Fishing Philosophy – Targeting fish with fishing research!
How can you be a better fisherman or fisherwoman? The answer is simple really, but doing it is another thing. Let’s explore.
Fishing is like marketing in business. Advertising, merchandising, promotion, sales; all of this can be transferred to the art of fishing. A good marketer in business knows what their customer wants, through extensive research, and meets their customer where they’re at in the buying cycle to ease their concerns and leads them to the sale. That’s exactly what fishing is.
You’re the salesperson and the fish are your customers. Your goal is to get them to “buy” your product. Actually, we really just want them to bite our lure. So the lure is our sales pitch to the fish. If they like it well enough, and we’ve met them where they are in their “buying” cycle, and eased their concerns to the point where they’re comfortable biting the lure, we make the “sale”. Pretty simple analogy when we stop and think about it.
[GARD]
The term fishing actually comes across as sounding desperate, or unprepared. A salesperson that goes out “fishing” for business sounds like they’re grasping at straws or hoping or wishing for the sale. And the truth is the majority of the people that call themselves fishermen or fisherwomen, are doing exactly that….fishing.
But if you’ve done your homework, and have a plan to succeed, the art of what we call fishing becomes more like “gathering”, “collecting” or “capturing”. Because we’ve done our fishing research, we know that we’re going to succeed, it’s now just a matter of which ones we catch, and how big. Because we’re educated in our craft and done our fishing research, it’s not a question of if, but more of a question of what, and how many, and how big.
Targeting fish by using fishing research to catch more fish.
Figure out the what, when, where and how of targeting fish species. And the key to figuring these four things out, is the glue that holds them all together; the why. The why is the absolute most important thing to understand in fishing research, because that will answer the rest of the questions and lead you to the fish.
To understand why a certain fishing tactic works we must understand the species of fish we’re targeting. We must research their biological makeup, their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding the food chain, and where the species of fish you’re targeting fits into that chain will go a long way in helping you determine the coveted why.
The art of fishing is no more than problem solving. Our problem, or should we say the fish’s problem is that they need food, and they need shelter. At the core, this is really all anything needs to survive. Fish are in the business of survival; that’s their main and really only concern….and of course procreating, but we’ll get to that in a little bit.
How do we the fisherman solve the fish’s problem? We have to do our fishing research and provide them food, when they’re hungry, where they’re comfortable eating it. That’s it….so here we go.
Fishing Research Simplified…
- What = type of bait or lures to use.
- When = time of day, season, type of weather.
- Where = structure, lakes, rivers, wind, water temperature.
- How = tactics, presentation, mimicking their prey.
Answering the why deals with the biological analysis of the specific species of fish we’re targeting.
[GARD]
All fish will be located in a specific spot because of the when and the where questions. And the reason they’re located there is because it gives them a strategic advantage over the food they are searching for, while maintaining a comfortable level of security from predatory fish or birds, or because of their bodily makeup. Your fishing philosophy has to take into account doing your fishing research and meeting the fish you’re targeting where they are and giving them what they want.
Some fish see better in low light, others prefer colder water temperatures, some fish stay near the surface of the water, others gravitate toward vegetation in the water, some like faster moving water, others are most active on sunny days, etc.
Remember this! Fish are not in the business of maintaining an attractive figure. Instead, their whole desire is to exert as little energy as possible in order to eat. Fish are looking for the easiest route to their next meal. The less energy they have to exert, the fewer amount of calories they need to consume to survive and grow.
So put yourself in the fish’s fins for a moment and try to strategically place yourself in a lake or river that would sway the advantage into your favor over your prey. Once you answer that question, you’ll know exactly where to fish and when. Studying up, doing your fishing research and targeting fish species of choice is paramount to your success. Understanding their physical makeup, their strengths, and weaknesses will lead you to your answers. Fish use their strengths to their advantage, and try to avoid places that would put them in a position of vulnerability. Your fishing philosophy must use the fish’s strengths and weaknesses to your advantage.
So you want to make the best sales pitch to the fish. You must first understand them, just like you have to in marketing and sales. A successful salesperson will understand their customer and know what they like and what they don’t like, and use that knowledge to their advantage to accentuate the positives of their product and how it can solve their problem. As fishermen, we’re in the business of solving problems; the fish’s problems. And if we’re able to successfully solve the fish’s problems, in turn, we solve our problems. It’s a win-win situation….kind of.