For this Idaho angler, fishing is a never-ending pursuit of learning and discovery
One of my favorite things about fishing is the opportunity it provides for continual learning and discovery. Not many trips pass by where I don’t pick up a new nugget of angling knowledge — sometimes completely by accident!
On a recent excursion with my buddy, Justin, we were catching bass on topwater lures in less than two feet of water. As Justin retrieved his hollow-bodied frog toward the boat, I saw a two-pound largemouth dart out of the weeds, less than 5 feet from us.
“Leave it there!” I said, watching as the bass curiously eyed his lure. “Twitch it.”
The bass reacted.
“Twitch it again!” I whisper-yelled.
WHAM! I’ve seen a lot of topwater blowups over the years, but never so close, from such a crystal-clear vantage point. The way the fish approached and attacked the lure were different than I would have imagined. Add that one to the knowledge tackle box.
Some lessons are harder than others. This winter, my friends and I decided to pursue elusive Mackinaw trout through the ice at Payette Lake. We successfully landed a few, but none were the 20-pound monsters that can lurk in the depths. So this spring, my dad and I decided to take another crack at them, this time in open water from a boat.
Hours passed with almost no signs of life. No bites. No follows. No marks on the fish finder. Conditions and water temps seemed ideal for spring Mackinaws, but there were none to be found.
Finally, we found a spot that felt fishy. Huge clouds of fish appeared on the finder — most likely kokanee, an important prey item for big lake trout. A fish leaped out of the water, and then another. They were definitely kokanee, which aren’t known for jumping. I theorized they were being chased by a big laker.
Our first bite finally came on my secondary rod, rigged with cut bait on the bottom. I set the hook and reeled up a 14-inch pikeminnow — not our target species, but perfect for fresh cut bait.
I worked over some promising bottom structure with a large tube jig tipped with fresh-caught pikeminnow. Bump, bump. Was that a bite? Bump, bump. Yep! I set the hook and a heavier fish took off for deeper water. This one HAD to be a Mackinaw.
Alas, after a spirited fight, my dad scooped a much larger pikeminnow into the net. Overzealous pikeminnows gulping huge tub jigs is a scene that repeated itself several times before we finished a Mackinaw-less day. After much trial and error, I felt like we had a good location and strategy dialed in. But the only way to know for sure will be to go back and try again.
My friend and local bass guide Nick Young once told me “every angler is your teacher.” He was spot on — I have gleaned valuable lessons from just about everyone I’ve fished with, from salmon captains on the Puget Sound to a coke bottle-wielding groundskeeper in Belize. In turn, I enjoy passing on what I’ve learned to other anglers, whether it’s friends, my daughter or students in my Tight Lines 208 fishing classes.
Because no matter how many fish we catch, the learning never stops. And I, for one, can’t wait for my next lesson. Tight lines!
Jordan Rodriguez has been fishing Idaho waters since he was a teen. Share your fish stories, adventures, tips and tricks with him at tightlinesboise@gmail.com or visit www.tightlines208.com.