Constantly Learning

[John Bales]

Learning goes in stages. Normally we learn the shallows, the mid depths and then the deep. In the 90's I went to my first National Outing and looked and listened. I was not different than anyone else. I wanted to learn and was searching for someone to learn from. Out of 300 people walking around, most were in worse shape that I was. I did find one guy. Frank Hamill. He was obviously the guy I needed to hang around so I did. Within a few hours of sitting with and eating with, he looked at me and said boy, you got the fire in your eyes. He started drawing me maps when ever we went to an outing for me to go and check things out. It was quickly seen that his thought process was a lot deeper than everyone else. In every case, I know of no one who would have thought to go where he went and was capable of finding what he did. Every time I was around him, he sent me home with going deeper in every place I fished. He told me one time that as I go deeper with success, I would run out of people to share what was learned.
What he gave me was a confidence in going deeper when it is called for and this opened up a new world. The fish are not always out there and time on the water is needed to understand when it is time to go there and the bodies of water and species has a lot to do with going there.
Our guidelines tell us that if we are not catching fish, we are not fishing deep enough. Maybe the next time the fish are not where you were catching them, take a look a little out beyond what is your normal.
I remember Jerry Borst catching musky a little deeper than his norm back then and they thought they had discovered untouched knowledge, yet that depth was shallow compared to where he has gone in the last few years. This deep stuff takes much discipline and time and you have to be willing to catch nothing at all until what you are looking for is found if ever found at all. A one foot deeper channel in a river that is three feet wide is the same as a 55 ft deep breakline that has all the fish. It is the home of the fish or where they are when they have no intentions of moving shallower. In a days fishing if you do not go there, they may not come to you. Interpretations are more difficult. Presentation of lures is more challenging but there is a time and place that we must go there in order to catch the fish. Not everyone has the time or patience for looking for something deeper but this is what separates the men from the boys . If you are not willing to go all day with nothing, it is better for you to wait on shallower stuff and forget everything I just talked about. If you are one who wants to learn more, then go out there when the time comes where you are not catching the fish and see what is there. John

[Steve Craig]

John,
Excellent post and great info for those who have ears to hear.

Jerry once told me the same thing you just said about going "out there" when you are not catchng them "here"(Shallow).
He did warn me.....do not spend alot of time out there if you dont catch something there. Alot of time can be wasted wondering around "out there". Spending 15 minutes off a structure "out there", is about it for me unless I find somethng worth an extra look.
Best advice i ever got.
You and Jerry are just in a Class all by yourselves!
Great info.

[John Bales]

Steve, It's been a really long time since I went deep. Well, every fall we catch a lot of bass between 20 and 35 feet but I consider that not the unusual because we do it every fall. I'm talking about something away from my normal fishing waters. I have not done the Detroit River for a long time. I let Jerry and Chris do it for me and keep me up to date. Here's the thing. I haven't forgotten how and if there is a time we go somewhere it might be needed, I'll have it with me. Catching fish deep makes you feel like you have accomplished something . It's very satisfying isn't it? I did some fishing with Jim Mason the last couple of years in New York. I met Jeff Loy there too last year. Jim is a big time user of the three way with the heavy weight and a rapala type lure(floater) . It is primarily used in the Niagra River where the current is very strong and this place has some great deep breaklines. Jim catches the crap out of smallmouth, walleye, trout of several species and what ever swims on this thing. Deb and I used it quite a bit also and caught a lot of fish. It offers good speed control on the deeper breaklines for sure. Just another tool for checking deep structure. Take Care. John