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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Fishing is hot, but is it too hot?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is it ever too hot to go fishing?
I suppose the answer is dependent on how well they’re biting.
If you’re drop-shotting over a deep brush pile and you’re catching fish, then the answer is probably no, it’s never too hot to go. If you’re not, well, then air conditioning sounds awfully good. Aluminum hulls and searing heat are not a good mix when there’s little action at the end of your line.
Still, I go and I’ll tell you why. I remember an interview several years ago I had with Doug Hannon, the “Bass Professor.” Hannon has caught more 10-pound bass than most people on this planet.
The thing that most stood out in the interview was that Hannon said he always had high anticipation for trophy bass to bite in the dead, and hottest part, of the summer. The reason? Big bass, he said, are simply different than run-of-the-mill 2-pounders. They feed when smaller fish don’t. They’re more apt to bite a lure when smaller fish aren’t. Whatever the reason — genetics, etc. — they have to eat more to grow large.
“The times when I’ve caught the truly big bass were when you couldn’t buy a bite, ” Hannon said in the 1999 interview, explaining that only skinny or extremely large bass will feed when other bass aren’t. “I used to take heart in those times when they weren’t biting, because I figured this may be my day.”
The same may be true during the middle of winter, when the fishing slows as the water temperature drops. The Massachusetts state largemouth record (15 pounds, 8 ounces), for instance, was caught while ice fishing.
We all know it’s hot outside. It’s summer in Georgia and 90-degree days can make a trip outdoors a miserable one. What do you do to get your outdoors fix? Grin and bear it, or catch those TV fishing shows from your air-conditioned den?
Do you have a tip to share?
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