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If You Don't Know - Ask!
by Lance Merz, October 31, 2015
Since I’ve been working here at Mack’s Lure, I’ve learned a lot to be sure. I’ve often talked with many anglers who have told me that what I’ve learned in my short time here, many anglers have taken a lifetime to learn. It’s an extreme learning curve that I absolutely love and can’t get enough of. As many anglers, I have an arsenals of rods and reels (and tackle) that fits for a particular type of fishing. The point of the matter is, I’m still learning. I have a long way to go; some days will be better than others, and just when you think you have it “dialed in”, you’re proven wrong.
Just recently, my brother called me and asked me how to fish a particular river in the Pacific Northwest. I told him that I hadn’t the opportunity to fish that river and I really didn’t have a clue. What I told him could best fit anyone who is fishing in a spot they’ve never fished before. I told him to go to the river with all of his gear, watch and learn from the other folks fishing.
Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and ask someone how they are catching fish. I still do this and will continue to do so throughout my fishing career. It’s quite the opposite of hunting really. When you ask someone how they are catching fish, they generally tell you what color is working the best, how to rig it, what bait to use, how deep they are fishing and what works best for them. It’ll take some time to get things figured out, but when you do, you’ll be happy you asked. My brother took my advice and had a great experience.
When I was living in Alaska, I did the same thing. I lived in Anchorage, Palmer and Wasilla, but I can remember the first time I saw what the “hype” was all about. I was watching people fishing in chest waders who were wearing ties. They were fishing on their lunch breaks at a place called “Ship Creek”. This creek is in Anchorage, but is still a popular fishing spot within the Turnagin Arm. As the tide would come in, the creek looked more like a river, but as the tide would go out, anglers would use just a bait of eggs in front of the Chinook salmons’ mouth in order for them to strike. I had no clue of how to fish this way, but after watching and asking, I was well on my way. I started catching fish the way everyone else was, fishing until 2:00-3:00am not knowing what time it was.
Once I had enough practice in catching these fish, I decided to try something different. I started using a 1.1” Mack’s Lure Smile Blade® above the eggs and sometimes even used a Rock Dancer® buck tail jig with a simple cast. In this type of fishing, it’s important to get the lure right in front of the fish’s nose in order for them to strike. It didn’t take long to figure out that using a Smile Blade actually produced a better response from the fish.
There are so many different ways of catching fish. If you’ve never done it before, where do you start? Talk to the people who have, go to your local bait and tackle shop to find out what’s hot. Knowledge is power and practice makes perfect. Like I said before, I still have a lot to learn, but I’m having a great time doing it!
