By: Tom Cyner
Skunked is when you catch nothing-not a bluegill, not a bass, not a catfish, not a crappie. You fish all day and come home empty-handed. You don't even have a good story to tell.
"They weren't biting," you mutter to your family.
It happens to everyone now and then. We all can have bad luck. It's part of fishing. If you get skunked a lot, though, maybe bad luck isn't the problem.
Fishing is one of those great sports in which some little tip or trick might change your luck from bad to good. In our last Outside In issue, we asked readers for some of the fishing tips that helped them.
Lindsay Arens, who lives in Florissant, said she discovered a great trick when her school, South West Middle School, went to Camp Lakewood YMCA.
"When our cabin went fishing," she wrote, "we had our choice of worms on our hook or corn." Lindsay said she chose both.
"I took the worm and put it on my hook, and then put corn on to disguise the hook."
At first she didn't catch anything, she said, but when she was helping a friend unhook a small bluegill from her line, Lindsay's bobber went down.
"I reeled in my line and, turns out, I caught an 11-pound catfish!," she said. "Later, I went fishing with a group from the boy's cabin and was the only person to catch a fish. It was
a 6-pound catfish."
"Basically, If you want to catch a good-size fish," she added, "combine a worm and corn on a hook."
Lindsay's tip works for other baits, too. If everyone else is using one bait or lure and not catching much, then try something different. Hook on a crayfish or minnow or use an artificial lure. You can also change the depth below your bobber or cast to a different spot.
The trouble Lindsay and her friend had unhooking that bluegill brings to mind another good tip. A glove or a hand towel will help you hold those slippery fish. It'll also help protect you from their sharp fins. Put some long-nosed pliers into your tackle bag or box, too. They're great for removing fish hooks without hurting you or
the fish.
Anthony Klenke, who is 11 years old and lives in Union, said his fishing tip works great for all kids and adults.
"Use locusts for smallmouth bass in the summertime," he says. "That's how I caught my big fish."
Locusts make great bait for trout and catfish, too. When Missouri had its big locust hatch in 1998, the fish were slurping them up like crazy. And grasshoppers, which are related to locusts, are what Nick Adams uses for bait in Ernest Hemingway's famous story, "Big Two-Hearted River."
Anthony didn't say how big his fish was, but he warned us that locusts are sometimes hard to corral. Here's something to think about: If a hard-to-catch bait makes it easy to catch fish, would an easy-to-catch bait make it hard to catch fish?
Hannah Gragg, who is 12 and lives in Belton, says, "If you are fishing on a sunny day and you happen to see big patches of moss, cast your fishing line near the edge of the moss."
She explains that bright sun blinds fish that are looking up to get a lure or worm, but the moss provides shade and the fish can see the bait.
Shade on sunny days almost always attracts fish. The fish seem to feel safer there. A big tree that leans into the water from shore will almost always have fish near it or under it.
It's a pretty good tip to cast your bait near things whenever you can. Fish like to hang near logs, rocks and docks. It doesn't matter whether these things are under the water or half-in and half-out of the water. Another great place to cast is next to
a weedbed.
Some kids always cast straight out from the shore or dock, but lots of fish like the shorelines.
One of the best spots is along the dropoff where shallow water turns into deep water. You can fish this better by casting a little bit out into the lake but off to the side. Then if you bring your bait back slowly, it'll spend more time in this "fishy" zone.
The best fishing pole is not the biggest one. A good rig for most fishing is a 5 1/2 foot, light-action rod with a push-button spinning reel filled with 6-pound test line. Don't try to catch fish using line that looks more like rope. Fish may be dim, but they aren't totally dumb.
Besides, all reels have an adjustment, called a drag, that releases line when the fish pulls hard. With the drag set correctly, you can catch a 20-pounder on 6-pound test line.
If you do, we'll be asking you for fishing tips.
