LIP GRIPPER
Bad catch.
[ S K I L LS ] Paddling Stealth
STOP SPOOKING THE FISH. START WITH A SMOOTH STROKE BY JEFF LITTLE
T
humb through a Cabela’s catalog and you will notice a striking difference be-
tween anglers and hunters. Hunters use scent-blocking camouflaged clothing. An- glers clothe themselves in brilliant colors and apply odiferous substances to their lures. Hunters disguise their boats to blend in with cattails. Fishing boats disperse a dis- co ball series of flashes. Maybe the angler’s inattention to stealth comes from an inabil- ity to see fish flee. The hunter knows that any unnatural sight, sound or movement will cause the incoming geese to turn away. Whatever the reason, I am relieved when- ever I find out that one of my kayak fishing students is also a hunter. It means I will not have to point out the fish-spooking blunders most anglers commit without knowing. Under-the-radar angling begins with a
solid understanding of the many ways fish can detect a threat. Two books have changed the way I fish. Thomas Sholseth’s How Fish Work and Keith A. Jones’ Knowing Bass both taught me how fish use their predatory senses to avoid being preyed upon.
20 … KAYAK ANGLER summer/fall 2009 Sight is merely a confirmation sense. By
the time a fish sees you, it has both heard and felt your approach. Sound travels about 4.5 times faster in water than in air. A fish’s inner ear and swim bladder pick up subtle noises such as that of laying pliers down in your foot well, or a paddle stroke. Fish detect movement through their lateral lines. Think of changing a flat tire on the side of a busy highway when a tractor trail- er blasts past. You feel it even though your back is turned. The fish can feel you, the tractor trailer, at twice your normal casting distance. Most kayak anglers overlook paddling
technique, preferring to focus their atten- tion on fishing. But there are some aspects of paddling technique that can strongly af- fect your fishing success. The most impor- tant is the “catch”—the beginning of the stroke where you insert your paddle blade into the water. If you have a sloppy catch, slapping the
water and yanking on your blade right away, you will scare the fish by causing cavitation,
a noisy churning of air and water behind the blade. A clean and quiet catch requires that you pause for a split second once you have inserted the full length of the paddle blade into the water. When you are certain that you will not be dragging a mixture of air and water behind the blade, proceed with the power phase of the stroke. Start- ing your stroke smoothly avoids sending air-raid-like noises announcing your arrival. You will also save a lot of energy, because the most efficient stroke is one where the blade is firmly planted in the water before you start pulling. Cleaning up the stroke is just the begin-
ning of enhancing your stealth. Assess the signals you’re sending in terms of the fish’s senses, not yours. Do fish taste your sun- screen, tobacco, or bug spray when they suck in your soft-plastic? Did you drift, in- stead of paddling, to within casting range? Read up on the topic, learn from our hunt- ing counterparts, and remember, “good catches lead to good catches.”
Good catch.
PHOTOS: JEFF LITTLE
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