Fishing is About Learning - So Never Stop

There are so many great places to fish. In everyone of these places there are a few fishermen that really have the fishing figured out. They know the fishery like few others. Meeting and fishing with these folks is perhaps the best way to learn new fishing techniques. Every angler needs to get outside their comfort zone and expand their awareness. What you learn on the other side of town, across the country or on opposite ends of the earth can sometime change your entire perspective on how to fish for any given species. If you only focus on how people fish in your local area, you miss out. Don't close yourself off from being more well informed. You may fish for sailfish or largemouth bass in your home waters. Going to another part of the world to fish for that species can open your eyes to fishing techniques that could improve your success at home.

The number of times I have heard fishermen say things like I only need to know how to fish in my area or all the best fishermen come from my home port. That is fine, perhaps a tad myopic and arrogant. No one fisherman has it all figured out. The best of the best are always learning. They are open and willing to try new things. It is great to learn from other fishermen in your geographic sphere, but to only focus on how it is done locally leaves you with a closed mind. Never lose an opportunity to grow your tool kit. There are other anglers out there succeeding at the highest level that bring a different approach. Watch and learn.

After all, how do we grow? We learn. We stretch ourselves. We fish with fishermen that are better that us. By doing this, we open ourselves to innovations that could help in our home waters. Your fishing knowledge should not be static. It should be fluid, changing and adapting all the time. There are so many great fishermen out there and they all learned from someone else. When you take as step back and become more of an observer, you will see the beauty in variation. Many times as we begin to incorporate into our own programs the fishing tips others share with us, we will see greater efficiencies and success on the water.

People fish differently all over the world. Methods differ, when it comes to rigging, connections, boating, angling and the types of fishing tackle may not be what you are used to. Even for the same species, fishing techniques will vary quite a lot. That is ok. That is what makes fishing so cool. Interacting with fishermen from around the world only broadens your horizon. There will always be an exchange of knowledge, no matter how good you think you are. When you fish with really good fishermen, you will see things that hold their own genius. You may think, damn that was smart, maybe I should try that.

I bring all this up because I recently traveled to Western Australia to fish with some clients of In The Spread. The family that runs the Reel Teaser Fishing Adventures operation invited me over to film some material with them. I really had no idea what I was going to get into or how well versed they would be in the art of multi-species fishing. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they are all super fishy. They know species behavior, boating, baiting, rigging and angling as well or better than anyone in that part of the world. Their depth of knowledge about inshore, backcountry, reef and offshore fishing is impressive. Everything just seems so natural for them. This wisdom is drawn from experience and that experience comes from spending years on the water refining fishing techniques. These are the types of fishermen you want to be exposed to.

Some of the gamefish we targeted I had fished for in other destinations, while a few were complete mysteries to me. Think sailfin snapper. A very unique and fierce light tackle gamefish. Since I am always out trying to absorb fishing knowledge, my intent is never to tell others how they should do something. No. I want to learn their style and their philosophical approach to fishing. So, I listen and I execute on the fishing methods they are showing me. I take selective kernels of the knowledge they give me and I add it into my fishing arsenal. I also share what I learn with you, so you become a beneficiary of this knowledge, too.

My adventure to the Rowley Shoals, which sits our on the top of the continental shelf 150 miles offshore from Broome, Australia is one of the greatest fishing experiences of my life. The fishing out there in on a next level magnitude order. There were so many firsts for me. The Rowley Shoals is a series of atolls. Essentially, flat topped mountains or reefs that rise from the sea floor. At high tide water covers the atoll. At low tide the reef is exposed. On top or inside the atoll the water is calm and most of the fishing is in 20-30 feet. Coral heads or drop offs produce consistent trout, GT and sailfin snapper action. Outside the atoll you have thick swells smashing into the reef wall. Coupled with the channels that cut into the reef, this outside up close fishing is insane. Big GT's (giant trevally) patrol the shallows pushing bait up against the reef wall and feasting on the life that is swept off the top of the reef, as the tide flows out. The channels that have been carved into the reef over time are great feeding areas for GT's and dogtooth tuna. Casting into this mix is explosive. You also have pelagics cruising in 150 feet of water. Trolling in close is super productive for sailfish, tuna and wahoo. Fishing deep water atolls is reef fishing at its finest. All the big reef donkeys are there.

The fishing videos I filmed with the Reel Teaser Fishing Adventure guys will be slowly released over the next weeks. You meet liquid smooth fishermen Chris Rushford and Ross Newton. The fishing techniques they share are born from spending a lot of days on the water fishing and thinking about how to fish smarter. With several of the reef species you encounter on these atolls there is no margin for error. You need the right tackle and better know how to get the most out of it. Experience is what these two salts bring. Chris is a fantastic instructor with an humble eloquence that make the principles he articulates seem so doable. He is driven and wise beyond his years. It is always a pleasure working with fishyaf folks. There is just so much to learn.

The In The Spread fishing videos we filmed with them feature how they approach casting lures from a big boat to a reef edge, jigging soft plastics on shallow water reefs, switch baiting sailfish, trolling plugs, rigging techniques for marlin fishing, GT or giant trevally fishing on the reef, coral trout fishing and one the coolest thing I have done, sailfin snapper fishing. If you fish in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, there should be a few tricks to take with you on your next fishing adventure. Fish with the best, learn from the best and fish smarter.

If you want to fish with Chris, Ross and Tracey aboard the Reel Teaser, the times you have will exceed your expectations, without a doubt. Contact them here: https://www.reelteaserfishingadventures.com/

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