Anglers know fishing is an art

To those who are not so fortunate to have become anglers, the world of fishing would seem to be a simple place.

The uninitiated think of fishing as a pastime where one threads a worm onto a hook, tosses it out into the water and then settles back to doze until a fish eats the worm.

Some who fish go about it exactly that way, choosing to fish in a simple and passive fashion. Far more, however, advance to a point where they become specialists. It’s that opportunity to specialize that makes our sport so individually addicting.

Most of us who fish share a common denominator. We began as bank-sitting bobber watchers, probably as youngsters just as content to get our shoes muddy and skip stones as we were to reel in bluegills and bullheads.

But a defining moment set the tone for a lifetime of angling ambition in all of us who have become specialists. Something happened back in our past that put the wheels in motion to dedicate countless hours and dollars to scratch a particular fishing itch.

For virtually every species of game fish that swims in our waters, specialists abound.

We chase walleyes, bass, muskies, trout, catfish, crappies and more. And that’s just in fresh water. On the salt, anglers dedicate their time to redfish, stripers, sharks, tuna, marlin and, well, the list is too long to record here.

Point is, once a man or woman starts to learn the intricacies of catching a particular species, their tactics define their fishing.

Look at the world of walleyes. A large percentage of the anglers in the Upper Midwest are singularly focused on walleyes. And the reason may very likely trace back to environmental efforts that initiated the clean-up of the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Erie.

The Erie walleye boom that began in the 1970s and continues today resulted in walleyes’ becoming accessible to a tremendous number of anglers who had the wherewithal to afford to buy boats or, at the very least, pay their share of a charter-captain’s fee. Limit catches were the rule, and new, interesting and fish-producing tactics developed.

Through the outdoor press and word of mouth, news spread about the great fun and relatively easy fishing. Many an angler stocked up on Erie Dearies and Hot-N-Tots and became great walleye anglers.

Soon enough, those same people, who formerly were content to drag the bottom on inland reservoirs for whatever might bite, became dyed-in-the-wool walleye specialists. No longer did they have to plan for months for a Canadian wilderness expedition to load up on walleyes.

Trout perhaps spawned the first wave of angler specialists. The fact they are spread around the world wherever waters run cool and clear perhaps contributed to the growth of trout-fishing as a special pursuit. Plus, Izaak Walton’s “Compleat Angler” elevated trout-fishing many hundreds of years before magazines such as In-Fisherman and Bassmaster began publishing species-specific how-to articles.

Without question, many still go to the water with no special notion about the fish they hope to catch. Whatever bites, they’ll be happy to reel in and enjoy.

But for those who fish for recreation more than for food, specialty tackle and species-oriented tactics add the extra dimension that makes them proudly declare their place in angling’s hierarchy.

If you’ve read this far with me today, you probably are an angling specialist like me. Hello, friend. Welcome to my world.

jack@innismaggiore.com