So I wrote about it, check it out at:

SpecialEd Fishing "The Four Season Angler"

Pretty interesting, credit is due. I would send it in .to some of the various fishing magazines and see what kind of feed back you get and where it goes. It seems like it can help people out and you were very methodical and clear in all the steps.

Thought about it, but I would need to do more "research" in order to feel confident in my theory. After all, a theory without diverse data to back it up is just a theory.

I wish I was a better writer and had more time to do it.

yeah but, You've seen some these fishing articles involving different strategies and techniques. I think about 85% of them have not been loaded up on research. Or else they have been compiled through word of mouth and slapped together. Good luck on it.

Ed i can help ya out when you are ready to submit for publication.

Even articles on what didn't work but what you learned can be informative!

Rob,

I may take you up on that.


I have a how-to article in the works that I want to submit to S.U. for an upcoming newsletter. We'll see how that goes over.


I still say I hate to write though....... I just can't stop doing it.

Gear talk makes my eyes glaze over and my brain go numb, so I had to read this 3 times in order to focus on what you were trying to do. Especially when it comes to bait casting gear talk.

I used to have my own mental gymnastics on this. When I fished the lakes in Virginia I learned to land 3 pound and up largemouth bass with a 5 foot ultra light and 4 pound test mono. On crappie jigs. I learned the drag systems on the spinning gear I use to let it do a lot of the work. I just had to keep the pressure on the fish. Not hard, just enough to get it to do what I wanted.

It was something Bob Long showed me years ago when fishing for Salmon on the Milwaukee River. I had fought one for over a half hour and eventually landed it. Nice 36 inch salmon. When Bob and I were talking about what else I could have done he showed me his trick that works on salmon and steelies. You need to take the pressure off. As long as they feel that they'll fight back. Put the rod between your legs, he was demonstrating this with his fly rod, point it down and toward the fish then just hand line it in. Comes in like a puppy to a treat with virtually no effort.

I've done this with bass ever since, especially when I was trying to get them out of cover in Virginia. They come right out and since they don't feel the pressure, they're less likely to jump.

To get to your point, with the bait caster you are the drag. Very unreliable. I don't know about you, but years of knife accidents have pretty much numbed what I can feel with my thumb pad. At what point are you applying too much pressure? Is your rod too stiff and not giving enough when it needs to in order to compensate for your inaccurate thumb applied drag? Hence the lost fish and snapped lines when they pull back too hard. I wonder if it's your intervention with your thumb that is making the difference. To keep them from jumping, just put your rod tip down into the water a couple or three feet and keep the pressure on them slightly. They can't jump up if the pressure is coming from below.

Get this months issue of Gray's Sporting Journal, the 35th anniversary issue. Good article in their on what they look for in writers. There's formula writing and then there's the type that is more real. Luckily for me I never took a writing class and my down fall in science was memorizing formulas. You do just fine and if a mag is interested, a good editor will help you fix it.

Ken G wrote:You need to take the pressure off. As long as they feel that they'll fight back. Put the rod between your legs, he was demonstrating this with his fly rod, point it down and toward the fish then just hand line it in. Comes in like a puppy to a treat with virtually no effort.

I've seen this work, and I've seen it fail. Where it fails is when the fish darts out from some heavy cover and retreats back into the same. It also fails when you use mono, and the fish are striking your presentation at 60 to 75 yards out in the same heavy cover. You have zero chance of firmly setting the hooks unless you reel like mad and put SERIOUS pressure on the fish.

Those are the two scenarios I was trying to improve my stats on. When I am not fishing ultra long distance, I use 6 lb. mono and a ML spinning set-up. Light enough drags to keep me safely from busting off, but firm enough to set the hook with a needle sharp jighead.

I have used your technique Ken, and in fact I hope to be putting it to good use this summer just outside the mouth of the Milwaukee harbor.