More Changes In Fishing
MORE CHANGES IN FISHING
By Bob Jensen
For many anglers, the Labor Day weekend marks the end of the fishing season. While there are still lots of outstanding fishing opportunities after Labor Day, many anglers have others interests and hang up the rods and reels. I’ve had conversations with a variety of anglers recently, and they’ve all had some very interesting observations on changes in fishing in recent years. Many of those observations start with a comment to the general idea that, “Man it’s been a hot, dry summer.” Following are some other thoughts.
My fishing friend Mike Frisch is involved in the business of fishing on several levels. Mike has also been an avid observer of fishing trends for several decades. Mike lives near Alexandria Minnesota. Alexandria is a special place when it comes to fishing. There are lots of lakes, lots of fish species, and lots of ways to catch those fish. Mike has noted several changes in fish populations and the ways to catch those fish.
First of all, Mike notes that the waters in many lakes has cleared up significantly due to several factors, but perhaps mostly to the unintentional introduction of zebra mussels. “Zeebs” filter plankton, which makes the water clearer, which allows the sun’s light to penetrate deeper, which enables vegetation to grow in deeper water. The fish are also moving deeper. The areas that ten and twenty years ago were where the fish lived now don’t hold as many fish. They all moved deeper. If you want to catch them, you need to fish deeper also.
Another observation of Mike’s: When it comes to largemouth bass fishing, on many lakes, you’re not going to catch quite as many bass, but they are going to be much larger. Mike has been a successful tournament angler for a long time. Ten years ago, if he had a limit of bass that averaged a little over two pounds, he felt that he would do well. Today, Mike knows that his bass are going to have to average over three pounds if he wants to cash a check. A body of water can sustain a certain amount of fish per acre. Maybe it can have twenty fish that weigh two pounds or ten fish that weigh four pounds. The numbers might change from lake to lake, but the concept is the same. Fishing is still outstanding and many would say that fishing is better now, but it is changing.
Another observation made by several anglers: Conditioning is a factor in fishing success. Conditioning means that fish have developed a reluctance to hit a particular lure, lure presentation, lure color, all sorts of things lure-related. For a long time, very successful anglers have recognized that fish become conditioned, but to many folks who have just started fishing, this is a change that they’ve recognized does exist. Much of the time, we as people don’t always believe in the observations of others until we experience those things ourselves. We might hear about fish becoming conditioned, but until we see it first-hand, we’re not true believers. Just recently a friend told me about finding a school of smallmouth bass and catching several on a crawfish colored jig. When the fishing slowed, my friend tied on a different color and the catching started all over again. To my friend, this occurrence changed his thoughts about fishing. Now, when the fish stop biting, instead of leaving the previously productive spot, he changes his lure presentation and usually, not always but usually, catches a few more fish.
A last observation about fishing changes: For the first time, many anglers are calling ahead to make sure that the boat landing that they usually use has enough water over it get their boat in the water. I and many other anglers hope that that’s a change that won’t continue much longer.
PHOTO CAPTION---Here’s a larger than average Alexandria MN area bass, but this size of bass is also much more common than they were just a few years ago.