Fishing Technique 



The art of fishing has become a highly compUcated one, with a vari- 

 ety of techniques. It is outside the scope of this book to give detailed 

 instructions about fishing techniques — there are excellent field man- 

 uals available. But the amateur angler may find useful a general dis- 

 cussion of fishing methods. 



If fishes could read and learn the rules, fishing would be a much 

 simpler and more certain art. Then it would be safe to lay down a 

 definite technique for catching each species. 



Each of the accepted methods of fishing has its own class of devo- 

 tees who worship their particular art to the utter disregard of every 

 other. The scorn and disdain of the fly fisherman for the cane-pole 

 fisherman is scarcely equaled. In the Lake States a vast number of 

 the anglers belong to the cane-pole class. Members of this class sit 

 on a bank or in a boat hour after hour, holding a long cane pole with 

 a line and hook baited with anything from angleworms to bits of liver 

 or perch. Patiently they watch the bobbing float and wait for some 

 fish to swallow their bait, seldom pulling in their line until they are 

 certain the nibbling fish has securely swallowed their hook. They 

 usually are not particular about the species they catch, but are glad 

 to get any one of a wide variety. 



A modification of this type of fisherman is the tight-line fisherman, 

 who fishes without a float and often without a pole, using only a hand 

 line with which he expertly hooks any fish that nibbles at his bait. 

 These fishermen constitute the great majority of the anglers of the 

 northern lakes. They are usually more interested in catching enough 

 fish to cover the frying pan than in refined methods of fishing or the 

 technical aspects of fish habits. 



A more advanced group of fishermen are the bait casters, who con- 

 stitute a sort of middle class. They have graduated from the cane pole 

 and place their trust in short casting rods. Using various artificial 

 minnows, plugs, spoons, and spinners, they troll and cast into all pos- 

 sible habitats, hoping to entice certain more exclusive game fishes to 

 strike at their moving lures. Frequently they embellish their lures with 

 more substantial bait like minnows or frogs. 



The aristocrats among anglers are the fly fishermen, who may be 

 divided into dry- and wet-fly devotees. Using the lightest of tackle, 

 they limit their catches to the game fishes that will rise to artificial 

 flies. Most trout fishermen belong to this class. Of all fishermen, fly 

 fishermen may truly be said to fish more for sport than for fish. Al- 

 though the fly fishermen are relatively few in number, they are very 



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