There will be pitfalls as you learn to fish

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008

No matter how good the instruction manual you might read, or how very fine some noted professor may possibly be in a classroom lecture, eventually you’re going to have to get on that bike and start peddling or put that trumpet mouthpiece to your own lips and begin buzzing.

Finding out how to fish is no different.

You’re ultimately going to just have to hold a rod and reel in your own hands, throw (or drop) some kind of lure or bait into the water and hopefully, something with gills, fins and a big old tail will somehow find it in his or her own heart to cooperate with you on this new adventure.

Oh, there will be pitfalls in the journey, I assure you of that.

You’ll sometimes throw too high looking for those elusive tree fish, and you’ll very likely discover someday that age-old adage that a sharp hook is always mightier than any finger or a fragile earlobe.

You’ll also pick up important rules along the way such as catching is never guaranteed, and learn that fishing line can tangle into some incredible disorder all by itself.

Hey, nobody ever learned to be two-wheeling it without a few scraped knees to start, and I’ll bet even Louis Armstrong hit some pretty sour notes when he first picked up that cornet.

Hopefully though, you’ll also so thoroughly enjoy the experience of being outdoors and really appreciate the adrenaline rush of anticipation of a big one that might bite on the end of your line at any moment.

Even a bad day fishing beats a good day at work hands down and every time.

Last week, I advised that rank beginners at this sport should take a ride or two on a headboat such as the one at the Rod ‘N’ Reel Dock in Chesapeake Beach to get started. I stand by that suggestion, but now let’s move on to trying this sport alone by yourself.

It wouldn’t hurt to first pick up a little reading material such as ‘‘Fishing for Dummies” by Peter Kaminsky or ‘‘We’re Going Fishing! Now What?” written by Greg Compton.

These are two very inexpensive and easy to read beginner manuals, and you can probably find one or both of them at local bookstores or certainly online through sites such as Target or Amazon.

I’ve read them both and, while I categorically don’t agree with everything inside the covers, they’ve got far more good tips and advice to study than bad, and as a bonus, they’re both pretty funny at times.

Around here, we have enormously different types of fishing opportunities for people without a boat ranging from little freshwater ponds such as the one at Calvert Cliffs to big lakes such as Wheatley Lake at Gilbert Run Park and St. Mary’s Lake south of Leonardtown to the brackish Potomac River at Marshall Hall and the even bigger Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay down there at Point Lookout.

Experienced, knowledgeable fishermen will have particular rods and reels to use for these kinds of different situations. A beginner fisherman won’t be making that kind of investment ... yet. Buy yourself one medium⁄heavy spinning rod that’s about 6 1⁄2 feet long and a medium-sized spinning reel to put on it.

Make your purchase at a tackle shop and tell the clerk or salesperson you want one outfit you can use at the Solomons Pier and also at the ponds of Myrtle Grove. Also ask how to put it together and operate it.

You’ll need to practice casting a time or two in the backyard, so you’ll probably want to buy a practice plug or two. Do that practicing in an area without any trees or bushes and way far away from any overhead power lines. You probably don’t want a Labrador or golden retriever standing by anywhere near you either.

If you do your initial buying at a sporting goods store or tackle shop instead of a place like Wal-Mart, chances are pretty good you’ll get somebody that knows a little bit about this stuff to help you. You might pay a little more for it, but you’ll walk out the door with the right equipment, along with some good advice, and that’s far more important.

Buy some quality fishing line in 8-pound test. Don’t buy the cheap package and don’t buy any specialty lines, just get regular monofilament fishing line. And you’ll need some bottom rigs (just ask for a half dozen) and hooks. Get some plain Number 8 hooks and also some Number 4 and Number 6. Get those latter two in packages with a little leader or line already attached to them, and a couple bobbers, the round ones with a little button to push in on one end and a hook-like thing on the other end about an inch and a half in diameter.

You’ll also need a few sinkers. Get the ones that feel like they have about the weight of a golf ball and not a medicine ball or ping-pong ball, and try to find some with a little metal eyelet attached to them.

That’s it. And now you can fish anywhere you’d like around here.

In freshwater — ponds and lakes — tie a Number 8 hook to the end of your line. You’ll first need to learn how to make a Palomar knot. Go online, and into any search engine such as Yahoo punch up Palomar knot. It will take you five minutes to learn.

Above that hook, maybe 2 1⁄2 feet, attach a bobber. You just push in the button and put the line under the hook that comes out the other end and then hold that hook in that you just put line under and push the button down again but around the other hook at the other end and put the line again under that opposite hook that’s now sticking out.

Take about a 2-inch piece of a live nightcrawler and thread it onto the hook, most of the way, let a little dangle off the end to attract Mr. Bluegill. If the idea of a squiggly, live worm disturbs you, you can buy an artificial product called Powerbait that you just form into a little ball, the size of a large pea, and stab that onto your hook instead of the worm.

Toss it out from shore toward the water and hopefully, the bobber will soon start a little dance, start reeling slowly and pull up all the loose line lying on top of the water. Then, when the bobber goes all the way under or starts moving off on its own, yank up and back with the rod, do that pretty fast, and start reeling in.

Moving outto bigger waters

If you’re going to try your luck in brackish water from a place like the Solomons Pier or the big fishing platform at Point Lookout, leave the bobbers at home.

For this kind of fishing, tie one of those bottom rigs you bought on the end of your line. On the lowest or bottom snap, put on one of your sinkers.

Above that will now be two little rings or metal loops, out to the side at the end of a little metal arm. Take one of your hooks that are tied to a leader, and squeeze together and push the end of the leader, the part with its own little loop, through that eye on your bottom rig.

Once it’s through the metal loop or eye, take your hook and put it through the little loop on the leader and pull the hook tight. Be careful you don’t stab yourself. Do the same thing again on the other little arm.

Bait your hooks with a little piece of bloodworm, artificial Fishbites, or a clam snout. You can buy all these things, including the nightcrawlers for freshwater, at any tackle or sporting good store and even lots of local gas stations.

Toss or just drop your offering off the pier, keep the line fairly tight, but not too tight, and wait for a pull from the other end.

When you feel that, yank right back and then reel in.

Always have long-nosed or needle-nosed pliers handy to pull hooks from fish mouths and it’s usually a good idea to hold most fish from under rather than from over the top of their body. That’s because the top fin of many fish species can be very sharp and could easily cut your hand while you’re holding it attempting to remove the hook.

If you have an old towel along, you might want to put that between your hand and the fish. A set of nail clippers in your pocket will make cutting off extra line when you tie knots a breeze.

A standard 5-gallon bucket also is an ideal fishing tool, as well. You can carry bait in it, your pliers, towel, a couple drinks and even some extra hooks, sinkers and bobbers. Then, it makes you a fine portable seat and you can also use it to carry your catch home.

Lastly, most all fishermen over 16 years old will need a license if you’re not fishing from an already specially licensed boat. Maryland has one type of license for freshwater anglers and another if you’re going to be casting in tidal waters.

Good luck and welcome to the fishing fraternity.