What crazy weather here lately. Not bad just odd, lots of wind and shmutz in the air. Apparently there are several range fires in the vicinity and we just happen to be down wind of it all. At times visibility is down to about 5 miles or so. The haze is a mix of dark and light so it really plays on the appearance of things.
The winds have been pretty much all more than 15 mph for the entire week. The gusts have been significantly higher. Even more complicating is the direction of the wind is not consistent either. So accurate casting or lure placement is tough. Fortunately there are limited distances involved along with suitably heavy tackle to compensate. At least I thought it was heavy enough.
The week started out with those weather conditions so that prompted me to keep casts closer to minimize the trailing line getting blown into the snags. That sort of worked. At the least futzing about with the line after the cast gives the bait time to settle. I can't tell you how many times there was some activity on the other end after I got the bait cast reel over-runs tended to. I even managed to try and set the hook by just grabbing at the trailing line and not even use the rod. Not much success there. So there I was missing all these strikes due to messing about with spool over-runs. Casting while dealing with stiff breezy conditions is tough. I'd been working up to try hard and connect with all these strikes I'd been missing. To complicate things even more there were several well meaning folks that wanted to strike up conversation with me too while fishing. Typically this is not an issue as talking and fishing are not too challenging. Add the wind, frustration, and limited casting time an the anxiety level rises. By the time I managed to get all that cleared out and concentrate on a pending bite, I had mentally authorized the kung fu hook set when the time was right. Oh man one small detail that I failed to recognize, I had clamped down on the drag to facilitate clearing of the spool over-runs. I did not release it back to normal levels. So when I hauled back on the fish, I got all of it and then some. I hit that strike with a counter of my own that reached epic proportions.
Not only did I nail that hook in but I also ripped it straight out too! Yes, the large wide gap hook was peeled open to the point of looking like an open diaper pin. Uuugh, if that wasn't enough, I didn't connect with the fish either as I could feel the resistance but then it was gone. Of course I was still quite stunned after hearing the loud POP from the explosion of the graphite pole too! So I'm grabbing at the trailing end of the line along with avoiding those sharp shards of my pole, realizing the large fish was gone. The hook was distorted beyond repair. NUTS!
Gotta realize technique comes in many forms, some are simply not so good. I'm finding that out with the casting of those bait cast reels too. Those aggressive launches are no good. They only cause me grief. So easier is better. Gotta keep encouraging that practice.
In a similar vein, my hook set technique requires refinement too. I realized that every one of the poles that I've popped have been due to an overhead vertical sweep. Not good! Especially since my neck and shoulders were sore for most of the week, even now there is still a small amount of residual discomfort. So I'm learning don't do that! Also during the week, I happened to catch the episode of 'Breaking the Surface'. A fishing program with a couple of hostess that share fishing passion using fly fishing and conventional equipment. I've been interested in that I also fish with both types of equipment so learning a better way is good for me. One of the things that appears to be better is their hook set technique, both use a lateral sweep and hold.
Ok, might be good to try. So this later half of the week was devoted to just that. I made a deliberate effort to identify the appropriate direction to set the hook sweep for each cast if the need arose.
No comments:
Post a Comment