Fishing starts with Attitude and Discipline!

This series of articles will be targeted to the Canadian and northern USA crappie angler and will cover location and movements, tackle, rods, type of boats, and even making your own tackle. Many of our lakes are similar, so many of our fishing techniques will be the same. Most importantly, I will be going over some of the crucial basics to be a excellent crappie fisher-person. So stick around and I'll guarantee you you will pickup some great new ideas.

One of the questions I ask people I meet in the bait and tackle stores, at the boat ramp, or on the water is "what are you fishing for". Surprisingly, most respond with "anything" which I reply to with "then you will catch nothing".

Or I'll fish for a particular target fish (usually crappies, or Walleye) with friends who bring their own boat. After we fish a spot for 2 to 3 hours without much success, they start to get restless. Then they move off and change equipment for a different species.

What's wrong with this picture? WRONG ATTITUDE and NO DISCIPLINE. If there is one thing I have learned from my real estate career, it is that to be good at anything, you must diligently pursue that which you wish to accomplish. You must learn every single thing you can on the subject and then then practice, drill, and rehearse, until you have perfected it. If you want to he good at angling, identify a specific species of fish and concentrate on catching only that species, even the slow times, until you succeed consistently. You'll he surprised how much you will learn.

By changing to another species in poor fishing conditions, you will only lose out on the opportunity to learn what you really need to know. If the fish aren't going after your presentation, change lakes. That's right CHANGE LAKES!

In our part of the world (Ontario), we generally have several lakes within a short distance of each other. If you're not getting a bite in the lake you're on, try another one. You just might find your presentation will work better there, assuming you are using the appropriate tackle for the time of year.

Being a walleye fisherman, it was only natural that I gravitated to crappies. Until 1988 I had never seen a crappie, let alone caught one. Fortunately, I met a man called Steve Fitzpatrick through Bob Izumi ( the host of one of Canada's most successful fishing TV shows). Steve had done several shows on the crappie, and at that time was Canada's definitive voice on the subject.

I became good friends with Steve and we spent five years (on and off) fishing walleye tournaments. "Hell" is the only word I can think of when fishing with this man. He is a radical, crazed, possessed perfectionist who takes fishing very, very seriously.

He screamed at me; he yelled at me; he played tricks on me; he threw my rods and tackle in the water; he put me through hell. Why did I put up with all this you may ask? Because he made me think and focus. He made me do it right. Plus, in the thousands of hours I have spent on the water, I have never seen anyone as good as Steve with a jig or general lure presentation.

If you just want to go out on the water for a few wobbly pops and a little fishing, that's fine But if you truly wish to excel, remember to target your species. Learn everything you can and practice, practice, practice.

In the next issue of The Fishing Network Magazine we'll start on the 'learning' part of this process.

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