Here are the five groups of 10 things that make fishing great that we all take for granted. Curious yet?
When you're planning a fishing trip, going fly fishing, or just checking out your fishing gear, it's never done without the thought of what's to come. The fishing experience that we desire may be based on a fishing report, but it is always the small details that make it the most successful.
From smallmouth and largemouth bass, to terminal tackle and fishing rod selection, nothing really makes fishing a success as much as expectation. While use of the right equipment is as fundamental as finding the closest boat ramps, it's still the basic things that we turn to the most.
You'll certainly catch more fish when you don't forget the tackle box, but having a proper pocket knife handy is equally important. Fishermen pay attention to details as well as any other outdoorsman, but fishing tips aside, sometimes the things we use the most are the things we just expect to be there!
1. 10 Night Crawlers
Now we all know that they sell these critters by the dozen, but hold on. My dad, Wyatt F. Raleigh, Jr. taught me how to fish. He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and never stopped thinking about the water while I was growing up. My greatest memory comes from the fact that, since we fished together, once we each baited our hooks, he would say that it left us 10.
Say what you want, but fishing with dad is my best memory of him and it makes me think of 10 night crawlers every time.
2. 10-Foot Pole
This is another memory for me since it was exactly what I was first taught to use: a 10-foot bamboo rod. For other fishermen out there, it will make them think of their favorite 10-foot fly rod. For me, it also reminds me of my personal favorite: a Cabela's 10-foot Fish Eagle graphite steelhead rod. Whatever you use, it always seems to come back to one of these.
3. 10-Pound Test
This may be the most basic fishing line that we use since it's what most of us started out with. Early on in our esteemed fishing careers, we realized that sometimes eight-pound test wasn't strong enough, and 12- or 15-pound test was just too bulky. Certainly with the onset of today's line choices we can have the luxury of using (as I do) 20-pound test braid that has a mere six-pound test diameter!
4. 10 Fish in the Livewell
No matter if it's 10 bass, 10 catfish, or 10 whatever, it's what we expect (for starters) when we go out fishing. Being that most of us are catch and release fishermen, when it comes to bass, we really only expect to see this while watching our favorite bass pro on TV, but only if there is a co-angler aboard. When they invented the livewell they handed us one of the prime tools we always wished we had, and one of the best reasons to get back out on the water.
5. 10-Pound Largemouth
The Holy Grail of fishing: the 10-pounder. It's the line we all hope to cross, the mythical number that puts us over the top and onto fishing's glorified honor roll. Many have done it, and many have tried. Some penultimate fishermen have even gone beyond our wildest imagination and broken the 20-pound barrier! To achieve this monumental mark is to sit on the throne of one of fishing's holy lands.
Casting stroke analysis aside, there are far more important reasons why we love fishing. These few remnants of our humble beginnings tell a lot about us and where we come from yes, but more importantly it gives rise to the feeling that we will never forget how we started, and who we started with.
Fishing success from Georgia to Canada and everywhere else in between is where we get to stroke our own egos and act like we were kids again. These five simple things may be just a part of each anglers old history now, but remembering them is why we keep going.
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NEXT: GEAR REVIEW: TOADFISH INSHORE FISHING RODS
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