The Hot Stick (or why some people catch fish and other do not) by Capt. Jim Stoner
On a recent fishing trip with Capt. Doug (my son) and one of our friends I had the opportunity to see first hand who had what we like to call the "hot stick" (fishing rod). Our friend is a pretty good fisherman but doesn’t have the time on the water that we do. On this particular trip we set out to do some sight fishing but the conditions were not in our favor so we decide to blind cast some productive shore lines. We put our friend on the front poling platform with Capt. Doug behind him on the console seat. I was poling the boat. We gave our friend the preferred rod and lure with the color that had worked just a few days before. Off we went plugging away with the guy on the front bombing the shore with his lure and Capt. Doug behind him hitting the spots he had missed. After about ten our fifteen casts along the shore, Capt. Doug scored with a nice Red Fish. Another ten or fifteen casts and Capt. Doug scored again - with the friend on the front shut out. After this we moved over to a long oyster bar and began poling again. Bang! Capt. Doug scored again so I told him to swap rods with our friend, thinking that it must be the lure colors. I watched the two anglers cast away and it became apparent that Capt. Doug was hitting every little opening along the bar while our friend was blasting away parallel to the bar. Bang! Capt. Doug scored again, this time with an impressive 34 inch Red Fish.
Did Capt. Doug have the "hot stick" or was it simply a matter of skill? In this case I believe it was 75% skill and 25% luck. Capt. Doug was covering more of the productive water along those shorelines by casting in every nook and cranny. By doing so, he put his lure in front of more fish. The next time you go fishing and your partner is knocking them dead watch him closely. See what it is that is giving him the edge then make the change to his technique. Sometimes it can be as simple as slowing your lure down or changing lure colors. Adapt and overcome as we say; or on the other hand it could be a case of the "hot stick".
Everglades Pro Fishing Charters
Captain Jim Stoner
Captain Doug Stoner
954-444-9995
http://www.evergladespro.com/
snook4341@yahoo.com
