Sodafone

Angling is oftentimes misconstrued purely as a solo interest; a reclusive fishing extremist leaving his house early hours on a cold late autumn day to locate some isolated point next to a stream, with a flaskful of coffee to keep him from numbing his hands. While that caricature is pretty well drawn for a good number of angling extremists, it’s at the same time a really false view of numerous other fishing hobbyists, as they view fishing as a social event, establishing new friendships, while also a marvelous excuse to travel the country and internationally by getting involved in angling trips.

In addition to that, angling competitions can be found up and down the country - and they’re a fantastic excuse for people to get together and acquire new angling tricks, and at the same time creating a fantastic excuse to take a mini vacation. In fact, there are individuals who state that angling is simply a reason to meet people and travel! That being said, angling is still taken very seriously by many of its enthusiasts and they’re prompted by the social scene primarily to find out more about fishing via swapping tips and tricks with fellow individuals.

In the last 10 years, the internet has truly helped grow the fishing communities - via forums, blogs, Twitter etc, it’s now effortless to organise or just go to an angling competition or unofficial get-together, while swapping handy tips and tricks on forums and blogs.

In terms of fishing gear the internet has absolutely assisted people in locating the best tackle, rod, reel, sea fishing rods etc because nowadays they can compare with countless online stores rather than just being limited to their provincial angling shop.

As we move into December, for many fishermen this marks the beginning of the “Dark Season” of fishing.

By “Dark”, I don’t mean anything secretive, nor do I imply any sort of clandestine operations taking place on our rivers and streams.

By “Dark”, I simply mean the time of year when it is cold, gloomy,wet, and short of light–you know- perfect steelhead weather!!

Which is exactly my point.

Not that I don’t appreciate the time when I can reflect on the years past “light filled” fishing adventures, places like, The Henry’s Fork, The Rogue,The Kenai, The Owens, The Klamath–(and a few places I won’t mention)–Or, grabbing a good book, re-charging my fishing wires-while the fish enjoy a break from the trevails of being a fish. And not that I don’t appreciate the time to sit and tie the two fly patterns I know, and pick up magazines and start to plan out next year’s wish list,BUT the year isn’t over and there are still some fantastic fishing opportunities still out there.

One of the real nice things about this time of year is the lack of fishing pressure. Unless you live in the southern U.S., or have the means to fly to Patagonia and start the second season, most folks aren’t really too excited to venture into sub freezing temperatures and chip ice off of the ferules on their fishing rods.

So while most fishermen are content to grab the remote, watch some guy grab a bass by the lips and have another egg nog, others are out there enjoying the solitude of the season.

With todays’ hi-tech clothing technology, except when fishing in the Arctic or Swen and Ole’s six inch hole in the ice, you can pretty much get yourself suited up to spend two or three hours comfortably outdoors chasing fish that usually have enough sense to remain where it is relatively warm.

At least WARM for a fish.

Fish don’t stop feeding in the winter and the results can be INCREDIBLE!!

Even fly fishermen, if they can get their fingers to work on a size twenty-six midge, can coax fish up to the surface to take a microscopic offering.

Again, the point here is, if you put a little preparation, and thought into your fishing endeavors, you can still be out there enjoying the sport during the “Dark Season”. It sure beats sitting around eating Aunt Holly’s Double Lard Fruitcake!!

To me, there are still very little downsides.

Unless of course you count hypothermia,frostbite and freezing to death as downsides.

Of course, for some of you, sitting in a fish hut on some frozen lake, or standing in the steady drizzle of a Northwest rain, or cross country skiing to your fishing hole still won’t sound like fun to you, so there is always Patagonia and New Zealand.

Thank God for Visa cards…..

A.J. Klott

Author, writer of fishing humor,and “fly tack” peddler.A.J. writes about the people,characters and modern day events that surround the fishing world. His first book is due out in December of 2005.
If you need a laugh or a fun gift, visit his website at:
http://www.twoguyswithflys.com

Did you ever wish you could get out of the heat in the summer? So does the Bronzeback.

Shallow water means warmer water, and as a rule, warmer water in the summer is not where you are likely to find your limit. Then again, rules are made to be broken.

To find them in the shallows you will need to find some moving the water; current from a river, water being released or water being drawn in, such as at a power plant, or whatever creates a current.

Also, the shallows may be good on cloudy days which brings baitfish up. Baitfish bring smallmouths with them and usually in schools.

For these, use topwaters or soft plastic jerkbaits. Two of the best all-around smallmouth are soft plastic tubes and grubs.

But the majority of the time, you are going to be looking deep, and deeper. Maybe 30 feet deep or more.

Look for main points near a river channel. Scour the sides of deep rocky points, bluff points, sharp drop offs and shady bluffs using Carolina-rigged soft plastics (french fries and centipedes), crankbaits and drop-shot rigs (tubes).

If you aren’t catching them, change locations. They can bunch up in the summer, often schooling by size and suspending themselves in deep water.

Oh, they’re out there in the summer. You just need to find them.

Most of the time you will need to think deep and deeper.

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By Bobby Ivie

Bobby Ivie is an avid fishman and owner of Fishing-Hunting-Camping.com. He makes the biggest part of his living on the Internet, NetBizWorkshop.net

This article may be reprinted as long as this source box is added and the source box hyperlinks are kept intact.
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