By Capt. Cefus McRae, Nuts & Bolts of Fishing Series
In a very literal sense, we fish with sticks. Rods, even with the high tech composites used today are still basically…sticks. A couple hundred years ago our forefathers used a stick, some twine and a crude hook to catch dinner. Our grandfathers, and many of us, used cane poles with a bobber and a worm to catch bream on a farm pond. Fast forward and we’re still using essentially the same contraptions; albeit with much fancier technology and paint jobs.
I still carry a stick on my boat, most of the time. This stick is in the form of a cut-down pool cue. I cut the skinny end off, leaving a stick about four feet long. It has a rubber cap on the thick end, and some days it’s one of the best fish catching tools on the boat.
Fish have lateral lines that help them ‘see’, especially in murky water and at night. These sensing organs detect vibrations, pressure gradients and movement in their vicinity. Schooling bait fish create vortices as they move through the water, and gamefish can sense this as an opportunity for an easy meal.
Now for a little bit of physics. Low frequency sound waves move better and farther through the water than high frequency sound waves. So a low ‘thud’ can be sensed by fish at great distances. My fish stick can produce those low frequencies by tapping it on the deck of the boat. The Wide Open II has a spot on the deck just to the right of the helm that, when tapped with the rubber end of the pool cue, produces a nice low thump. Don’t ask me why, but fish will come to that noise. Maybe it’s curiosity, maybe they think it’s a bunch of their buddies feasting, or maybe they think it’s a big school of bait frolicking in the water. Whatever the reason, I can do some deck-drumming and after a few minutes, if there’s any fish in the general vicinity, my sonar will light up.
Another school of thought relates to stocked fish. Many of our southern impoundments have stocked bass, stripers, and hybrids. Those fish were raised at a hatchery with lots of noise. Feed trucks, doors slamming, and feed buckets banging against the hatchery raceways. And usually those noises happen around feeding time. Make sense?
Cobia and red drum are naturally curious critters, and they will come to a methodical, low thumping too. It’s worked for me on more than one occasion.
Now this doesn’t always work. Some days, no matter what you do, fish just won’t bite. But when the bite slows down, and I know I’m in a fishy spot, a little deck-drumming can turn it back on. It certainly can’t hurt. After all, if they ain’t biting now, what’s the harm?
So make your own drumming stick, find the sweet spot on your boat’s deck, and start making some music that will have the fish dancing to get on your hook.
Tight lines and calm seas.
Capt. Cefus McRae