Girl Gone Fishin’
By Michelle Armstrong (Insert small Michelle1 around here)
It’s Tick Season
From the time you notice the bloom of the Bradford pear until the azalea blooms go green, the game is on. The pollen settles on everything including the lakes; the wind swooshes it across the water like fog banks. But my puffy eyes and nighttime allergy cough are so worth it because one thing is for certain…the bite this time of year is amazing.
The fish are in several different stages depending on the area if the lakes. They are either in prespawn, spawn, or post spawn. It is the perfect storm and depending on your fishing preference, you will surely find your niche this time of year. My personal favorite is sight fishing. This time of year I get a glazed-over look in my eye much the same as when Macy’s has their annual Michael Kors sale, only amplified! This type of fishing is quite controversial for some. A lot of anglers feel as if you are disturbing the fish by pulling them off their beds and refuse to sight fish but will continue fishing just the same. My personal theory is if you are fishing at all this time of year, you are probably disturbing the spawn. Whether you realize it or not, you’re pulling fish off theirs beds. Since I release what I catch, I feel no guilt toward nature. I have fished most of my adult life and rarely have I witnessed a fish not immediately return to its nest upon release. Often times, if the caught fish doesn’t return, another will quickly move on the nest to protect it.
Over and above the exhilaration I experience from catching a bedding bass, the knowledge I gain from sight fishing is instrumental in how I can catch MORE bass. There are several ways we as anglers are alerted to the fact that there is a fish on the end of our line. There is the, “Holy cow dude, that fish just about jerked the rod outta my hand.” There are the “tap tap” the “thump” and the “bump” alerts. Then there are the subtle alerts that many miss altogether. Once I spent several hours fishing with no bites. As I went to switch out my bait, much to my embarrassment I found my bait to be seriously chewed up. I had been getting serious bites never feeling one if them. I knew without a doubt it was not equipment failure. I was armed with my favorite Cashions rod; one of the most sensitive rods I’ve found…it was definitely me. So I took my next sight fishing opportunity to observe and learn.
When I watched a fish pick up my bait, long before I felt the holy cow or the thump, which by the way was normally five to seven seconds after the fish picked up the bait, there was the most subtle alert. It was a simple “tick.” An ever so slight tick that I could see in my line just at the point where it disappears in the water. The tick occurred even before I could visually see the lure in the fish’s mouth or watch my line stretch and move off. I watched this happen over and over resisting the urge to set the hook because I was eager for the fish to teach me what to look for. Time and time again I would watch the fish nose on to the bait, witness the subtle tick, one second, two seconds, (the fish would swim by often smirking at me with tentacles of my lure overflowing from its big mouth), then I would begin to see my line stretch and move, three seconds, FINALLY, I feel weight, four seconds, tap, five seconds, thump or bump, then just like that, the fish would let go. Crazy. How many fish have I let slip by in my lifetime by not noticing the tick? I shudder to think of the number of missed hooksets.
So what’s a girl to do? Pay attention for starters. Always stay in touch with your bait. When pitching, skipping, or casting, always keep the time that your line is not taunt to a minimum. The quicker you know where your lure is, the better. In my experience, most strikes happen while the bait is falling. So stay in contact by not letting that line sit in a coil on the water waiting for it to touch bottom. By the time you wait for your line to uncoil, you’ve missed the tick, the swim, and the weight. By the time your brain catches up to what is happening, the fish is gone.
The tick is prevalent this time of year but occurs all year long. Watch for it, and go catch MORE fish.
Michelle is an avid angler who competed professionally on the Women’s Bassmaster Tour. You can catch Michelle giving seminars at the Concord NC Bass Pro Shops where she is their in-store local pro.