Freshwater Fishing Technique

[bfitzhugh]

First I'd like to say hello, and thanks for such a well put together site. I just stumbled across'ed it last night it seems to be an excellent resource for someone (like me just, getting back into fishing).

I took the family up to Jordan Lake today so the kids could swim and enjoy the great weather. As usual, I took my ultra light with me and figured I spend the afternoon seeing if I could get any bites. I'd not planned on catching anything where we were, because the boats were kicking up lots of waves and the kids were having a blast splashing around. Funny thing is, I looked down the shore line and a man and his son had these large surf rods and reels with dual hook leaders, pyramid weights, and a pail of night crawlers. I watched them for a little while and they were pulling small fish (less than palm size) two at a time (couldn’t tell what kind they were from where I was standing).

Later in the day, I retreated back to our picnic table and grill to cook our dinner and the wife and kids wandered over to talk to the man and his son. She excitedly reported back that they had bagged two 20” catfish and a similar sized bass. Needless to say I was a little bit surprised. The only time I’ve used gear like they had was when I was surf fishing off the coast. Is their technique really good for shore fishing around the local lakes, or did they just have a “lucky” day? I’ve never seen anyone use such heavy gear from the lake shoreline before, but I’m guessing it helped him cast out into some of the deeper water where the fish were.

Thanks,
Brian