X-Files
Fish Intelligence
Highly instictive and dumb
as rocks...or are they?
Timothy Kusherets
How is it possible? The water was running crystal
clear and I was able to entice this huge native salmon into biting.
It knew I was there and willingly bit the end of my line...It’s
simple. I considered its physiological makeup and catered to all elements
that put pressure on fish and then avoided them; that’s it.
I once met a man from Alabama. He and I just happened
to be fishing the same area of a river when we met. A good part of the
morning had gone by when he couldn’t take fishing along side me
any longer without saying something.
“Well if you ain’t the doggonedest fishermen I did ever
see! I done never did see anybody hook into dem damn fish the way you
can and I been alive for 92 years! If you don’t mind me asking;
what the hell you doing? I been fishing this here river for 2 years
now and I never did land a single fish, but in this one morning I done
see you hook and land more fish than I seen all the men combined ever
catch. Share the wealth will ya?”
“If you don’t mind I would like to take a look at your tackle
and maybe I can help.”
“Well do something. I don’t have a whole lot a years left
in me and I could use all the help I can see you done don’t need”.
After assessing his tackle and looking at his grimly tight lips I could
see he didn’t have a lot of patience or the right gear; rather
than explain a thing to him, I gave him a sample of one of my entire
setups which included mainline, leader, terminal gear and scent. I asked
him if he wouldn’t mind fishing exactly the way I needed to show
him rather than breakdown all the existing components; I didn’t
think he cared about any of the sciences
behind my setup and the way he behaved I was sure I was right, though
I did find his disposition flattering even as he professed to be impatient.
After completely setting up his gear I put him in front of some water
I was sure had fish. Following a brief tutelage he hooked into a fish
on the very first cast. He landed his bright Coho and strung it up.
It wasn’t the fight of the fish that impressed me rather it was
the contented and shocked look on his face.
“You is the damndest man I done ever did see. I declare that I
see the oldest man I ever laid eyes upon in you. I lived a long time
and fished a whole lot a water but I ain’t ever seen another like
you. You know things that men don’t know. You been blessed young
man. God done give you a mighty good thing and you oughta do something
with it. Ya know something? Men talk a lot of nonsense but it ain’t
in you is it? I mean, you dunt care what others think do ya? Not that
I think it’s a bad thing but I sure wish I coulda knowed what
you do. I mighta made something outa myself. Take it from an old man
who’s seen a whole lotta this world…God has smiled upon
you.”
I was happy to see that he was happy. He didn’t want to fish after
that. He said he was tired and just wanted to watch me fish but would
appreciate it if I gave him a fish or two I might not want. The day
ended and wouldn’t you know that man stayed with me throughout
most of it. He told me that he didn’t have the patience to listen
to all the gobaligoop science I wanted to share with him. He said the
only reason he didn’t was that he was in his last years and had
settled on the man he had become and that he was alright with it. I
sure liked fishing with him. He left the river towards the end of the
day. He said goodbye and got into his truck and I never saw him again.
I like to think he’s out fishing some river I haven’t seen
him on yet. I think about him and many other men I have had the good
fortune to meet but the depths of my thoughts go far deeper than that
old man ever would have cared for. There have been many times I have
explained to other fishermen what it takes to get fish to bite. The
look in their eyes tells me they were shocked to hear a fisherman talk
about the perspectives of what fish might be sensing just before the
strike. I made it a habit not to say anything that I couldn’t
back up and in many cases it was hooking into the fish as often as I
did, and still do, that made believers out of them. I suppose that old
man would say that it was the proof in the pudding that makes fishermen
agree with my tactics.
Fishing for fish is the same as fishing for a kiss at the end of a date.
If the man doesn’t make the right presentation he could end up
with a handshake rather than a kiss. That handshake or kiss is the summation
of the date and all he either did, or didn’t do, to make the kiss
happen. It is the same with fishing.
When a fisherman embraces the amazing ability that steelhead and salmon
have to adapt and the instincts that are the driving forces of their
existence he begins to see fundamental changes in the habits of his
fishing starting with the gear that is bought. Most tackle shops are
designed to catch fishermen and not fish and most stores are highly
successful at it. They know what to say and how to say it to get the
customers to buy the products and that’s the point. A flashy commercial
and properly presented choice of words will make almost any lure or
line seem like it is the best thing to buy if you’re a fisherman;
but is it something that fish would buy?
