Category
Fishing Foundations
The stuff people call basic right up until it costs them a fish: first setups, casting, knots, drag, observation and the small decisions that make the next trip less confusing. Start with Fishing Skills and Decision Making.
Want the short version first? Start with the First Cast guide →
Everything filed under this heading, newest first.
Worth opening first
- Teach the Fishing Decision, Not the Tackle AisleWhat to hand somebody new that isn’t a shopping list.
- The Most Annoying Fishing Sounds, Ranked by UsefulnessSome of the noise on the water is information. Most of it is weather.
- What to Tell a Future Kid on Their First Fishing TripShort, honest, and mostly about what happens when nothing bites.
- Fly Fishing for Beginners With One Simple Setup and a Lot Less ShoppingOne setup that works, put together before the catalog shows up.
- April Vokey Keeps the Story Attached to the SkillWhy instruction lands harder when the person giving it hasn’t sanded the failures off.
- Tournament Fishing Is Most Useful When You Look Past the TrophyThe weigh-in is the least transferable part of a tournament day.
- You Don’t Need Seven Fishing Tools at OnceWhich tool answers which question, and the order they stop being useful in.
Taking Somebody Who Doesn’t Fish Is a Different Trip, Not a Worse One
They said yes because you were excited, and a few hours later they’re cold and pretending to have a nice time. Most of that is fixable, and hardly any of it is about the fishing.
The Fish You Lose Gets Bigger on the Drive Home
The fish that gets away has one enormous advantage over the fish in the net: nobody can measure it anymore.
Stop Writing Down the Fish. Write Down the Decision.
Most fishing logs keep the catch and lose the reasoning. A better note saves the decision you made, what pushed you into it, and whatever was still unanswered when you drove home.
The Best First Kayak Fishing Trip Might Not Include a Fishing Rod
Before you add hooks and rod holders, spend a day just paddling. Learn how the kayak moves when you shift your weight, and how you get back in when it doesn’t cooperate.
The First Ten Trips Shouldn’t Be Ten Shopping Trips
A bad outing can point to a gear problem, but it can point to plenty of other things too. The first ten trips work better as questions than as shopping lists.
A Tackle Shop Is Basically a Museum Where Everything Has a Price Tag
You can learn a lot in a tackle shop without buying half the building. Sometimes the useful part is just noticing why the stuff is different.
The Tackle Box You Can Carry Without Hating It by Noon
Seven pounds of backup lures feel fine in the driveway and a lot less fine half a mile around the reservoir. Pack for the jobs the water will actually ask about.
The Best Fishing Partner Isn’t Always the Best Angler
Bad fishing days show you who you actually want standing next to you, and it usually isn’t whoever casts the farthest.
You Are Allowed to Love an Expensive Rod Without Pretending It Catches More Fish
I build rods and still stare too long at ones I don’t need. Liking good gear is fine — just don’t ask the fish to care what it cost.
Bank Fishing Gets Better When You Stop Trying to Reach the Middle
Why is the first cast off the bank always the longest one? Most of the water worth fishing from shore is a lot closer than the middle.
