Fishing 108

...............Now I want you to think about something. If you are a quilter, you are specific on what kind of equipment you use. If you are a graphic designer you are only going to use a Mac. If you are a chef, you are going to have the types of kitchen utensils that are the best you can have.


It is that way with fishing. Now, as a quilter, a designer, or a chef, one learns what you need by doing; the more you learn the better equipment you want. You learn what feels best and if you don't have it in the beginning you work toward it. What does Monk say? "I may be wrong but I don't think so."


That is how I came to know Fenwick. There was something missing in my casting. Whatever and when ever Tom cast, here was a sound I wasn't getting. No matter how much I watched him or how much I tried, I couldn't get the sound. When you whip the rod it should have a whooshing sound. What I was missing was the loading of the tip to make that lure sail to the spot I WANTED IT TO GO. I wanted the rod to do the work.


Now, if this seems strange to you, I want to tell you that while fishing with a female last fall, she pointed out that she couldn't get the whooosh. It is a real sound. I watched her and realized that with her equipment, she was not going to accomplish it. I handed her my Fenwick and she got the whoooosh. Equipment makes a difference.


In order for me to finesse fish, I needed a place to aim. I had done a few years of willy nilly casting and haphazardly caught fish. I wanted to place the lure in the pockets of the wild rice. I learned to do that with a loaded rod tip. Once, while fishing the cat tails, you could see the fish swimming, you knew the minute the top water lure hit the water, that fish was going to take it. We fished long enough for me to be wore out. Since we are catch and release, it wasn't like we were over limit. It remains the most impressive day of fishing I have ever had. On that day, I learned the importance of a tight line when the lure hit the water because that is when the bass hit it.

Last summer we started a lake called Garfield. We would be fishing weeds and reeds and lily pads. I would catch my biggest bass and be thrilled. I would drag multiple fish out of the same hole. I had, after ten seasons, finally learned to load a tip, hit my mark, and with yet another Fenwick, pull the fish through the weeds to the boat..................................