Every single thing I do associated with fishing is designed from a fish’s
perspective; from the corkie setup to the clothing I wear in the field
are all derived from the environment from which a fish lives in and
that has made me wildly successful in every facet of the fishing I do,
which, by the way, covers an amazing array of types of fresh and saltwater.
A smaller example of fishing the fish is how the corkie actually looks
to a fish as it travels down the river. Dynamically, the single most
important thing to address is how the fisherman can make the corkie
seem appealing to fish and the base answer is buoyancy, beyond the size
of the hook and corkie. Buoyancy dictates presentation and presentation
is based on the gravitation level in which fish will hold. The level
of the hold is based on the intensity of the river flow and the river
flow is ultimately based on the frequency of falling precipitation which
is predicated by the rising and falling barometer.
Understanding the instincts of fish is much easier than it is to let
go of the training we receive as young fishermen. The nostalgia and
romantic memories of youth tend to become just as exaggerated as the
first lunker. Once we let go of the past and embrace the science we
can see that it’s not magic, but it can still fell like it.
Imagine that you’re a steelhead holding in a river that has salmon.
You hold waiting for eggs to either flow down river or you wait for
salmon to deposit eggs so you can dig them up. Now you’re a fisherman
that has just thrown a corkie into the water. If the presentation of
the corkie is natural and about the same size of the eggs that steelhead
are waiting for then it is likely you’ll get the fish; but did
you think of everything? A corkie as it drifts though the water can
have an appearance of something unnatural if the corkie either has physical
flaws, nicks and deformities, or can be of an inappropriate size and
color. To counter any possibility of this happening I have taken into
account that fish are incredibly particular in their observations when
it comes to offerings. I know that they will get as close as half an
inch to take a look at something, especially during times of food abundance,
which, after some time, can make them finicky because they can pick
and choose because they don’t have to worry about competition
as much. Many times it is the inside of the corkie that makes the offering
less appealing, that is to say, the anomalous color of white from the
inside of the corkie can be enough to put the fish off your bite while
the same fish may pick up someone else’s that has considered that
factor, or at the very least has a natural offering that such as eggs
and shrimp that are more attractive then the corkie you presented.
In the scan of these corkies you can see the exact same setup three
different ways; one with a toothpick in the center, one with a toothpick
that has been colored, and one without a toothpick at all. Each one
of them is capable of getting a fish to bite but they are all contingent
of the whims of individual fish but one of them in particular has the
potential of getting more fish than the other two; can you guess which
one? The one without the toothpick has an incredibly white center to
it and you can see the line running though it. Of the three, it has
the most unnatural presentation appearance. You will never see a salmon
egg with white in the center of it. A fish looking at the center of
the corkie would probably let it drift on by and the fisherman would
never know a fish was even in the area. The corkie on the left side
is capable of getting many times more fish than the first but it could
get more still if the toothpick were colored like the one in the center.
Notice that the color of the toothpick in the center is complementary
of the corkie. That particular setup style, not necessarily just the
color, has allowed me to catch and release many thousands of fish over
the years. Yes, I said thousands; by no means is it an exaggeration.
Bear in mind that I’m not saying that buoyancy and corkies are
the only things to consider, rather, it is a marriage of all the sciences
applied that a fisherman should entertain. It’s not as nearly
daunting a task as guides, store clerks, and authors would have you
believe. Comfort, of the past, is a hard thing to abandon, but are you
really catching as many fish as you want to?
Instinct is the thing to address. Salmon and steelhead have instinctive
needs to migrate and reproduce. The nuances that make up there instinctive
habits make them very predictable in their present environment, that
is, they will behave in accordance to practical sciences but will adapt
when they are forced. It is the point of adaptation, provided by instinct,
which fishermen must address in order to hook into fish reliably. Placing
your thoughts into the natural life of the fish will help you to know
what to offer them and when to do it. Consider that the river conditions
will strongly dictate what to use and work backwards from there to forecast
your fishing trips. Barometric pressure, precipitation, wind, temperature,
and water clarity will all contribute to what you take to the river
and offer the fish. What might not be appealing to you might just be
the steelhead candy the fish are looking for and all of that is contingent
on whether you’re willing to adapt as readily as the fish you’re
trying to catch.
Science has never failed me when it came to finding, hooking, landing,
and then releasing fish of a wide variety. As you apply these schools
of thought fishermen around you might think the amount of fish you catch
will seem like magic but you’ll know that it’s not.
© TAK-TOPFS 2009 Copyrighted
|
