|
|
  Fishin' with Capt. Gus! ~ Bits and Pieces
August 17, 2008
Fishermen are sometimes known to speak in a tongue of their own. They often say things to keep others off track about where the fish are hitting and how they are being caught, and then brag about the one that got away. They might want you to think they know everything, but don’t want you to know more than they do. So, when you ask where the fish were caught, expect an answer similar to these.
- “Above the bridge.” - “Below the bridge.”
- “You know…that spot we fished a long time ago, remember?”
- “I fished with a buddy, but he told me not to tell anyone where we caught them.”
- “I couldn’t find that place again if I tried.”
- “The last time I told someone where the fish where, he told everybody. I’m not telling anybody this time.”
- “Up the river.” – “Down the river.”
- “Don’t ask me. It was dark.”
- “I can’t tell you, but the spot was only big enough for one boat.”
- “When I tried to find the spot again, I couldn’t.”
It is surprising how many words are spoken about “the one that got away”. It seems that the fleeting moments between the time the fish was first seen and when it got off the line, are talked about forever. Following are some of the most mentioned scenarios.
- “I caught a big one, but it got off.”
- “I had him, but the line broke.”
- “The net was too small.”
- “I would have caught it if it hadn’t pulled so hard.”
- “The hook fell out of its mouth at the very last minute.”
- “I caught three, if you count the one that got away.”
How about when the fish aren’t biting? That’s when you hear lots of reasons and excuses. One of the simplest, yet most profound explanations comes from the Yogi Berra, the great New York Yankee baseball catcher. Once on a fishing trip, he said, “When they’re not biting, you can’t make them stop.” That explains it, doesn’t it? There are plenty of other reasons or excuses, depending on your point of view. Below are a few.
- “The only thing they are hitting is a certain kind of minnow, but the bait shop can’t get them anymore.”
- “They were biting yesterday. Maybe we caught them all.”
- “The moon is too full.” - “The moon is not full enough.”
- “It is too hot (too cold, too windy, too calm, too bright, too dark, too wet, or too dry).”
- “The tide is too high.” - “The tide is too low.”
- “The water is too muddy.” - “The water is too clear.”
- “There is a jinx on board.”
- “They must be biting at night. I know they have to eat sometime.”
- “It’s a shame that I lost my favorite lure. It was the only one I had that caught fish.”
- “They never bite when I go fishing.”
Tips from Capt. Gus!
Forget the solunar and tide tables. The best time to fish is on any day that ends with a “Y”.
Upcoming Events:
A Safe Boating Class is scheduled at Gander Mountain, Exit 36, Mooresville, NC, Saturday, September 6, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The fee for this session is $49.95. Call Light House Marine Services (704 587 0325) for additional information and to pre-register.
Hot Spots of the Week:
Stripers are in the deep water off river points and near the dam. Best results are achieved by trolling bucktails and swimming baits with down riggers on lead core line. Jigging spoons and suspended live baits are also effective methods used to catch schooling stripers. White perch continue to be along drop-offs in deep sloughs and in the submerged brush piles of narrow coves. Best perch baits are small minnows, cut bait and jigs. Bass are hitting buzz baits along rip-rap at dawn and are surface feeding in the lower hot hole throughout the day.
The water level is currently 3.3' below full pond and dropping. Water surface temperature is in the high eighties and low nineties.
Captain Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is licensed by the US Coast Guard, a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association, and is an outdoor columnist and a full time professional fishing guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, Fishin' With Gus! at www.FishingWithGus.com or call 704-617-6812.
For additional information e-mail Gus at Gus@LakeNorman.com
|
|
|
|
|
