Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Frank P. Baron is a veteran angler with a degree in journalism and forty years of fishing experience, both as a hobby and professionally.

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Don't Tell Whoppers--Catch 'Em!

Anyone can toss a line into the water and get lucky once in a while, but if you want to catch more and bigger fish and have more fun doing it, you need to learn What Fish Don't Want You to Know. Whether you're new to fishing or an accomplished angler, this comprehensive and entertaining guide will improve your chances every time you cast a line into fresh water.

With easy-to-follow instructions and a liberal dose of humor, this 97.3 percent foolproof manual reveals the secrets for catching any fish from bass and trout to salmon and walleye. Author Frank Baron plumbs his forty years of angling experience to show you the best ways to fish small streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds; change tactics with the seasons; and reveals the two basic methods for catching ALL fish. You'll also learn how to:

• Read water and how weather affects fish behavior
• Select the right baits and lures for particular fish and situations
• Recognize underwater habitats and adjust your techniques accordingly
• Master proper lure and bait presentation
• Know which gear is essential and which is desirable
• Turn a tough day into a great one with dozens of tricks and tips

Packed with wisdom, common sense, and amusing and instructive fish stories, What Fish Don't Want You to Know is the one fishing guide you don't want to let get away.

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What Fish Don't Want You to Know

McGraw-Hill

Contents

Chapter One

One of the keys to catching fish is knowing how they think. "Thinking like a fish" has become something of a cliché, but it is essential if you want to improve your results. (By the way, it doesn't help to stare bug-eyed at the water while rhythmically gulping air. I've tried it.)

You need both general and species-specific knowledge to truly get inside their slippery little heads.

On the general level, fish aren't much different from you and me. Our most basic needs are food and shelter. When these are met, we look at a whole range of other things to occupy our time. Fish don't. Except at spawning time, fish are pretty much locked into the food and shelter thing.

They will find and spend most of their time in safe, comfortable places near food. To catch them, you must find these safe, comfortable places and offer them food (or a reasonable facsimile).

That's where the species-specific knowledge comes in. A sunfish's definition of "safe and comfortable" is vastly different from that of a 40-pound muskie. Even the ranking of safe and comfortable is on a sliding scale. The sunfish has many enemies and will choose safety over comfort if it can't have both. The muskie fears little and will take comfort every time.

All species want food nearby.

It's important to understand that all fish are in harmony with and finely attuned to their environments. They utilize their senses to the utmost, always aware of danger, always alert to the presence of prey. This near-constant state of high alert works against the plodding, clumsy, gravity-challenged angler. Luckily for us, though, fish aren't particularly smart, and they're great opportunists. That is the edge we have to exploit.

I've caught thousands of fish on live and artificial worms or grubs. Chances are, few of those fish had ever seen either one before in their natural environments. They took the bait because it smelled good and looked helpless.

* This "good to eat + can't hurt me" thinking is the undoing of many a fish.

So, in a nutshell, "thinking like a fish" means assessing a body of water, determining where your fish is likely to be, and then giving it what it thinks it wants. Let's look at some typical bodies of water to see how this works.

Small Streams

I cut my angling teeth fishing small creeks and streams for trout. Water like this is the easiest to "read" (to figure out where the fish are). Most of what follows applies to native fish, those that are born in, and that stay in, a particular body of water. Migratory trout and salmon are different and I'll cover them on page 10 and elsewhere.

Fish don't like light. They have no eyelids (can't blink) and no external ears (nowhere to hang sunglasses). They also have enemies, so they don't want to be seen. Consequently, fish avoid light. So look for them in the deeper, darker holes, brush-covered areas, under overhangs, and deep within undercut banks.

Fish are lazy. Or, if you prefer, extremely "energy efficient." They want food to come to them rather than to have to actually hunt for it. Aquatic insects, such as nymphs and larva, and unlucky terrestrials, like ants and grasshoppers, form the basis of their diet. As the insects hatch or the luckless ants lose their grip, the current tumbles them downstream. The biggest, most aggressive, "boss" fish will stake out the best holes in the stream, those that provide safety and proximity to a good current. Like a pizza place, the current offers free home delivery.

Fish seek shadowed areas to avoid being seen by predators. The shade provided by overhead cover also cools the water.

Being both lazy and cautious, they won't spend a lot of time in mid-current, but will dart out from cover to snap up a morsel and then retreat. In deep, dark holes, the depth at the mid-to-lower part of the pool provides a respite from the current, and the fish can pick and choose from the smorgasbord that comes their way.

Fish are agoraphobic (they have a fear of open spaces). You would be too if ospreys, kingfishers, gulls, and eagles had 20-foot wingspans and enjoyed eating people.

Therefore, fish want a "roof" over their heads. The roof usually takes three forms: cover (as in tree roots, undercut banks, overhanging brush, or even surface foam), depth, and turbidity. Depth offers safety if predators can't see to bottom where the fish is hunkered down. And dingy water allows fish to go about their business with less likelihood of being seen.

You will rarely, if ever, see a "boss" native fish before you've hooked it. It will be tucked away under the bank or under another obstruction if available. If you can see the bottom of a pool, the "ceiling" is too low for a good fish to feel comfortable. It will find a safer place.

In moving water such as streams and rivers, the current delivers food to fish.

You'll come across water that seems to fit the bill, deep holes with brush or overhangs, and catch nothing but chubs or suckers. What's the deal?

The water is probably moving too slowly, with either not enough oxygen or uncomfortably high temperatures and a poor delivery system. A nearby current flow is essential.

* Exception: Occasionally, usually at night or after a rain, some big fish will visit these holes to put a dent in the chub and sucker population.

OK, you're fishing a stream and you've found a likely looking hole that satisfies all the criteria. Now what?

Well, if you're a member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), you take a picture and go home.

But you happen to be an angler, and you want a crack at that 16-inch brown you just know is in there somewhere.

Before we get too far along here, let's take a peek at what you're wearing and what tackle you're using. (I'll go into greater depth on these subjects in chapters 3 and 6.)

You have hip waders on because it will be necessary to cross the stream several times during the course of the day. Some holes can only be properly approached from one side or the other. And you'll usually want to face the sun to keep your shadow behind you.

You have a vest on with a minimum of 97 pockets, all of which are bulging with stuff you will mostly never need but that you might use one day. (Besides, aching shoulders are a small price to pay for a good trout.)

You are wearing a hat and polarized sunglasses to cut the glare (facing the sun, remember?). These items are necessary even on cloudy days. I only ditch them during a downpour.

You are using tackle suited to the conditions and your quarry. Your rod is 5 to 6 ½ feet long because it's a brushy creek and maneuvering a longer rod is a pain. It's a light-action rod, and your reel is spooled with 4-or 6-pound monofilament because the largest fish you are likely to encounter is 20 to 24 inchesand weighs 3 or 4 pounds. The average is 8 to 14 inches. You're using a small, #10 or #12 short-shanked, wide-gapped hook(smallerthana dime) tied directly to your line. (See the primer in the appendix for hook sizes.)

Fish take advantage of any available cover to avoid enemies and to ambush prey. Most streams you fish will have these features: areas of strong current, riffles and rapids, runs, deep pools, rocks and...