Last issue covered going through your tackle and getting it ready for the up coming open water, but what about us? We need to be ready also.
Every year for the first couple of weeks of practice, whether it was football or wrestling, my son complained that the coach just keeps drilling all the basics. In this aspect fishing is like any other sport, you have to know the basics almost to the point that they become second nature.
There are lots of things in fishing that should be considered basic. After all fishing itself is easy - it’s the catching that gets difficult. When you get right down to it there’s one thing that is the most important basic skill that everyone who fishes needs to master, tying on your lure. Without this skill your fish catching will definitely suffer.
Nobody wants to go through all of the effort of getting a fish to bite just to loose it because your knot came untied or broke. I hear a lot of people complain about breaking their line but often on closer inspection the tell tale signs of knot failure is there. Your line is the only direct link between you and the fish and an improperly tied knot will greatly weaken that link.
I have experimented with a lot of different knots and have settled on one knot for all of my fishing- the Palomar knot. It has been tested by a multitude of line manufacturers and has been proven to be the strongest with monofilament and braided lines. Obviously you need to check your line often for nicks, especially if fishing in the rocks. I will run the last six foot or so of my line through my fingers after every few casts checking if I should retie. Even if I don’t find any rough spots in my line I still retie often throughout the day because line does fatigue.
These last few weeks of winter are a great time to practice the basics and grab a spool of line and hand full of different shaped lures and practice the basics, like tying a good knot. Until next time keep your lure wet!
