- May 18, 2024
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Have you ever tried to figure out why one type of bait catches more fish than another on any given day? Why one fisherman catches more fish than the other while using exactly the same bait and fishing on the same boat? How about why a bunch of fish are found in one spot one day and not there the next?
These questions have perplexed fishermen for years.
I bet you think I’m going to tell you the answers. But I can’t. I can only ponder different theories. And trust me, there are a lot of theories. Some of them can sound like good logical excuses to fellow fishermen, and even better to the person who doesn’t fish. But as fishermen, we all know that sometimes, no matter what you think you know and what you try, you are just not going to catch fish that day.
Take this past weekend for example.
I went out a Saturday morning to fish the last couple of hours of the outgoing tide. Not getting anything on my fly rod, I put it away and picked up my spinning rod. Still no luck, except a few very small trout.
Then I ran into some friends of mine who were using live shrimp and having no luck, either. We parted ways, and I headed back to the boat ramp. On my way back, I decided to stop in a canal to give it one last shot before. By this time, the tide had started coming in, and the wind picked up. On my third cast, I had a nice 16-inch trout. By the time I was done drifting down the canal, I had five trout between 15.5 and 19 inches.
Then, like a light switch, the fishing turned off.
On Sunday, I headed back to the same canal, and the fishing was hot — at least for me. Another fisherman was fishing there, and he had three trout using lures. I was using my fly rod and caught 15 trout, a redfish, and a couple of jacks.
Who knows why my fly caught more fish than the other guy’s offering. I’m just glad it did.
