you. It then rates the results from excellent to poor.

It certainly cant hurt to give it a whirl, especially for a nimrod like me.

[Paul Halter]

I'm the author of My Fishing Advisor, and I've been accused of being a fish a time or two. =)  The goal for the app is to help new anglers make some good decisions and avoid a lot of the rookie mistakes, and to show experienced anglers some patterns they might be overlooking.

 

My Fishing Advisor will be available for the iPhone any day now, and there's an update coming for the Android version this week.  It has a lot of subtle tweaks, better advice on line selection, and a new partnership with a well-known name in fishing.  Oh, and it's still free.

 

Tight lines,

 

Paul

 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

hi paul, thanks for chiming in!
I wanted to mention MFA because we have a lot of younger members here at BBG and this is the digital age. As much as I like the the tried and true, it can be daunting at times to sort it all out.
So, I'm always interested in anything that pulls together conventional wisdom in a way that is useful. I'm certain newcomers and the younger set can relate.
This discussion is about how we learn to fish, and MFA appears to be a tool to do just that.
So how is it working in the field, and how much time went into its development?

[Paul Halter]

The app is the result of years of work.  Several years ago I completed a PC version of this system, showed it at ICAST and had very positive feedback.  Bass Pro Shops asked for a demo at their headquarters, and they liked the technology too, but as a retail product it had one serious problem: People don't go into a tackle shop looking for computer programs.  There was a big disconnect between fishing and software.  My partners and I sold the product on-line, but it never quite took off.

Now times have changed and people carry plenty of computing power for the job in their pockets, and many anglers don't hesitate to use their phones for weather, navigation (try the Navionics app if you haven't), etc.  As smartphones took off I overhauled the system and built the new app around it.  It makes a much better mobile app than a PC program anyway, since now you have it with you on the water, it can use GPS to get your location, use the internet to get the weather, etc.

As for how it's doing, I couldn't be happier.  It's been out for Android for 10 months, downloaded about 270,000 times and run several million times.   It's had great reviews and I hear from people who say it's really improved their results.  In time I hope to see some sponsorship from some big brands.  Eventually the app should be able to show the specific products that are appropriate for the situation, rather than generic tackle as it does today.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Paul

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

That is fantastic, Paul. I really like inspiring entrepreneurs like you.

When I hear a story like yours, I'm reminded of one of my friends, Deaver Brown. He invented the original 'Umbroller' folding baby stroller. Others were around before certainly, but he started in manufacturing and created one that could go mainstream - if he had an a outlet.

He took them to every show and venue he could, like you, selling them out of his car trunk at times! It was a labor of love. One day at a trade show he met a curious man from Arkansas named Sam Walton. Sam owned a few retail stores and Deaver convinced him to  give some shelf space for his product. The name of the stores? Wal-Mart. The rest, as we say, is history.

I love that story because it shows that roadblocks and rough patches are part of all new products. We often think these things come easy and all that is needed is 'thinking big' - only later do we learn of the challenges they presented. Johnny Wilkins, also responding in this thread, knows about the uphill climb of bringing better things to an often un-concerned market.

I figured MFA came out of a lot of effort. That was apparent the moment I first tried it. The many elements it brings together had to be first understood - and then incorporated into a working program. Personally, I would prefer to see that it's recommendations remain more of a general nature. At the same time, I also know that sponsorship makes it's own demands. So it goes.

Now I'm wondering - do you use the product yourself? I assume you are a master angler, but it could be that you too are just learning  to fish. LOL :-)

[Paul Halter]

I've done quite a bit of fishing for lots of species, but I think I'll still be learning to fish my whole life.  There's always more to learn, and that's part of what I love about fishing. =)

Yes, I use the app myself though not for all my fishing.  There are some situations in which I go to the tried-and-true patterns.  Mid-May smallmouth on a warm day in these parts?  I know I'll throw a shallow Shad Rap or similar bait along certain stretches of rip rap.  Even then I'll check with the app to see what it thinks of my plan.  Sometimes it helps me pick the dates and times I'll fish, but like most of us that's usually a matter of when I have time to fish.  I use it when I'm on a less familiar body of water, targeting a species I don't fish that often, and whenever my usual spots aren't producing.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

"I use it when I'm on a less familiar body of water, targeting a species I don't fish that often, and whenever my usual spots aren't producing."

This is what I hoped you would say!

[Johnny wilkins]

Well - excellent to have you on the board talking fish aps. I have the iPhone and will have to give this a go once the ice clears out. 

I admire the fact that you created this and it is very o.k. that you are not a fish because I am sure the language barrier would be rough on us humans.

[David Dillman]

When I was a kid, we would go down to a lake in Southern Indiana, during the spawn.  Dad taught me to fish bluegills with a bobber, sinker and hook.  We use crickets to catch blue gills.  we had a  whole stringer full.  we left the stinger tide to the boat and went to eat supper.  When we got back 3/4 of the stringer was eaten by turtles.  I then started shooting turtles with a 22.  That is my first real memory of fishing for bluegills.

[Johnny wilkins]

Thank you for sharing that memory that is a winner!

A lot of people fish during spawns. I think a ton of angler success for us is spent waiting until the next spawn. I am guilty as well in that we take a trip up to southern Wisconsin for the white bass spawn & run...

But- fish can be caught as well when there is no spawn. As for the shooting of the turtles - well (don't try this at home). The lakes where my hook gets attacked by turtles is a lake where I try to avoid so no turtle love here...